CHAIR OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS DONOVAN DELA CRUZ ISSUES STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR'S ANNOUNCED INTENT TO LINE-ITEM VETO AND LINE-ITEM REDUCE THE STATE BUDGET
Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means Donovan Dela Cruz (District 17 - Portion of Mililani, Mililani Mauka, portion of Waipi‘o Acres, Launani Valley, Wahiawā, Whitmore Village) issued the following statement on Governor Green's announced intent to line-item veto and line-item reduce the State budget:
"The challenge we face with crafting the State budget is that it’s built upon “point-in-time” revenue projections. From March to May, the Council on Revenues forecast dipped a total of $292M and $302M in FY24 and FY25 respectively. The reduction in expected revenues places the Governor in a difficult position, requiring him to make tough fiscal calls on what can stay in the budget and what will need to wait and be worked on next session.
Regarding funding for the First Responders Technology Campus, I met with the Governor over the weekend to discuss the line-item vetoes. We look forward to working together during the interim to address the State's needs to relocate and modernize our First Responder's critical infrastructure next session. He assured me he is committed to finding alternatives to address the challenges.
I look forward to developing a path forward with the Administration on determining if the land in the Mililani Technology Park should pivot and be used for in-door farming, ag-tech, and value-added food production."