Lawmakers pleased with share of the ‘slimmer’ pie

WAILUKU - Maui Memorial Medical Center improvements, bolstering Honoapiilani Highway against erosion, and land acquisition for a Maui Community College campus on Molokai are just some of the projects funded in the budget passed by the state Legislature.

Maui County would get a total of $248.5 million for capital improvement projects over two years under the spending plan approved last week. Lawmakers said there were some projects they wanted to see funded that didn't make the cut, but overall they were pleased that Maui received its share of the pie.

Sen. Roz Baker, D-South and West Maui, said the state's infrastructure budget was "slimmer" than in years past but included some important projects.

"One always wants more CIP, but I think Maui did very well overall thanks to the efforts of Senator (Shan) Tsutsui and Representative (Kyle) Yamashita," who handle capital improvement requests for the Senate and House money committees, respectively, she said.

Baker said legislators prioritized health and safety projects in the budget, and House members insisted on a lower ceiling for bond projects to limit borrowing. That meant some smaller school improvement projects did not get included, but Baker was hopeful that they could be funded through a lump sum provided to the Department of Education for statewide upgrades.

Key projects highlighted by Maui legislators included funding for Maui Memorial, which received $7.2 million for a new dialysis unit and $15 million for general facility improvements, including in obstetrics and oncology.

A related budget item was $5 million for a new 30-bed long-term care facility in Kula, which would help open up acute-care beds at Maui Memorial.

It costs Maui Memorial $2,000 per day to care for a long-term patient in one of its acute-care beds, but the hospital is reimbursed only at a rate of $150 per day, noted Rep. Gil Keith-Agaran, D-Kahului.

"A key for putting the hospital on better financial footing is reducing the countywide wait for long-term care beds," he said.

"This is where the hospital really bleeds red ink," Baker said. "When these beds (in Kula) are constructed, it will help with the wait list issues for the hospital."

Baker and Rep. Angus McKelvey, D-West Maui, also said they were pleased to succeed in getting $2.5 million budgeted for exploratory and production wells to provide potable water for the Villages of Leialii.

The wells are necessary for the second phase of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands project to move forward.

"This was their number one request," Baker said.

McKelvey noted that the budget also includes $5.5 million for Honoapiilani Highway erosion protection at Launiupoko, and $2.1 million at Olowalu.

"Preserving that corridor is extremely important," he said. "You've seen it - the revetments are falling into the ocean. They're crumbling."

Keith-Agaran said he was glad Maui Community College received $3.1 million for its new science building.

"Rep. Bob Nakasone got most of the money for the project last year, but additional funds were needed to complete it," he said. Keith-Agaran was appointed to replace Nakasone after the longtime legislator's death in December.

Staff for Sen. J. Kalani English said his top priorities were funding for a new shelter and kitchen at Hakioawa, which received $400,000; land acquisition for a Molokai campus of Maui Community

College, which received $500,000; and an Upcountry groundwater test well, which got $150,000.

But lawmakers didn't get everything they wanted.

McKelvey said he was disappointed that funding for improvements to the Lahainaluna High School cafeteria lapsed and were not reappropriated.

"I'm committed to work on it next year," he said.

Keith-Agaran said he supported a number of projects that didn't get on the list, including a helipad for Maui Memorial and a multipurpose building for Maui High School to provide a large testing and instructional space.

"I (also) supported a new classroom building for Maui Waena School, but I understand the project can wait," he said.

Baker said the only project on her "short list" that did not get funding was a grant-in-aid request for the Lahainaluna High School Foundation to help with its stadium improvements project.

"I know the folks at the foundation and (Lahainaluna) are disappointed," she said. "We'll redouble our efforts in community fundraising and put our request in again next year."

But more than the infrastructure projects, Keith-Agaran said the biggest accomplishment of the legislative session for him and the Maui delegation was in the passage of legislation giving Maui Memorial new independence from its umbrella organization, the Hawaii Health Systems Corp. The bill gives Maui Memorial's regional board more authority to do things like negotiate labor contracts and form partnerships with private organizations, and gives Maui three seats on a new HHSC board.

"Health care is a key to quality of life on Maui, and our community needed to have more control over it," he said.

McKelvey said he didn't get everything he wanted but had no regrets.

"We had some successes, we had some failures," he said. "But I feel I left everything on the table and went 100 percent."

* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.