Ige Closes Out His Tenure With A Record-Setting Surplus Of More Than $2.6 Billion 0 The surplus for fiscal year 2022 is double the previous year, and leaves Josh Green’s incoming administration with ample funding to pursue his initiatives.
When the fiscally conservative Gov. David Ige exits the State Capitol in about two weeks, he will leave behind the largest budget surplus in state history, and his administration is projecting even larger cash balances in the years ahead.
The outgoing administration and the Legislature also have squirreled away nearly $1 billion in the state’s “rainy day” emergency reserve fund — a fund that was drained during the pandemic — and about $3.7 billion more in a separate fund to help pay for future health care costs for state workers and retirees.
Those cash reserves and the rosy budget outlook present a rich opportunity for Gov.-elect Josh Green, who is promising a “new era” in state politics featuring aggressive efforts to provide more affordable housing and put more Native Hawaiians on Hawaiian homelands.
