MEDIA RELEASE

Gov. Neil Abercrombie submitted his Administration’s budget Tuesday to the State Legislature and released the following statement regarding the escalating conflicts between state government and public employees across the country:

“Since taking office, I have been meeting regularly with public employees across the state — both as constituents and as a partner in serving the public interest. I’ve been listening and learning about how we can make our government more effective and efficient.

“We are about to enter into collective bargaining, which we plan to conduct out of mutual concern for the well-being of the people of our state and the ability of our government to meet basic public needs.

“In Hawaii, we don’t confront each other as adversaries; we discuss our mutual challenges in good faith; we meet as friends with a common goal. That will be how we conduct ourselves in the days ahead.”

For information about Abercrombie’s budget, visit http://hawaii.gov/gov