House and Senate lawmakers found common ground Thursday on a few dozen differences between their chambers’ respective versions of the state budget, but it was mostly minor stuff on the second day of hearings in conference.

But with an April 25 deadline to iron out a final draft, the pressure will be on the 29-member joint committee to tackle the bigger disagreements when it reconvenes Monday. 

House Finance Chair Sylvia Luke and Senate Ways and Means Chair David Ige made their way through hundreds of pages of items they didn’t see eye to eye on in the $12 billion budget, stopping to announce the areas where they’ve reached a compromise.

Many of the agreements Thursday dealt with changing how certain positions are funded and removing vacant positions.

Department heads have a habit of holding onto vacant positions and using that money for things like vacation payouts and unexpected overtime costs. Starting last legislative session, Ige and Luke have endeavored to end this practice to create a more transparent budget.

Dozens of positions were cut and added to the University of Hawaii’s community college system, for instance, but the overall funding didn’t change much. The difference between the House and Senate versions is less than $2 million, which isn’t much considering the community colleges’ total budget is roughly $214 million for 2014.

The committee opted for the House version of the budget when it came to funding various University of Hawaii programs, agreeing to $45 million. The Senate version included $47 million, the difference being money for lab animal services.

The committee added 50 positions, mostly security jobs for the community colleges, but cut 49 positions, primarily instructors.

Lawmakers also resolved the disagreement they had over how much money to put toward a statewide voter registration system. 

The House yielded to the Senate position, which includes one position and $200,000 in federal Help America Vote Act funds. The House had wanted one position and $346,668 in state general funds.

The Senate also got its way with how the Division of Consumer Advocacy, which protects the public’s interest in electric rate cases before the Public Utilities Commission. The committee agreed to give the historically underfunded agency $749,714, which is expected to go toward an attorney position and outside consultants.

On Tuesday, the first day budget negotiators met, the committee agreed on $1.5 million for the Housing First Program to address homelessness in the state; $7.36 million for Wiki Wiki shuttle buses at Honolulu International Airport to support the state’s visitor industry at the points of entry and exit; $1 million in funding for campus enrollment support positions at University of Hawaii-West Oahu; and $318,486 for the Executive Office on Aging grant programs.

The next conference committee hearing starts at 3 p.m., Monday, at the Capitol. 

— Nathan Eagle

Photo: Hawaii State Capitol Building. (Civil Beat file)