Hawaii unlikely to get more capital from Capitol

HONOLULU — Even with an island-born president and three senior members in Congress, Hawaii may not see much more federal government money flowing its way.

Hawaii already receives an outsize amount of money from Uncle Sam compared to other states, and it's unlikely additional cash will arrive despite having President-elect Barack Obama in the White House and the state's congressmen in charge of three key military subcommittees, said U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii.

"If anything, because we're in the position we're in, we have to reach out more," said Abercrombie, chairman of the House Air and Land Forces Subcommittee. "Of course we're going to pay attention to Hawaii and the Pacific, but I can assure you it's all in the context of advancing the strategic interests of the country."

Hawaii gets the sixth-most amount of federal money per person — $10,018 in 2005, according to the Washington-based Northeast-Midwest Institute. Alaska collected the most federal dollars at $13,788 per person.

Much of the Hawaii spending goes to the military because the U.S. Pacific Command is based here, and that won't change no matter who is in charge in Washington, D.C., Abercrombie said.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, is known for his prowess in securing money and in January he will take over the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which handles the annual budgets of all federal agencies. The group Taxpayers for Common Sense contends Inouye was the senator with the fourth-largest amount of earmarks —totaling $222 million — in a year-end spending bill for 2009.

Hawaii's leaders will have to guard against the perception that they're favoring their home states too strongly, said Hawaii Pacific University political science professor Ralph Burr.

"Our senior senator has already lavished the state with as much as we could expect," Burr said. "I don't think there's going to be a great change. They'd embarrass themselves if it was too obvious."

The slumping national economy and strains on the national purse strings by the incoming Obama administration will make it difficult for Hawaii to grab more money, said Republican state Sen. Sam Slom.

"There's not a lot more to get. The money is not there. That's the harsh reality for everybody," said Slom, director of Small Business Hawaii. "We may share the wealth, but more importantly we're probably going to be sharing the deficits."