HONOLULU -- The leader of Hawaii's largest public workers union on Friday renewed his call for an excise tax hike to deal with the state's projected budget shortfall.

The huge cuts Gov. Linda Lingle will have to make in the face of the state's new projected revenue shortfall will not be enough and additional tax money will have to be raised, Hawaii Government Employees Association Executive Director Randy Perreira said.

Government workers are prepared to face some combination of benefit and pay reduction, but the state is going to need more than labor savings and other their reductions to get out of its current financial dilemma, Perreira said.

Lingle needs to look at the long term instead of plugging a hole in the budget, Perriera said.

Union members will begin paying 23.7 percent more for health insurance, or about $216 per month, starting on July 1.

HGEA head Randy Perreira said the excise tax should be raised 0.5 percent to total 5 percent for Oahu residents and 4.5 percent for neighbor islanders.

"I realize this is an unpopular way to do things but this is a reality," Perreira said.

A reality Perreira said now that the state is facing a projected revenue decline over the next three years of $612 million.

Deep employee salary cuts can be counterproductive because public employees then will have less money to spend making the economy worse, Perriera said.

"Economists will suggest it is going to be less harmful, actually more beneficial to the economy if we raise taxes that it would be to continue cutting the budget," he said.

The excise tax is fairest because tourists pay a lot of it and every resident, the union leader said.

"It touches everyone in every sector whether you look at a temporary or permanent cut in the excise tax along with necessary cuts and adjustments," Perriera said.

He said he expects public employees will be asked to accept furloughs or deeper pay cuts, which Perreira said will be considered. However, he said it will probably not result in enough of a savings to close the new huge projected revenue gap the Council on Revenues released on Thursday.