Rep. Marcus Oshiro responds to "grandstanding" criticism

In today's letters to the editor section of the Star Bulletin, Rep. Marcus Oshiro, House Finance Chair, responded to a commentary written by the Lingle administration, which claims that Democratic legislators politicized and grandstanded during a press conference urging the governor to release Grant-In-Aid operating funds. This issue is very important to the nonprofit organizations who have not yet received monies already accounted for in a balanced state budget approved by the governor in 2007. Oshiro welcomed the criticism of grandstanding and politicizing, stating that if their actions will get the funds released than it can labeled as such.

If the money is not released prior to June 30, the funds, which are not needed to balance the state budget, will be lost. For more background info on this issue, click.

Grant money was set aside in state budget

Predictably, the governor's chief of staff, Barry Fukunaga, makes much ado about last week's legislative Grants-in-Aid press conference in his commentary "Lingle strives to release needed funds sensibly" (Star-Bulletin, June 3). The truth is, any "striving" was self-imposed and unnecessary as the $10 million already was accounted for in a balanced state budget approved by the governor in 2007 and we're dealing with a very small fraction, less than one-tenth of 1 percent, of our $10 billion general fund budget. So if grandstanding and politics gets the monies released, so be it. My constituents would ask no less of me.
And if speaking up for "don't bite the hand that feeds you" nonprofit providers and advocating for the politically powerless beneficiaries raises the governor's ire and criticism, all I can say is e komo mai.

Rep. Marcus R. Oshiro

Rep. Marcus Oshiro appears on "The Business of the Arts"

Finance Chair Marcus Oshiro will appear on Bob Sandla's public radio show, "The Business of the Arts", airing Sunday, 6:00 p.m., on 88.1 KHPR-FM.

Tune in to a frank discussion on why the legislature was unable to fund grants-in-aid in 2008, and why Oshiro is frustrated by the fact that so many nonprofit organizations are still waiting for the Governor to release grants from 2007. What does this mean for the arts in particular?

On a related matter, the Senate and House leadership will join together to hold a press conference on Thursday, May 29th at 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda. They'll be urging the Governor to release the 2007 grant-in-aid monies before the lapse date of June 30th. The legislature appropriated $10.1 million in operating funds as nonprofit grants. Only about $2.6 million have been released.

Hundreds show up for Grant-in-Aid briefing

The State Capitol Auditorium started to fill up early on this Saturday morning. For the first time, the House Finance Committee and Senate Ways and Means Committee decided to open up the review process and invite all the applicants for Grants-in-Aid to come before the money committees to discuss their request and answer any questions in person. Today was set aside for Oahu applicants; Wednesday is the day for Neighbor Island applicants.

They came from the arts, human service organizations, health care facilities, business development, and even a Franciscan monk.

Due to the sheer number of testifiers, applicants were taken in alphabetical order and limited to 3 minutes. Many took much less than that, standing on their written application. After about 10 to 15 testifiers, the committee broke to ask questions, and then proceeded with the next group.

Deena Dray, Diamond Head Theater, was first to get a laugh. "Diamond Head Theater is perhaps best known for the Grid Iron Show," she said, referring to the successful theatrical review by Hawaii journalists, satirizing and roasting local politicans. "I want to assure you that we have nothing to do with putting on that show, or those nasty journalists."

Chair of Finance Marcus Oshiro asked all applicants that if they received an appropriation last year, what is the status of those funds. Almost all the applicants responded that they are still waiting for the money to be released by the Governor.

Here are some random comments heard throughout the day:

"We are requesting the funds because of the suddenness of the appearance of varroa mites and the urgency to contain it. The Department of Agriculture has no program to address the problem." Michael Kliks, Hawaii Beekeepers Association.

"Other than antibiotics, today's pharmaceuticals address the symptoms of disease, but they don't cure them. We are a society that spends billions of dollars on disease care, not health care. Why not spend a few hundred thousand for preventive healthcare, rather than millions for pharmaceuticals that cure nothing." Terry Shintani, Hawaii Institute of Integrative Health.

"We currently save about 65-70 lives through organ donors. We believe we can increase that number by 35-50 more lives with a statewide organ donor online registry." Hawaii Organ Procurement Organization.

"My great grandfather was a houseboy at Iolani Palace during the reign of Queen Liliuokalani, and my grandfather, Ellery Chun, was the founder of the Aloha Shirt." Dan Chun, Hawaiian Island Ministries.

"Since opening, we've had 120,000 visitors and 6,000 school children visiting the museum. We've moving from a Hawaii level project to a national level." Pacific Aviation Museum.

"The Hokulea - today is her 33rd birthday. She's sailed over 125,000 miles and is on her third generation of sailors, trained navigators, and a whole host of community supporters." Bruce Blankenfeld, Polynesian Voyaging Society.

"The Sisters have determined that the best thing they can do to help people is to be more pro-active rather than reactive to healthcare." St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii.

"We are in the computer age, and the world is passing me by during my incarceration." Representative from TJ Mahoney & Associates, on the comment of a woman prisoner, regarding their request for computer technology funding.

"My heart has been warmed by hearing about the many organizations who are working to help others." Waianae Coast Christian Women's Job Corps representative, after complaints about the room being so cold.

In closing, Chair Oshiro mentioned that there are three state agencies that have not yet responded with their reviews of the grant applications, which is part of the legislature's criteria for selection. They are Department of Health, Department of Human Services and Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The briefing started at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 2:00 p.m.

House and Senate to Hold Briefing on GIA's

Representative Marcus Oshiro, chair of the House Finance Committee, announced today that the committee will hold two joint informational briefings with the Senate Ways and Means Committee on all grants-in-aid applications submitted to the 2008 Legislature.

The first informational briefing, for Oahu applicants, will be held on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at the State Capitol in the Capitol Auditorium located on the Chamber level. It will start at 9:00 a.m. and go until completion.

The second informational briefing will include Neighbor Island applicants and will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 from 9:00 a.m. until completion.

This year, the Legislature received 250 applications for a total request of $156,457,762. Given the number of applicants, the chairs of the committees will be conducting the briefing under the following rules:

1. Only one representative per application will be called to provide information and answer questions.
2. Each representative will be allowed no more than three minutes to provide any additional information.
3. Applicants will be heard in alphabetical order.

Applicants are NOT required to attend the joint informational briefings, and all grants-in-aid applications will be duly considered regardless of whether the applicants attend the briefing.

Additionally, representatives of the State administration, who are responsible for the release and distribution of funds appropriated by the Legislature, have been asked to be present. They will be consulted on their respective analyses of the various requests and are to be available for questions by the committee members.

The GIA Process

The following guidelines are used as criteria for the Legislature in decision making. The applicant:

1. Must address health, safety, welfare and/or community needs.
2. Must have had their application reviewed by the state agency to which funds would be appropriated for expenditure.
3. Must be accredited in accordance with federal, state and county statutes.
4. Must comply with all federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination.
5. Must agree not to use state funds for entertainment or lobbying.
6. Must comply with all requirements of HRS 42F-103.

In addition to the informational briefings, the applications are posted on the Capitol website, www.capitol.hawaii.gov. The general public may download a list of applicants and view the applications on the website; all personal and sensitive information is redacted. The site also contains an email link for those who wish to comment directly on any of the applications.

Grant-in-aid applications now online

Need something to read over the weekend? Grant-in-aid applications submitted for 2008 are now available for viewing online on the legislative website www.capitol.hawaii.gov. The public may access these files by clicking on "Grant-in-Aid Information" located on the left hand side of the main capitol website page. A directory of received GIA applications and a list of all applications are provided on the bottom of the Grant-in-Aid Information page.

Shortly, you will also be able to send comments on the GIA applications to lawmakers via a special email account.

Grants-in-aid still pending release

Credit goes to Ian Lind for pointing out the list of GIA's appropriated by the legislature that have not been released by the Governor as of 12/31/07. It was published, as required by law, in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. You can link to the pdf on Ian's site here. The list is significant given the inevitable debate over the next 3-4 months on tax relief vs. unmet needs.

Legislature responds on GIA process

Rep. Marcus Oshiro submitted a letter to the editor to The Advertiser last week Wednesday responding to the 3-part series on the Grant-in-Aid process.  It appeared this morning as did an op-ed from Senator Roz Baker.

The Finance Chair proposes three major changes starting in the 2008 session:

1. Holding a public briefing for all grant applications.
   
2. Posting the applications online on the capitol website.
   
3. Eliminating the subcommittees of the Finance Committee dealing with grants, capitol improvements and taxation.

Grant-in-aid applications available on line

Applications for grants-in-aid are now available online at http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/. Deadline: Submittals must be received (not postmarked) by 4:30 p.m. on January 31, 2008. Applications go to both the House Finance Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee.