Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 6, 1 June 1995 — OHA's bare-bones hiennium budget approved [ARTICLE]

OHA's bare-bones hiennium budget approved

by Jeff Clark OHA's biennium budget for fiscal years 1996-97 and 1997-98 was passed by the Legislature at annual funding roughly equal to that of FY 1995-96. The annual operating budget in eaeh fiscal year totals $7,453,521, an increase of $117,149 from this fiscal year. This reflects additional expenditure for trustees' salaries, said Martin Wilson, OHA's administrative services officer. Trustee salaries, whieh the Legislature approved in 1994,

amount to $293,000 in matched general and trust funds. The chairman receives $37,000 per year; the other eight trustees eaeh get $32,000. Part of the annual increase was offset by cuts totalling $175,851 that vary from division to division, but whieh generally include expenditures such as travel, eomputer maintenance and overtime. The exception was matching funds for grant awards and the education division's Maui-based early education program. OHA had asked lawmakers to approve what was essentially a

no-growth budget, but did ask them to fund 15-and-a-half new positions established by the Board of Trustees. The Legislature denied the positions because it had not previously approved them. OHA administrator Dante Carpenter said the Legislature viewed the creation of the positions and the subsequent request for funding as an affront. "They feel it is a presumption on our part and an invasion of the power that they have," he commented. But, he counters, those positions were created "in deference to the

agency's response to the needs of the community. We are a growing agency, and that's because our constituents' requirements have grown." The positions include secretaries, clerks, a legislative assistant, and a second deputy administrator. Some positions are filled by longtime OHA employees moved from other positions. A position for a budget analyst planner has been approved by the board but has not yet been filled. Said OHA Chairman Clayton Hee, "In comparison with other state departments, OHA fared

well, in my I view. Other state departments lost '

millions of dollars. In a fiscally austere time like we are in, it's my view that the lobbying team and the administrator did remarkably well. We should be grateful to the Legislature, as well." OHA's administration will be returning to the board with an augmentation budget request from trust funds, including a request to continue the positions not funded by the Legislature.

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