OHA trustees review revised preliminary biennium budget; ask staff to link spending to strategic outcomes

At a meeting April 25, 2025, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Budget & Finance Committee reviewed a revised preliminary biennium budget for fiscal years 2026–27 and asked administration to provide clearer linkages between strategic-plan outcomes and specific budget expenditures.

Trustees spent the session in a question-and-answer format after Ramona Heng, introduced as the agency chief financial officer, distributed a revised preliminary budget and said the meeting would focus on clarification rather than a formal presentation. "Passed out is a revised preliminary budget that we, pretty much revised today," Heng said.

The core request from trustees was for a tool or report that connects strategic-plan indicators to budget line items so trustees can evaluate whether spending is aligned with intended outcomes. "There's a tool that I've talked about that would be helpful to me at least ... something that helps integrate the metrics and outcomes of our strategic plan with the actual budget expenditures," said Trustee Akina.

Administration told trustees the agency already publishes an indicators report showing population-level baselines and targets, but that…