A recent local opinion piece carries the message: “State needs to rein in wild spending.”

Good thought, but what do you do with a local economy fueled by state surpluses year after year plus incessant budget demands for more money?

The warning comes from the largely conservative Grassroot Institute of Hawaii that warns: “The state’s free-spending ways represent tough times ahead for Hawaii taxpayers.”

That may be the warning, but it is coupled with state Council on Revenues projections of state general fund tax collections growing 3.5% this fiscal year and 2.2% the next year.

Other Hawaii governors have come into office with either deficits or no-growth budgets. In fact former Gov. Ben Cayetano had recalled that his first Cabinet meeting was marked with grim jokes that the first order of business would be a search for things the state could sell to balance the budget.

In comparison, Gov. Josh Green’s administration has only known good times.

In fact, Green came into office looking at a budget with the state on track to end the fiscal year with a near-$2 billion surplus.

Green said earlier this year that his budget restrictions and vetoes, totaling $74.2 million for operating and $79.5 million for capital improvement projects in general funds,were “part of a larger plan that reduced other appropriation bills to rebalance the state’s finances and maintain stable reserves.”

Green pointed out in a news release last year that he has “issued line-item budget reductions and adjustments totaling $1 billion.”

At the same time, Hawaii maintains a strong carryover balance while keeping up a $1.5 billion rainy day fund.

But you have to balance those good numbers with some looming dark clouds. In a recent Pew Research Center report, just six states recorded a 15-year shortfall at the end of fiscal 2022, a drop from eight the previous year. Among those was Hawaii, with a recorded long-term revenue shortfall relative to expenses between fiscal 2008 and 2022.

Looking at total revenue as a share of total expenses, for FY 2008-2022, Pew said, Hawaii was 1 of just 6 states with long-term deficits.

Hawaii and Massachusetts both covered just 96.9%. Each state experienced deficits in at least 11 of the 15 years studied.

With revenue growth being forecast, though, Hawaii is still a “go throttle up” kind of place.

So, it is easy to see why Green can cut the budget and still keep on smiling.