After-school programs and adult education are funded in the state budget passed by the state Legislature to Gov. Linda Lingle, said state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua’i. The bill contains some $10 million for improvements at Lihu’e Airport, $430,000 in state
After-school programs and adult education are funded in the state budget passed by the state Legislature to Gov. Linda Lingle, said state Sen. Gary Hooser, D-Kaua’i.
The bill contains some $10 million for improvements at Lihu’e Airport, $430,000 in state funds for rubberizing the track at Vidinha Stadium (to be matched with county dollars), $300,000 for planning and design of a new cafeteria for Kilauea School, and $80,000 for new locker rooms at Waimea High School, Hooser said.
“Given the tight budget that we’re working on, I feel real good about what Kaua’i did get,” said Hooser.
“I tried to make sure that every (House) district got something that was important. I feel real good about it,” said Hooser, a member of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
“It’s really a team effort,” including help from Mayor Bryan Baptiste, whose number-one capital improvement priority is the track improvement, said Hooser.
County officials have been asking for state funds for track improvements for several years, failing to influence legislators to fund the improvements at the county facility used by students in state Department of Education athletic programs, said Hooser.
State Rep. Ezra Kanoho, D-east and south Kaua’i, also placed high priority on securing state funds for the track, Hooser said.
State Rep. Mina Morita, D-north and east Kaua’i, placed high priority on the Kilauea School cafeteria improvements, and state Rep. Bertha Kawakami, D-south and west Kaua’i, Ni’ihau, played a key role in the House as vice chair of the Finance Committee that approves the final House version of the budget bill, Hooser said.
Another $50,000 was approved for renovations at the Kapa’a Public Library, $50,000 for the East Kaua’i Water Users Cooperative, and money to build a Pouli Road extension to create additional traffic relief for motorists on Kuhio Highway in the Waipouli area.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
