LIHU‘E — U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono on Tuesday criticized Gov. Linda Lingle’s furlough plan to balance the state budget, saying it will be a “huge hardship” on Hawai‘i’s workers and “will have a ripple effect” across the Islands’ economy. “I
LIHU‘E — U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono on Tuesday criticized Gov. Linda Lingle’s furlough plan to balance the state budget, saying it will be a “huge hardship” on Hawai‘i’s workers and “will have a ripple effect” across the Islands’ economy.
“I would do everything possible to avoid furloughs,” Hirono said in an interview at The Garden Island office in Lihu‘e.
The congresswoman said the plan’s inclusion of a group of federally funded state employees will not save Lingle any money, as the state will be unable to recoup any funds from the decrease in those employees’ salaries.
In a letter sent from Hirono, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and U.S. Sens. Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka earlier this month, the state’s congressional delegation questioned the impact on 52 individuals in the Disability Determination Branch of the state Department of Human Services funded by the Social Security Administration.
“We understand there are other state employees who are 100 percent funded by the federal government. Furloughing these employees will encumber the programs they serve while saving the state no money,” the letter says. “(W)e urge you to reconsider your decision regarding the furlough of state employees, particularly as it applies to the state’s DDB employees.”
While not specifying how Lingle’s administration should plug the nine-figure puka in the state’s budget caused by decreased revenue projections, Hirono pointed to the $1 billion in stimulus funds headed to Hawai‘i.
Asked about Kaua‘i’s high unemployment rate — it’s currently more than 10 percent — and the failure to date of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to turn the tide, Hirono said a lot of the delay is not at the federal level but it’s up to state and county governments to “do what they need to do to get the money out the door.”
“It’s really incumbent upon us to use every single dime,” she said. “The Recovery Act impacts thousands and thousands of Hawai‘i employees.”
Hirono said she had spent part of Tuesday morning visiting with Kaua‘i Bus workers, who told her the $1 million in federal funding they received to help increase rural transit options will allow them to purchase eight additional buses.
To learn about Hirono’s stance on legislation like last week’s energy bill that passed the House of Representatives, discussions on health care reform, and President Barack Obama’s handling of past evidence of torture, see future editions of The Garden Island.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com
