Video by David Corrigan | Voice of Stephanie Salazar
Andrew Aoki, Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Neil Abercrombie, spoke of the harsh realities facing Hawaii at the 2011 Hawaii County Democratic Party Convention in Kona on Saturday.
“Your government is in terrible financial shape,” Aoki said, “after years and years and years of denying the systemic problems in government.” Aoki made numerous reference – although not by name – to the Republican rule of Linda Lingle in the prior administration.
Aoki, a familiar face alongside Abercrombie from the time the governor first announced his intention to run for the office of the state’s top executive, said things were not looking good.
“We are gonna have to raid special funds,” said Aoki, “we’re gonna have to do a whole bunch of things just to make the books balanced by the end of the year. One of the biggest problems that we have is that we decided – last year – to delay tax refunds into this year. Which is a $200 million hit to our fiscal year.”
“This administration is not going to do those things, anymore.”
To make matters worse, the state’s bonds were downgraded by credit agency Moody’s Investors Service, from Aa1 to Aa2 because of the state’s “strained financial operations.”
The downgrade could make it harder for the state to borrow money.
Yet somehow, Aoki remained optimistic about the future, confident in the team put in place by the administration.
“We are gonna move forward,” Aoki said. “The agenda is plain for you to see. Its the new day agenda, it hasn’t changed.”
To learn the details of how all the different ways in which the state is in dire straights, watch these videos from Aoki’s informative speech below.
VIDEO – Andrew Aoki at Democtratic Party Convention in Kona
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. May 21, 2011 – Andrew Aoki, Deputy Chief of Staff in Governor Abercrombie’s administration, paints a stark picture of the state’s current financial woes. This talk was given to the Hawaii County Democratic Party Convention attendees in Kona. |
Get
the Flash Player to see this player. May 21, 2011 – The second part of the speech. After detailing all the ways in which the state of Hawaii is in dire straights, Andrew Aoki offers some optimistic words for the assembled Democrats in Kona. |
by Big Island Video News3:27 pm
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STORY SUMMARY
Video by David Corrigan | Voice of Stephanie Salazar Andrew Aoki, Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Neil Abercrombie, spoke of the harsh realities facing Hawaii at the 2011 Hawaii County Democratic Party Convention in Kona on Saturday. “Your government is in terrible financial shape,” Aoki said, “after years and years and years of denying […]