The House Finance Committee, chaired by Rep. Sylvia Luke, unanimously voted Wednesday to trim $226 million from Gov. David Ige’s state budget request for the next two years.

It was the first time lawmakers heard House Bill 500, which provides $25.7 billion in funding over the biennium for the vast majority of government services and programs.

In fiscal year 2016, which starts July 1, the House draft recommends cutting $92 million off of the governor’s request. For 2017, reps reduced the request by $134 million.

Rep. Sylvia Luke presides over the House Finance Committee’s consideration of the state budget Wednesday.

Cory Lum/Civil Beat

There was little discussion over the recommendations during the 90-minute hearing, which also included committee approvals of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Judiciary budgets.

Luke gave Ige a head’s up about the cuts to the executive request.

“To my surprise he said, ‘Oh good,’” she said, noting his approval of tightening up the budget.

The bill now heads to a vote before the full House, which has until next Wednesday to approve it. From there, it will go through a similar process in the Senate, starting in the Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Sen. Jill Tokuda.

The budget ultimately gets resolved in conference committee, a panel of select lawmakers from the House and Senate. That process will likely occur in late April.

Read past Civil Beat’s coverage of the budget here.