A state survey conducted a few years ago found that slightly more than half had cash readily available for three months or less; and 22 percent reported that if funding suddenly dried up, their reserves would tap out within one month.

On Thursday, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation brought together over 200 island nonprofits for a look at potential outcomes tied to the 2018 fiscal year. One promising coping strategy: plans are in the works to create a nonpartisan Hawaiʻi State Budget & Policy Center at the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice to provide data to help guide policy decisions.

Hawaiʻi would be the 43rd state to establish such a center in tandem with the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The institute analyzes budgetary priorities, zooming in on how choices affect low-income Americans. It was founded in 1981 in response to President Ronald Reagan’s first proposed budget, which included tax and budget cuts that targeted safety-net programs such as food stamps and Medicaid.

Nonprofits now bracing for a drop of the budget ax are looking to local and state government for help. The proposed center could help assess need. Also, we must step up scrutiny of grants-in-aid funding practices conducted by the [Honolulu] city council and state legislature.