Hawaii's House Finance Committee on Thursday approved a bill to use nearly half of the $213 million in the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund (HHRF) to help offset the state's looming budget shortfall. House lawmakers' 11-2 vote to tap the HHRF comes days after top administrators went before the committee to describe how their departments would be affected by having painful budget cuts of up to 5 percent. The measure allocates $5.3 million in hurricane funds to maintain STD and AIDS prevention services. Using the HHRF does not necessarily mean the departments will be spared budget cuts, said Dwight Takamine (D-North Hilo-Hamakua), the finance committee's chairperson; however, cuts may be smaller with the additional funding. The measure, House Bill 2654 HD 2, now goes to the full House for a vote.

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