(Archived) Visualizing the State Budget
The state budget should reflect the values and priorities of our community.
To better understand and make thoughtful decisions on where our tax dollars go, policy makers, community leaders, and public citizens need access to clear and transparent budget data.
At the Hawaii Data Collaborative, we are working to improve budget data accessibility by working to make State budget data readily available, useful and meaningful. In the sections below, you will find a directory of existing public budget data sources, downloadable data in a usable format (i.e. data files, not pdf reports), and visualization tools to make meaning from that data along key budget themes:
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Revenues: Where Do Funds Come From?
We all contribute to the revenues the state has to keep the wheels of government turning.
Whether through paying general excise tax (GET) on a purchase, taxes you pay to the federal government, or fees you pay on goods or services, our state revenues all lead back to our citizens. Government functions on the shoulders of taxpayers. Our state’s fiscal health is directly connected to that of our citizens. When citizens are earning and spending less, the state has less revenue coming in.
Expenditures: How Are Funds Deployed?
Revenues the state takes in are spent through both the budget and through fiscal bills passed by the legislature.
In addition to specific allocations, these bills may also contain guidance in the form of provisos and legislative mandates to direct funds to be spent by specific entities and/or within specified time periods. Ultimately, the Governor and the Department of Budget & Finance control when funds are released and how much are deployed. When forecasts by the Council on Revenues suggest uncertainty or potential decreases in growth, the executive branch often restricts and holds back on funding to ensure the state has sufficient revenues to get through the fiscal year.
Outcomes: What Do Funds Do?
Revenues collected by the State pay for the programs, services and functions citizens expect the government to provide.
Each year the State of Hawaii prepares its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), which is a detailed presentation of the State’s financial activities during the past fiscal year.
Hawaii has a highly centralized system of government, with the state providing a number of different services to the public that are mandated by law. Everything from public safety, education, health and safety, economic development, transportation, housing, and natural resource conservation.
The CAFR is broken out into 3 sections: 1) introductory section; 2) financial section; and 3) statistical section. Included in the financial section are all of the funds received by the state, revenues, expenditures and changes in fund balances, and the overall financial position of these funds.
Process: How did budget priorities shift last session?
The budget is one of the greatest and most public tests to the checks and balances that exist between the three branches of government.
While the Executive and Judicial branches make the initial recommendations on the budget, the final decision is made by the legislature through a series of public hearings and negotiations between the House, Senate, and the departments. Ultimately though, while the legislature has the power of the purse (and what goes into the budget), the Governor controls the purse strings and can wield this power to control how, when, and if the funds allocated get spent.
State Budget Data Directory
We have developed a comprehensive directory of all (to the best of our knowledge) publicly posted State budget data sources. We update this directory frequently and always appreciate feedback that will help us make it more useful.
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