University of Hawai‘i president seeks recurring funds, warns of medical campus debt shortfall

University of Hawai‘i President Wendy Hensel told the House Finance Committee on Jan. 13 that the university’s biennial budget request would make recurring several items funded one‑time in recent years and seeks new support for medical campus debt service, student supports and large capital needs.

Hensel said the request is intended to “fulfill kuleana to native Hawaiians,” promote student success, meet Hawai‘i’s workforce needs and expand research and innovation. She emphasized that many items in the governor’s budget are existing expenditures the university wants put into the base budget so they recur.

The nut graf: Committee members heard university leaders ask lawmakers to fold one‑time appropriations — athletics subsidies, teaching cohorts, certain workforce lines — into the base budget and to consider supplemental general‑fund help for debt service at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) and the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center as revenue sources that historically supported those debts decline.

In his presentation, Calvert Young, the university’s vice president for budget and finance, detailed the request. For Mānoa and Hilo he said recurring support for athletics would require making $4.0 million permanent (a historical split of $3.2 million for Mānoa and $0.8 million for Hilo), and he outlined several items where the university seeks to “make permanent” positions and programs created by recent acts (Act 181, Act 64, Act 107, Act 74 and others). Young described operating requests included in the governor’s proposal such as financial‑aid counselors, admissions staff at West Oʻahu, and targeted nursing expansions at multiple campuses.

Young flagged the two most significant general‑fund items in the governor’s package as support to meet debt‑service shortfalls for JABSOM and the Cancer Center. He said tobacco settlement revenues and cigarette tax receipts that were statutorily directed to help pay those obligations have declined and now fall short of debt service; the governor’s proposal includes supplemental amounts to help cover debt on those Kaka‘ako facilities.

University leaders also asked lawmakers to consider an expansion of the Hawaii Promise last‑dollar aid program to the four‑year campuses. Hensel said the Board of Regents’ estimate to apply Hawaii Promise to the four‑year campuses “to the same degree” as the community colleges would total roughly $11–12 million annually; committee members asked for more program detail and measures of success. Hensel and members discussed possible phasing (for example, making it available only to third‑ and fourth‑year students at four‑year campuses to reduce cost).

On capital, Young said the university’s Board of Regents requested large lump‑sum RIM (renew, improve, modernize) allocations and the governor included a material portion: roughly $145 million in year 1 and $115 million in year 2, including systemwide RIM pools, student housing improvements, and campus‑specific projects (Mānoa student housing, Holmes Hall engineering funding, Hilo RIM, West Oʻahu RIM and community college capital renewal).

Cancer center director (appearing as Director Vergara in committee testimony) told members the Cancer Center faces a real fiscal challenge because cigarette‑tax revenues that contributed to its special fund have fallen; he said the center is pursuing diversified revenue streams — consortium commitments from local hospitals, philanthropic support, clinical trial build‑out and early‑phase clinical research capacity — but still needs support on debt service while ramping these activities.

Committee members pressed on detail (enrollment, the mix of resident/out‑of‑state students, and the return on investment tied to nonresident tuition differentials, and on the university’s plans to protect student housing and ramp up nursing cohorts). Hensel invited site visits and pledged to return follow‑up data.

Ending: The committee did not take immediate action; members requested follow‑up materials on Hawaii Promise estimates, debt‑service schedules for Kaka‘ako facilities and documentation backing budget line items. The university indicated staff and campus executives will supply the requested materials to committee members and follow up with one‑on‑one briefings.