Righting the Canoe: the Slow Recovery and FY 2013 in Hawai‘i

Abstract Gov. Abercrombie’s promise to “right the canoe” is progressing slowly. The institutional impediment of working with former Gov. Lingle’s biennial budget is one reason for this. Another is the painstakingly slow economic recovery. This budget report covers those topics and the budget passed by the legislature for FY 13. That operating budget of $11.2 billion was slightly more than the governor requested. But, the big budget story for FY 2013 involves the CIP budget, which swelled to $3.2 billion, more than a billion more than the governor’s request. The additions to the CIP budget involved a good deal of borrowing in order to stimulate Hawai‘i’s economy and improve its infrastructure in order to prod along the sluggish economic recovery.