1X
Earl Anzai and Lowell Kalapa map the anatomy of Hawaii's projected $200 million deficit in early 1995, with Anzai clarifying that the state needs to find $250 million — the deficit plus a necessary $50 million cash cushion. Three factors drove the shortfall: a December Council on Revenues forecast cut of $121 million, about $80 million in deliberately under-budgeted recurring expenditures from prior years, and a $35 million error in calculating early-retirement savings. Kalapa argues that proliferating special funds — the state has roughly 99 — have allowed bureaucrats and legislators to ring-fence favored programs from general scrutiny, while Anzai plans to raid dormant funds for about $33.5 million. Rather than raise tax rates, the Cayetano administration intends to eliminate credits such as the solar energy credit and child passenger restraint credit. Anzai warns the legislature that future federal cuts could dwarf the current crisis, and that controlling state government's long-term growth is unavoidable. Callers ask about $100 million in uncollected back taxes, the risk to the state's double-A bond rating, and whether public workers can expect raises.
Transcript
Read or download the full transcript (.txt). Speaker labels were assigned automatically and may contain errors.