Paid in full. Trust? Still pending.

by Stan Fichtmann, PoliticsHawaii.com

Back on June 25, this blog published a piece on the legislative hearing where lawmakers grilled the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA) — once again — over late contractor payments. If you’ve been reading Politics Hawaii for a while, this was nothing new: big contractor, long delay, state shrugs, vendors scramble for bridge loans.

Well, it seems there’s an update.

According to a July 6 Star-Advertiser article, HTA says it’s caught up. Both the Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB) and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s Kilohana program (which, admittedly, this blogger hadn’t realized was also caught in the same billing mess) have been paid. No additional interest went to HVCB — instead, they used about $482,000 of their unspent budget to cover the cost of waiting.

In other words, the state found a way to avoid paying more by letting HVCB absorb the hit itself.

According to the Star Advertiser article, Interim HTA President and CEO Caroline Anderson, who assumed her role in March 2025, is emphasizing this as part of her 90-day plan to realign the organization. She also notes that the agency is undergoing a transition: the board is being replaced after Gov. Josh Green signed SB 1571 (now Act 132), which effectively transformed the HTA board into an advisory body.

While this is an interesting story, we’ll focus on the main point here – so, is Hawai‘i government procurement fixed? Technically, maybe. But let’s not declare victory just yet.

Because if you zoom out a bit, this isn’t just about HTA or a single contractor being made whole. This is about a culture — one where the state of Hawai‘i routinely asks contractors to front the money, tell them to absorb the delay, and swallow the costs. Sometimes that works out (like here). Other times, like with SMS Research last year, it doesn’t. That company went under. Full stop.

Will the Governor’s office, now that they are in more control of the HTA, have a solution to the issue of Hawaii Tourism than what the recently resigned board had?

Which brings us to the lingering question: now what?

Are we looking at a real fix — or just another temporary patch?

And what about the private sector? Will vendors start padding their bids, assuming the “Hawai‘i delay” is just part of the cost of doing business here?

But maybe the real question is this: after all of this, can the State of Hawai‘i still be trusted to hold up its end of the deal?

Because in government, as in business, credibility isn’t built on apologies or memos. It’s built on consistency. On action. On doing what you said you would — on time.

Let’s be honest: it’s a hard sell to ask private firms to partner with the government when the unspoken part of the deal is “We’ll pay you… eventually.” And in this game, the house — a.k.a. the State — keeps asking vendors to play without chips.

HTA may have cleaned up this round. But if the state wants credibility as a fair and reliable partner, it’s going to take more than 90-day action plans and internal memos.

Ideally, when the invoice is submitted and the work is done, the check should follow. Not months later. Not after a loan. Not with interest tacked on and hard feelings left behind.

Otherwise, we’ll be back here again — writing another “update” that sounds way too familiar.

Because while the names may change, the pattern — unfortunately — hasn’t. Yet.