UH funding priorities included in governor’s 2022 budget

from UH News December 20, 2021 

Hawaiʻi Gov. David Ige’s supplemental executive budget for the 2022 legislative session includes most of the University of Hawaiʻi’s budget wish list. Ige held a news conference with UH President David Lassner on Monday, December 20 stating that education is one of his administration’s top priorities.

“I have always been passionate about public education in the state of Hawaiʻi, and both the Department of Education and the University of Hawaiʻi suffered significant budget reductions at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Ige at the news conference. “Today, we are restoring and investing more than $689 million for public education.”

For the UH 10-campus system, that includes reestablishing $46 million in budget cuts from the 2021 session, including $42 million for the UH System, primarily UH Mānoa, and $4 million for the UH Mānoa and UH Hilo athletic departments. The supplemental executive budget also includes $86 million for capital renewal and improvements to UH facilities. All of these items were in the UH budget approved by the Board of Regents and submitted to the governorʻs office in November.

“Thank you Governor for your support of public higher education in the state of Hawaiʻi,” said Lassner. “We are extraordinarily pleased at the University of Hawaiʻi with your supplemental budget.”

The Governorʻs budget also consisted of items including a total of $5.8 million for UH to help address state work shortages in the fields of medicine, education and cybersecurity. A complete recap of UHʻs budget request and what was included in the governor’s supplemental budget can be found on UH News.

The legislature will take up the Governor’s executive budget in the 2022 legislative session, which convenes on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.