Hawaii ag agency won’t get all the money slated for pest management after all

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green last week slashed $10 million from the Department of Agriculture’s budget aimed at limiting the spread of invasive species.

Green said the agency likely couldn’t spend the money before it lapsed because the agency didn’t have the staffing to effectively identify and oversee initiatives that would put it to use. The biosecurity program still has another $10 million that Green left in the budget.

But that still has critics worried that the administration is giving up the fight against invasive species, a subject that received increased attention during the 2024 legislative session.

The concerns come after 18 months of scrutiny of the agriculture department, charged with leading Hawaii biosecurity efforts but chastised for being sluggish in response to outbreaks.

In May lawmakers unanimously approved about $20 million appropriation for biosecurity in a bill the governor then hailed as “landmark legislation.”

But in explaining his vetoes last month, Green cast doubt on how “feasible and executable” it would be for the short-staffed department to effectively spend the funds appropriated in House Bill 2619. Last week, when the vetoes were finalized, Green told lawmakers that the state’s financial outlook was also a factor.

The agriculture department has faced persistent staff vacancies in recent years and has other appropriations to manage, Green said in June. Those factors needed to be considered to ensure the funding has an effective impact, he added.

The agriculture department did not respond to several requests for comment.

But in a press release on Monday, director Sharon Hurd said the “historical investment” ensured “the responsible use of state funds” to tackle the state’s biosecurity issue.

Little fire ants and coconut rhinoceros beetles were especially problematic in 2023. The beetles spread throughout the state following a decade of containment on Oahu, while little fire ants became entrenched on the Windward Coast of Oahu.

But community members continue to raise alarms about the stinging ants impairing their ability to use public space and access the outdoors, while the beetles have already started decimating palm tree crops, including coconut trees, throughout Hawaii.

The administration’s almost $10 million cut was surprising, Wayne Tanaka of the Sierra Club said.

“Given the severity and gravity of the situation, they are throwing in the towel,” Tanaka said.

The amended bill zeroes out appropriations to educate the public about invasive species and for counties to control their feral chicken populations. It also slashes $1 million from the original $2.5 million appropriation for little fire ant control and cuts $300,000 from the $1.5 million for beetle control.

Funding cuts also pare back infrastructure, coqui frog and two-line spittlebug programs and staff positions at the agriculture department.

Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole of Kaneohe and Kailua said he is deeply frustrated by Green’s contention that the department lacks the capacity to spend the money. His district is facing infestations by the little fire ant.

Keohokalole is among several lawmakers to apply pressure on the agriculture department to correct what they see as a sluggish and ineffective response to the state’s pest problems. Agency officials have cited low funding, staff turnover and a lack of resources.

“At a certain point the excuses have to stop” given legislators’ recent bid to inject funding, Keohokalole said.

It is unclear whether the department asked for the funds to be reduced, or whether it came from the governor’s office, but “it’s an admission of defeat, almost,” Keohokalole said.

The state potentially saves $8,000 for every dollar it spends on biosecurity. Some potential new invasive species, such as brown tree snakes, could wreak billions of dollars of harm to Hawaii.

Lawmakers chastised as lacking ambition the agriculture department’s original request for $2.5 million for biosecurity at the beginning of the 2024 legislative session.

But some recognize the funding as progress even after the vetoes.

Considering the funding for fighting invasive species in past sessions, Christy Martin of the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, part of the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit at the University of Hawaii, said even $10 million was a substantial number.

Keeping A Controversial Figure

Green also approved the department’s request to retain its formerly retired acting biosecurity chief Carol Okada, after stating in April that the controversial bureaucrat would not be rehired.

Okada was needed to help oversee and spend the money because the agency had not found a replacement for a job advertised since October.

The governor approved retaining Okada after previously announcing that she would not continue working for the agriculture department. She has become a controversial figure in invasive species circles. Many, including Windward Oahu lawmakers, feared that Okada and the agriculture department were protecting the nursery industry that the agency is charged with regulating.

That fear was stoked by the department’s slow implementation of rules intended to help clamp down on the spread of pests by strengthening regulation of the nurseries.

Despite Green’s initial response, he has allowed the agriculture department to rehire Okada to help it spend the remaining $10 million in light of her decades of experience, the governor’s senior adviser Blake Oshiro said.

That is in part because the department has been unable to find a replacement for Okada, who has been on rolling temporary 89-day contracts since her return from retirement last year.

Okada will not return to her role as acting administrator of the Plant Industry Division. She will instead work in an advisory capacity on another 89-day contract, Oshiro said.

The administration’s main priority is to find a permanent replacement for Okada. At least one candidate has turned down the position, he said.

But the administration could not rule out Okada being rehired for another 89-day contract, given the department’s inability to replace her so far.

Okada will be in charge of distributing the funds to community organizations and partners, Oshiro said.

Lawmakers and community members are concerned that the Hawaii Ant Lab, a statewide University of Hawaii program that helps treat infestations, will be excluded due to fraying relationships. A $2 million bill with funding for ant eradication was added to Act 231 this session, but the lab’s name was struck out.

It remains unclear how the agency is going to spend the money, lab research manager Michelle Montgomery said. But the lab is “constantly in a state of semi-crisis” when it comes to funding, she said.

Rep. Scot Matayoshi of Windward Oahu said he was disappointed that the governor agreed to Okada’s rehiring, as well as the almost $10 million in funding cuts. But he’s open to changing his view if Okada gets the job done, he said.

“I’m not ready to accept that little fire ants are a way of life on Oahu. The Big Island should be a cautionary tale,” Matayoshi said. “We need all the resources we can get, in that bill, to the organizations that can get it under control.”

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This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.