199
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION
   REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT A REVIEW OF THE BUDGET
   PROCESS AND TO RECOMMEND IMPROVEMENTS THERETO.



 1        WHEREAS, the budget process is a long and complicated one
 2   that begins with an administrative or legislative proposal that
 3   is adopted as a legislative appropriation and finally allocated
 4   by the Administration; and
 5   
 6        WHEREAS, the process is sometimes fraught with delays
 7   between the time funds are appropriated by the Legislature and
 8   the actual allocation of those funds by the Administration; and
 9   
10        WHEREAS, the law sometimes requires appropriated funds to
11   be channeled through one or more administrative agencies before
12   an actual allocation of those funds is made; and
13   
14        WHEREAS, there are reports of appropriated funds not
15   allocated for six months or more after the funds were
16   appropriated; and
17   
18        WHEREAS, recipients of appropriations are usually in
19   desperate need of funds, especially in tight fiscal times where
20   money is scarce and austerity is common place; and
21   
22        WHEREAS, the allocation of funds that are necessarily
23   delayed by law or unnecessarily by bureaucratic red tape is the
24   same as funds never appropriated; and
25   
26        WHEREAS, the Auditor is not only charged with but has
27   successfully reviewed various administrative agencies and
28   processes in the past; and
29   
30        WHEREAS, a thorough review of the budget process,
31   especially after an appropriation is made, is warranted to
32   expedite the delivery of funds to those in need of such funds;
33   now, therefore,
34   
35        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
36   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
37   of 1999, that the Auditor is requested to conduct a thorough
38   review of the budget process, especially with respect to delays
39   in the allocation of funds after an appropriation is made; and
40   

 
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 1        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor also identify
 2   possible statutory or bureaucratic logjams or roadblocks in the
 3   budget process that results in delays in allocation; and
 4   
 5        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor report its
 6   findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days
 7   before the convening of the Regular Session of 2000; and
 8   
 9        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
10   Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Director of
11   Budget and Finance, and the Governor.
12 
13 
14 
15                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________