THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	74
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the governor to require the Director of Finance to conduct a statewide program and budget performance review, pursuant to section 37-70, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and report to the Legislature in every odd-numbered year.

 

 

        WHEREAS, section 37-70, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires the Governor, in each odd-numbered year, to submit to the Legislature a program memorandum covering each of the major programs in the statewide program structure; and

 

        WHEREAS, each of these program memoranda is required to include an overview of the program as a whole, a statement of the major program changes recommended for the budget and planning period, a discussion of emerging conditions, trends and issues, and crucial data; and

 

        WHEREAS, the program memoranda are also required to provide information on significant discrepancies between previously planned cost and effectiveness levels and those actually achieved, which would be valuable to assess whether there are inefficiencies in a program that should be addressed; and

 

        WHEREAS, a program memorandum covering each of the major programs in the statewide program structure has not been submitted to the Legislature since 2007; and

 

        WHEREAS, it is critical to return to this required practice in order to ensure statutory compliance and transparency; and

 

        WHEREAS, the Department of Budget and Finance should operate as efficiently as possible to make the best use of government resources, personnel, and taxpayer dollars as it works to achieve the policy goals enacted by the Legislature on behalf of the people of Hawaii; and

 

        WHEREAS, a statutory duty of the Department of Budget and Finance is to conduct a systematic and continuous review of the finances, organization, and methods of each department of the State to assist each department in achieving the most effective expenditure of all public funds and to determine that such expenditures are in accordance with the budget laws and controls in force; and

 

        WHEREAS, a biennium review conducted by the Department of Budget and Finance will allow the Executive Branch and the Legislature to determine the degree of statutory compliance on a regular basis and better measure the efficacy of the policy goals enacted by the Legislature; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Governor is urged to enlist the Director of Finance to conduct a statewide program and budget performance review, pursuant to section 37   70, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and report to the Legislature beginning in January 2023 and continuing in every odd-numbered year thereafter; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor is urged to instruct the Director of Finance to begin planning for the January 2023 statewide program and budget performance review immediately upon adoption of this Senate Concurrent Resolution; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and Director of Finance.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:  

Department of Budget and Finance Statewide Program and Budget Performance Review