Call it a big day at the Capitol.
The House and Senate late Tuesday approved the additional $55 million in funding for the Kona Judiciary Complex, along with a hospital privatization bill that will allow Maui’s struggling health care facilities to enter into partnerships with private entities.
The judiciary funding will allow the $90 million complex to move ahead on 10 acres near Makala Boulevard in North Kona. Bids on the project are set to open at the end of the year, with groundbreaking in fall 2016 and completion set for spring 2019.
The 143,000-square-foot facility will include five courtrooms, conference rooms, a self-help center and law library.
Kona Sen. Josh Green applauded his colleagues for seeing a need “that has hounded us for 10 years.”
“This was top priority for the region for (Rep. Nicole) Lowen and I,” Green said. “It’s been a challenge because it’s a lot of money but it’s so important to West Hawaii and the island in general. It’s going to create a lot of jobs, and it’s just going to be a lot more convenient for justice to be dealt nearby.”
Courtrooms are currently scattered around Kealakekua, south of Kailua-Kona, in facilities that were not designed for the purpose they are now serving.
“This final funding represents a huge investment in West Hawaii,” Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen said. “It provides needed infrastructure for our growing community, a safe place for our justice system, and will create jobs and economic growth.”
The hospital privatization bill is specific to Maui but has broad implications for the rest of the state as facilities like Kona Community Hospital and their boards of directors make it clear they would like to pursue similar ventures. Both chambers agreed to adding back labor protections where workers will stay in their jobs for six months under privatization scenarios. Additionally, those who are bumped will be helped to move laterally within the civil service sector, said Green, the Senate chairman of the conference committee handling the bill. Clarifying language also opens the partnerships to other bidders besides Hawaii Pacific Health.
“We had to make sure everyone — Kaiser, Queen’s, HPH — all had a fair chance to bid,” Green said.
Gov. David Ige last week intervened in the legislation as it was about to be approved, sending the two chambers into conference to fine-tune the bill.