91直播 lawmakers agree on budget bill as 2026 session heads into final week
Thirty 91直播 lawmakers buttoned up the state budget bill Thursday night, producing a compromise draft between House and Senate leaders ahead of a final vote expected next week.
The agreement on the new draft of House Bill 1800 was unanimously approved by 17 House members and 13 Senate members.
“I think it’s a pretty solid result,” Rep. Chris Todd, who led the House negotiating team as chair of the House Finance Committee, said after announcing the agreement.
Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, leader of the Senate negotiating team as chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said cost-savings measures were employed to fund important state operations while maintaining income tax relief for residents slated for delivery over the next five years.
“We’re proud to pass the budget that puts 91直播’s working families front and center,” he said during Thursday’s meeting of the House and Senate conference committee on HB 1800.
The “conference draft” of the bill reconciles differences between earlier drafts of the measure produced by the House and then Senate after Gov. Josh Green proposed the initial draft.
Final votes by the 51-member House and 25-member Senate are expected before the scheduled end of this year’s legislative session May 8.
The new draft of HB 1800 includes $10.6 billion in total state funding appropriations to run 91直播 government operations for the fiscal year that begins July 1. With other sources of revenue that include federal funds, the total budget for state operations is $20.3 billion.
HB 1800 also includes appropriations totaling $4.5 billion for capital improvement projects, including $1.5 billion to be financed with state general obligation bonds. Other sources of project financing include federal funds and revenue from user fees at airports, harbors and other things.
The $10.6 billion in state funding for operations compares with $10.8 billion proposed by the governor, $10.7 billion desired by the House and $10.4 billion sought by the Senate.
After Thursday’s vote, Dela Cruz (D, Mililani-Wahiawa-Whitmore Village) in a statement expressed thanks to legislative colleagues, the governor and his administration for working together to sustain government operations while protecting an eight-year package of tax cuts enacted in 2024.
Todd (D, Hilo-Keaau-Ainaloa) also credited teamwork for the agreement, and said in a statement after the vote, “This budget reflects the House’s continued collaboration with the Administration and the Senate to take a balanced, responsible approach to preserving core government services and strengthening our safety net for 91直播’s residents — especially those who rely on these services as a lifeline.”
House and Senate leadership highlighted dozens of budget items across state agencies, including:
• $400,000 for the 91直播 Emergency Management Agency to bolster emergency preparedness
• $898,000 for farm-to-foodbank programs under the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
• $1.1 million for Department of Education regional kitchen operations
• $1.5 million for added Capitol District security provided by the Department of Law Enforcement
• $1.9 million for the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to work with the University of 91直播 to protect agricultural lands from pests
• $3 million for the Department of the Attorney General to provide consumer protection legal services
• $5 million for additional maintenance and repair projects at Department of Land and Natural Resources small boat harbors
• $6 million for 91直播 State Hospital overtime expenses
• $7 million for Waikiki Aquarium
• $24 million for Department of 91直播an 91直播 Lands homestead lot development
• $24 million for 91直播 National Guard facility improvements
• $45 million for the Department of Human Services to cover Medicaid expenses
• $50 million for affordable rental housing projects financed by the 91直播 Housing Finance and Development Corp.
• $58 million for Wahiawa Dam improvements
• $129 million for “Green Fee” projects
• $365 million for airport improvement projects
• $446 million for Department of Education school facility improvements, including $101 million in deferred maintenance
• $646 million for state highway system improvements
