Health funding in Gov Ige’s 2021-23 budget proposal Emily Boerger | Dec 22, 2020
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Gov. David Ige’s newly released 2021-23 biennium budget proposal features operating and capital improvement program (CIP) budget cuts over the next two fiscal years.
“This budget represents sudden, sharp reductions to revenues because of the pandemic’s impact on the state’s economy and the tax revenue that funds government services and programs. Our economy will recover, and the state’s budget will normalize if we contain COVID-19, preserving the health of both residents and visitors,” said Gov. Ige in a statement.
In terms of general funds, Ige’s operating budget proposal includes $7.69 billion in FY 22 and $7.80 billion in FY 23. Compared to FY 21, this represents a net decrease of 4.5% ($361.9 million) in FY 22 and a 3.1% decrease ($249.6 million) in FY 23.
December 15, 2020 at 6:37 am
Hilton Raethel of the Hawaii Healthcare Association says vials of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine should be shipped to the Big Island hospitals early next week, for vaccinations to begin.
Hilo Medical Center and Kona Community Hospital, both part of the state’s Hawaii Health Systems Corporation, have both said their facilities are ready to begin vaccinating those front line health care workers who want to receive the vaccine. Because the vaccine is under Emergency Use Authorization and not fully approved by the FDA, employers will not be requiring their employees to get the vaccine at this time. Pfizer says it will be submitting additional safety data to the FDA and expects to request full approval from the FDA within 6 months.