Gov. Josh Green unveiled his supplemental budget proposal Monday, including roughly $20.4 billion for the 2027 fiscal year.
In a letter to the state Legislature introducing the supplemental budget, Green wrote that changing federal policies — in particular, the sweeping funding cuts within the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — have left the states to absorb many costs through their own budgets.
Consequently, Green wrote, state funding has been prioritized to continue to support programs to fill in for SNAP and Medicaid services, while the supplemental budget proposes adding “a very limited amount of general funds” to the state’s operating budget.
That “very limited amount” is about $10.5 billion, or 52% of the full supplementary budget request. Other sources of funding include about $4.2 billion from special funds and $4 billion in federal funds.
Green touted $13.4 million to be used to continue to administer SNAP statewide, and a collective $60 million for Medicaid technology upgrades so as to meet new federal requirements, and another $110 million to maintain access to the Medicaid program itself.
Another $8 million would be allocated to expand the homeless kauhale program throughout the state.
The proposal also is the first to implement the new Green Fee, which is expected to generate about $87 million in the 2027 fiscal year.
The largest slice of the $20 billion pie goes to the Department of Human Services, which would receive just under $5 billion via the proposal. Of that portion, about $3.9 billion would go to the department’s Med-QUEST health care program.
Another major beneficiary of the budget is the Department of Budget and Finance, which would receive $4.3 billion, the vast majority of which — about $2.5 billion — would go toward fringe benefit costs for the state Employees’ Retirement System.
Meanwhile, the proposal also includes a general obligation fund appropriation of about $1.32 billion, an increase of about $903 million (or 213%) from the 2026 fiscal year budget. This would increase the Capital Improvement Program Budget by just about $1 billion, for a total of about $4.2 billion.
“Improving health care outcomes and access, reducing homelessness, building affordable housing, investing in climate resiliency, strengthening our economy and reducing the cost of living remain my administration’s core priorities,” Green said in a statement. “This budget reflects those values, with record investments in infrastructure, construction, housing and health care access to ensure Hawai‘i’s people can thrive.”
The proposal will go before the state Legislature when the legislative session begins in January.
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