RELATING TO BUDGET-RELATED REPORTS.

SB2809

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2809

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to budget-related reports
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section 37-70, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

����
"(a)
�
[
Not
]
No
later than the third
Wednesday of January of each odd-numbered year, the governor shall submit to
the legislature and to each member thereof[
,
] a program memorandum
covering each of the major programs in the statewide program structure[
.
]
;

provided that the governor shall ensure that each program
memorandum submitted pursuant to this section accurately reflects the current
responsibilities of the applicable program, addresses the current and future
needs of the State, and aligns with the information submitted pursuant to
section 37-71 by reviewing and updating, as necessary, the most recently
submitted program memoranda.
�

Each program memorandum [
will
]
shall
include:

����
(1)
�
An overview of the program as a whole
,

including a discussion of:

���������
(A)
�
Objectives[
.
]
;

���������
(B)
�
Component programs[
.
]
;

���������
(C)
�
Departments involved[
.
]
;

���������
(D)
�
Relationships to other agencies and
jurisdictions[
.
]
;

���������
(E)
�
Major activities[
.
]
;

���������
(F)
�
Important external developments affecting the
program[
.
]
;

���������
(G)
�
Significant discrepancies between previously
planned cost and effectiveness levels and those actually achieved[
.
]
;
and

���������
(H)
�
Trends and comparisons in costs,
effectiveness, or activity data over the budget and planning period[
.
]
;

����
(2)
�
A statement of the major program changes being
recommended for the budget and planning period to include for each proposed
change:

���������
(A)
�
A brief statement of the recommended change[
.
]
;

���������
(B)
�
The cost and program performance consequences
of the change over the budget and planning period[
.
]
; and

���������
(C)
�
A summary of the analytic rationale for the
change[
.
]
;

����
(3)
�
A discussion of emerging conditions, trends
,

and issues
,
including:

���������
(A)
�
Actual or potential impact on the State and
its programs[
.
]
;

���������
(B)
�
Possible alternatives for dealing with the
specific problems occasioned by the emerging conditions, trends, and issues[
.
]
;
and

���������
(C)
�
Suggestions for a program of analyses to
resolve the most urgent of the problems[
.
]
; and

����
(4)
�
Appendices as needed to include appropriate
issue papers, special analytic studies, other reports, and crucial source
data."

����
SECTION

2
.
�
Section 37-75,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�37-75
�
Variance report.
�
Not fewer than thirty days prior to the
convening of each regular session [
of the legislature
], the governor
shall submit to the legislature and to each member thereof a report on program
performance for the last completed fiscal year and the fiscal year in
progress.
�
In format, the report
generally shall follow the fiscal requirements portion of the executive budget
or budgets.
�
The report shall include:

����
(1)
�
At the lowest level of the program structure,
for each program contained in the budget finally approved by the legislature
for the last completed fiscal year and the fiscal year in progress:

���������
(A)
�
A comparison, by the operating and research
and development cost categories, of the budgeted expenditures and the actual
expenditures for the last completed fiscal year and the budgeted expenditures
and the estimated expenditures for the fiscal year in progress;

���������
(B)
�
A comparison, for the operating and research
and development cost categories, of the budgeted expenditures and position
ceiling and the actual expenditures and positions filled in the last completed
fiscal year and a comparison of the budgeted expenditures and the position
ceiling for the fiscal year in progress and the actual expenditures and number
of positions filled in the first three months of the fiscal year in progress
and the estimated expenditures and number of positions expected to be filled in
the remaining months of the fiscal year in progress;

���������
(C)
�
The program size indicators and a comparison
of the program size anticipated and the size actually realized in the last
completed fiscal year and the program size anticipated and the size estimated
for the fiscal year in progress;
provided that the governor shall ensure
that each program size indicator used herein accurately reflects the current
responsibilities of the applicable program, addresses the current and future
needs of the State, and aligns with the information submitted pursuant to
sections 37-71 and 37-72 by reviewing and updating the most recently used
program size indicators, as necessary;

���������
(D)
�
The effectiveness measures and a comparison of
the level of effectiveness anticipated and the level actually attained in the
last completed fiscal year and the level of effectiveness anticipated and the
level estimated for the fiscal year in progress;
provided that the governor
shall ensure that each effectiveness measure used herein accurately reflects
the current responsibilities of the applicable program, addresses the current
and future needs of the State, and aligns with the information submitted
pursuant to sections 37-71 and 37-72 by reviewing and updating the most
recently used effectiveness measures, as necessary;
and

���������
(E)
�
A narrative explanation of the significant
differences for the last completed fiscal year in each of the comparisons made
in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D), including an explanation of the basis
upon which the original estimates were made and the reasons why the estimates
proved accurate or inaccurate, and a statement of what the actual experience
portends for the future of the program in terms of costs, size, and
effectiveness;

���������
provided
that expenditure amounts in the comparisons shall be shown to the nearest
thousand dollars;

����
(2)
�
Appropriate summaries at each level of the
state program structure for each major grouping of programs encompassed
therein, showing:

���������
(A)
�
A comparison of the total budgeted expenditure
and the total actual expenditure for the last completed fiscal year and the
total budgeted expenditure and the total estimated expenditure for the fiscal
year in progress; provided that the expenditure amounts shall be shown to the
nearest thousand dollars;

���������
(B)
�
The effectiveness measures and a comparison of
the level of effectiveness anticipated and the level actually attained in the
last completed fiscal year and the level of effectiveness anticipated and the
level estimated for the fiscal year in progress; and

���������
(C)
�
A narrative explanation summarizing the
major reasons for the differences in the comparisons made for the last
completed fiscal year in subparagraphs (A) and (B); and

����
(3)
�
A
narrative explanation of the significant variations in capital improvement
costs; provided that capital improvement project variances shall be referenced
to the six-year program and financial plan, which shall contain the information
specified in section 37‑69(d)(1)(K)."

����
SECTION 3.
�

Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory material is underscored.

����
SECTION 4.
�

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Governor;
Budget-Related Reports; Program Memoranda; Variance Reports; Program Size
Indicators; Effectiveness Measures; Reviews; Updates

Description:

Requires
the Governor to ensure that the Governor's program memoranda and variance
reports accurately reflect the current responsibilities of certain state
programs, address the current and future needs of the State, and align with
budget-related submittals.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.