We all make promises that sound like a good idea.

When I wanted to encourage my son to go to the University of Hawaii instead of a mainland college, I told him I would buy him a truck and a moped. He could park off campus, then ride the moped to classes. Great idea, right?

“Whatever happened to the truck and moped I was supposed to get?” he asked, five years later, at his UH graduation party.

We laughed.

And then he said he would take care of me in my old age. Promise.

The hope is lawmakers will make good on well-meaning intentions to restore the $4 million appropriation to help UH athletics, and to look into providing additional mental-health resources for not only student-athletes, but the overall student body, faculty and staff members.

Those pledges came amid last month’s concerns about allegations of the UH football team’s toxic environment fostered under head coach Todd Graham. A state Senate hearing was called to look into Graham’s leadership and, subsequently, those who hired him and allegedly failed to address the aggrieved players’ complaints. Lawmakers widened their inquiry into the athletic department’s finances, as well as student-athletes’ nutritional and mental well-being. One senator hinted there would be as much as $1.2 million that could be raised to buy out the three years remaining on Graham’s contract.

And then Graham resigned, forfeiting any buyout payment he might have been owed.

And while UH has moved forward with an enthusiastic former star quarterback — Timmy Chang — as the Warriors’ head coach, the implied state help is still in the work-in-progress stage.

There are believed to be three bills alive. One is to empower the Board of Regents to fire athletic directors and coaches — an unusual overreach of authority. Another measure calls for an audit of UH athletics’ finances — a redundancy because the books already are open for perusal. And then there is a bill to restore the $4 million appropriation UH athletics used to receive. That would be a significant help to offset the unique expenses UH incurs as a college sports program 2,500 miles from the nearest competitor. UH football, for instance, has to pay travel subsidies to visiting Mountain West teams, and receives only a partial share of the league’s revenue from the national-television agreement.

UH also has several capital-improvement needs.

During day games, the baseball blends with the sun-bleached artificial surface at Les Murakami Stadium. An artificial turf is needed to replace the dirt mound — a must where “Manoa mist” is a daily habit. “Tin roof … rusted” is a B-52’s catchphrase, as well as the reason the Rainbows’ batting complex is condemned. A ’Bows alumnus is leading the effort to build a new batting facility.

UH’s weight room, which has recovered from a flood in the fall, needs an upgrade. There have been no significant improvements to what used to be known as Alex Waterhouse Weight Room since the Stan Sheriff Center opened in 1994.

And UH could use a boost to the Ching Complex, where the Warriors will play their home football games for the next several years.

UH was forced to scramble after it was announced in December 2020 that Aloha Stadium no longer would be available for spectator-attended events because of structural-safety concerns. After the Ching Complex was retrofitted into a 9,000-seat venue for football games, a state Senate committee convened to question UH officials about the expediency of the project.

Now the Ching Complex must expand — to meet the NCAA’s requirement of a 15,000-per-game average attendance over a two-year period, and to, frankly, generate more revenue for a program that needs more kala.

A UH official said the legislative proposals are at the end of the metaphorical first quarter, and there is enough time for negotiations and debates. UH’s hope is the promised state help will be fulfilled.