Editorial: Get money where it’s needed, ASAP | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

The Legislature is in another recess for the next few weeks, but it had better be a working recess. One in which the work is going to be pretty hard, because there are so many problems to solve, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis.

When state lawmakers gaveled out on Thursday, two bills were sent to Gov. David Ige, effectively moving $1.3 billion into the state’s emergency and budget reserve (“rainy day”) fund. This puts the governor in the awkward position of yielding control over how that’s spent, at least for now.

The final disposition of the funds, including nearly $636 million in federal CARES Act money aimed at pandemic relief, will happen sometime after June 15, when lawmakers plan to reconvene.

There is a rational basis for postponing decisions for several weeks — and the governor should let the plan move forward. But there’s cause for a lot of frustration, too.

The public has witnessed some poor performances by Ige’s administration, which often seemed unprepared for legislative queries, and too sluggish in handling public needs. And there have been barbs justifiably hurled at lawmakers, for leaving so much emergency response until later.

In the intervening weeks, the administration and legislators, at both the state and federal levels, must put together a unified plan to meet the desperate needs of Hawaii’s population and get the economy on a more sustainable path.

State Rep. Sylvia Luke, who chairs the House Finance Committee, said that of the $1.25 billion the state has received from the feds, some 45% has gone to the counties, to push out critical funding for social services and business relief.

The intent was to deal with the most immediate needs that way, Luke said, and enable a better assessment of anticipated shortfalls and further resources.

In addition, the state Council on Revenues is set to meet Thursday to issue the latest revised projection of state revenues, another factor in the calculations. However, Luke acknowledged, the dire economic conditions already are well understood.

The bottom line is that, with vast job loss and with businesses on the brink, the state has the duty to shore up the community so it can hold out for a real recovery to begin.

The federal Paycheck Protection Program has helped the limited number of businesses it reached, but PPP’s eight weeks worth of funding will start ending in late June. The state should extend that reach with grants and loans of its own, and address rent and mortgage relief. And there are basic needs of families it can help meet, with the help of the nonprofit sector.

Some of that work should fall to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. At a hearing last week, its director, Mike McCartney, seemed more interested in defying state Senate leaders over their call for information than in guiding the state through these challenging times. It was a disgraceful showing; the public deserves better.

Judging by discussions going on at legislative briefings this week, Hawaii is still a long way from readiness for a tourism reboot. And while the “kamaaina economy” has begun to reopen, very slowly, many businesses are dependent in some degree on the tourists’ dollars, and many can’t survive for long without it.

Filling that financial gap in the short term is the duty of the state government, using the resource of federal aid.

The Legislature has shoveled most of the money into the rainy-day hold basket; Luke said lawmakers can loosen the current law barring more than 50% of that fund being spent in any fiscal year.

That’s only the first critical step. At a minimum, lawmakers must ensure that all of the CARES money goes to pandemic relief, as intended, and by the year’s-end deadline. This year, of all years, the public will be watching to see that they do.