Members of the Legislature’s budget conference committee have reached an agreement to fund construction of a building for the University of Hawaii’s pharmacy school.
Both the House and Senate included funding for a permanent home for the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy in their versions of the budget.
UH-Hilo officials learned today that negotiators for the two houses agreed on $33 million for the building from bond sources.
Both sides had tentatively agreed on the amount but differed on the source of the funding.
Today’s agreement calls for $28 milllion of the funding to come from general obligation bonds, which can be repaid from taxes and other sources, and $5 million from revenue bonds which have more specific repayment sources.
“This project has been a collective effort from the very beginning and we want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this outcome possible,” said Chancellor Don Straney.
“We’re especially grateful for the support we’ve received from the House and Senate, beginning with the efforts of our Hawai`i Island delegation.”
The pharmacy school was established in 2007, awarded its first degrees in 2011, and will graduate its fourth class in May.
It currently operates from temporary facilities.
A site in University Park along Komohana Street has been selected for a permanent facility, which has already been planned and designed.
Although there has been an agreement on the funding, it must still be officially approved next week by the full House and Senate.
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