Last year, the state Legislature awarded the Department of Agriculture nearly $20 million to allow it to carry out more aggressive efforts to deal with invasive species. Governor Josh Green pared that back by half. Still, $10 million for biosecurity was more than three times what the department had received the year previous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On January 17, a joint session of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment and the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems met to understand generally what state agencies were doing to address biosecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not surprisingly, most of their attention focused on the DOA\u2019s use of the funds awarded to it last year in Act 231. DOA director Sharon Hurd was in the hot seat for nearly an hour of the two-and-a-half-long meeting, during which she was subject to unsparing questioning and criticism of her department\u2019s stewardship of Act 231 funds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her introductory remarks, she stated that of the $10 million actually awarded to her department, 65 percent had been obligated and 52 percent actually encumbered. She said she expected to have all funds encumbered by June 30, when the fiscal year ends and unencumbered funds would lapse. The only hesitation concerned the 44 new positions that the Legislature authorized. Whether the Department of Human Resources Development, the state civil service agency, would conclude its review and classification of the positions in time to advertise the positions by the end of the fiscal year was out of Hurd\u2019s hands, she said. Still, she told the lawmakers, she was hopeful this could be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Legislature had allocated more than $3 million to pay for the new positions, leaving around $7 million for the department to address the other items called out in Act 231. The three largest items called out in the long list of issues in the act were, before the governor halved the appropriations: little fire ants, $2.5 million; public awareness campaign, $2 million; and tech upgrades, $2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Nicole Lowen of Kona started off the questioning, asking about the funding for everything other than personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSixty-five percent is obligated,\u201d Hurd said. \u201cBy obligated, we mean we\u2019ve done an RFP [request for proposals], given an award. So the funding is tied up. Nobody else can get it. It belongs to HTM for [coconut rhinoceros beetle], belongs to Terminix for [little fire ant].\u201d Contracts for each of these came to $1.1 million.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An $800,000 contract that had been issued to deal with green waste was \u201cflawed,\u201d she said, since the RFP included hauling but not loading. But \u201cwe should have that RFP reposted in February,\u201d Hurd told the legislators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lowen asked about the expenditures relating to little fire ant (LFA) and coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB). \u201cYou said $1.1 [million] for LFA and $1.1 [million] for CRB. That\u2019s of that $10 million?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, Hurd answered. \u201cWith LFA, you gave us $1.5,\u201d she said, adding that the Department of Agriculture had held back $400,000 in reserve \u201cfor our work with nurseries, training, biochemicals. So $1.1 is what we awarded to Terminix to treat residences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere are they going?\u201d Lowen wanted to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd said that Terminix would be treating 580 houses on O\u02bbahu and 290 on the Big Island. \u201cAnd then for Maui and Kaua\u02bbi, \u2026 they\u2019re gonna go survey, see what kinds of responses they are getting, do outreach, like actually show the people if you see this, do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The selection of Terminix to receive nearly the entire sum of funds that were to address problems associated with the little fire ant quickly became one of the themes of the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow do you pick which homes get subsidies and other homes don\u2019t?\u201d Lowen asked. To which Hurd said that the DOA had \u201ca list of people,\u201d some self-reported, others identified by staff or by the different county invasive species committees (ISCs). \u201cIn fact,\u201d she added, \u201cTerminix, they just talked to us today,\u201d wanting to get the list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI mean, there\u2019s more than that number of homes that have LFA problems just in my district alone. How do you choose who gets state money versus who has to pay for it themselves?\u201d Lowen wanted to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to leave it up to Terminix,\u201d Hurd said. She said that the reason the department selected Terminix was because they already had the chemicals, the personnel, liability insurance, and could deal with people who have allergies or other special needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lowen pressed the point. \u201cThere has to be some process for deciding who gets subsidized.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd: \u201cI\u2019m going to have to ask Terminix and get back to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy would you leave it to Terminix to decide?\u201d Lowen asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause the contract isn\u2019t done yet,\u201d Hurd said. \u201cWe have to \u2013 the scope, of how \u2013 how would you like us to decide?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s all kinds of different ways you could approach it,\u201d Lowen said. \u201cYou could look at income, you could look at need, which communities have greater opportunities for prevention, or keeping it from spreading, where there have been more consistent problems, where the most claims have been. There\u2019s a ton of different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lowen pointed out that the Big Island had much greater need for LFA control than O\u02bbahu, which was getting the lion\u2019s share of the benefit. \u201cOf those 290 houses you mentioned, are they in Hilo, or Kona, or where are they?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd said that Terminix would be deciding what the best way is to \u201cmove in and actually attack the problem\u201d in areas where surveys had shown LFA to be present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lowen objected once more to Terminix making those decisions. \u201cIf that\u2019s part of what they\u2019re supposed to be doing under their contract, is to determine how state funds are distributed to citizens \u2013”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd jumped in to say that the DOA\u2019s Plant Quarantine Branch would be involved in the decision, \u201cbut it\u2019s going to be something we have to talk to them about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The idea of the state paying for the treatment of every homeowner with an LFA infestation would have been great if it had existed a decade ago on Hawai\u02bbi Island, Lowen said. \u201cI understand you want to nip it in the bud on a new island \u2026 but on Hawai\u02bbi Island, it\u2019s widespread. \u2026 Two-hundred some homes, that\u2019s nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs you well know, LFA treatment is not a one-time thing. It\u2019s a long-term treatment, over months. \u2026 This just feels like throwing taxpayer dollars at some people through a private company, instead of investing in a long-term solution for the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Lisa Marten wanted to know why Terminix was chosen, \u201cwhen we have far more experienced entities, like the Hawai\u02bbi Ant Lab, that have done some training for Terminix but haven\u2019t shared all their deep knowledge. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey were not able even to apply to the RFP because you limited it to private pest control companies. I\u2019m just super concerned we\u2019re leaving the experts behind who are trying to serve the public interest, and instead asking for-profit companies \u2026 to not only do the job but then even make policy decisions about who gets the benefits and who does not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She asked Hurd again why the RFP was set up in a way that excluded the Hawai\u02bbi Ant Lab, or HAL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Terminix, she said, has the licenses, businesses, registrations, the insurance needed, and trained applicators. \u201cSo the main concern we had was for kupuna, [people with] allergies, those who want only organic treatment\u2026. They had the \u2013 I think the most important thing when we had our discussions was the liability. They know what they\u2019re doing in terms of the health and welfare of the people they\u2019re serving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re suggesting they know more than the people that trained them?\u201d Marten asked, referring to HAL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, I\u2019m suggesting they have more insurance, more access to chemicals \u2013 they have it probably in their warehouse \u2013 and the equipment,\u201d Hurd said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut, you know, there\u2019s another bucket of funding coming, hopefully. We\u2019ll learn from this, and say, for this size house, this many people, this is the amount of money we need for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matthias Kusch, representing the Hilo area, asked Hurd, \u201cDo you guys have any data you\u2019re acting off of, for Hawai\u02bbi Island? O\u02bbahu has been referenced \u2013 data points, target areas. But has this happened on Hawai\u02bbi Island?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd launched into a discussion of the provision in Act 231 that called for spending $800,000 in tech upgrades. None of that had been spent, she said, because the state currently pays for the GIS program the department uses. \u201cWe\u2019re holding onto [the funds] in the event that the software that we have needs upgrading to do exactly what you\u2019re saying. We have the data. When we upload it, everyone will see where LFA is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, you\u2019ve done surveys?\u201d Kusch asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, definitely. We\u2019ve done many surveys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn Hawai\u02bbi Island?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At this point, Jonathan Ho, plant quarantine manager for the DOA, jumped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn Hawai\u02bbi Island? No.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo,\u201d Kusch said, \u201c$1.1 million, and the Terminix contract is just kind of a fishing expedition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe contract is primarily focused on O\u02bbahu,\u201d Ho said. \u201cThat\u2019s where the bulk of the money is. One of the goals with the contract is to really get a baseline idea of how much you can get done with a particular set of money, through a commercial standpoint. Ultimately, you can then take that number and extrapolate it against all of Hilo\u2026 At least we will have a quantifier \u2013 to do the rest of O\u02bbahu, we can expect to need X dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole of windward O\u02bbahu questioned Hurd on the statements she made concerning fund expenditures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDirector, you said the Terminix contract for LFA \u2013 you said the contract isn\u2019t done yet. You\u2019re still negotiating the scope of it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo you can you encumber money on a contract that\u2019s not done yet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd replied, \u201cThe contract is in DAGS right now. It\u2019s ready to go.\u201d (DAGS is the Department of Accounting and General Services.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t actually have a plan for how this private contractor is going to allocate the funds to do treatment,\u201d he said, \u201ceven though the ISCs\u201d \u2013 the island invasive species committees \u2013 \u201cespecially on O\u02bbahu, in coordination with the Ant Lab, have a pretty standardized protocol for how to treat infestations that has proven successful on Maui, in Mililani, and is underway in at least ten of the 66 sites on O\u02bbahu. You are aware of that, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd did not answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Referring to the slide Hurd had presented showing encumbrances, Keohokalole asked her, \u201cDirector did you intend to mislead the Legislature on how well you\u2019re doing on Act 231 encumbrances?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I did, it wasn\u2019t intentional,\u201d she said. \u201cI can tell you what is encumbered. There\u2019s a pest management systems contract \u2013 not contract, proposal \u2013 that we\u2019re working on with the University of Hawai\u02bbi, so that to me is considered encumbered because the money is\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keohokalole: \u201cConsidered encumbered, or encumbered? Because if it\u2019s encumbered and registered with the Department of Accounting and General Services as encumbered, then the money won\u2019t lapse on June 30. Is that what you intend when you say, on your slide, that 52 percent is encumbered?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight,\u201d Hurd responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, director, I\u2019m holding an email from Keith Regan, the comptroller and the director of the Department of Accounting and General Services, from 11:29 a.m. today. And what it says is that you have actually encumbered to date $1.1 million of Act 231 funding \u2026 and that you have spent zero dollars of that money to date. And we\u2019re six months in, and every dollar of Act 231 money that is not spent by June 30 lapses back into the general fund. Is that correct?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd replied that she should have used the term obligated for pending arrangements. \u201cWhen you encumber the funds, as what we\u2019re doing with the contract, it\u2019s encumbered, okay? Somebody has been awarded the funds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which contract was Hurd referencing, Keohokalole asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLet\u2019s say HAL,\u201d Hurd said. \u201cIt\u2019s in DAGS right now. It\u2019s in DAGS right now.
\u201cDirector, this email is from 11:29 a.m. From Keith Regan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe comptroller is correct,\u201d Hurd said, apparently agreeing with Keohokalole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe only funds that are encumbered are $1.1 million \u2013 10 percent of the Act 231 monies \u2013 and we are halfway through the year,\u201d Keohokalole said. \u201cYou\u2019re 0 for 44 on your positions, and you\u2019ve turned over four of your five managers that are responsible for invasive species in the last year. The only one that hasn\u2019t turned over is still on probation. Things are going backwards right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd: \u201cLet me, let me\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Keohokalole continued: \u201cWas it your intention to mislead the Legislature about how well you\u2019re doing because you\u2019re at risk of lapsing 90 percent of the Act 231 monies?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd insisted she did not intend to mislead anyone and that any confusion was just a matter of definition \u2013 \u201c\u201cencumber, obligate, award, expend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cObligate means nothing,\u201d the senator replied. \u201cIt means you think you know where you want it to go. Award means they know that you think you know where it wants to go and that it\u2019s supposed to go to them. Encumber means the money will not lapse in a year when you\u2019re coming back to ask for $28 million more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd repeated that the funds would be encumbered by the end of the fiscal year \u2013 all except, perhaps, those dealing with personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keohokalole wasn\u2019t quite done with Hurd: \u201cI just have trouble with the community having confidence in your ability to allocate and encumber and get all this money out the door when what we\u2019re being told right now is not being validated by DAGS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Scot Matayoshi, representing Kane\u02bbohe and Mililani, told Hurd, \u201cI\u2019ll be honest. I\u2019m pretty irritated. \u2026 This process has been going way too slow. I have no idea why Terminix was \u2013 or why you did not allow Hawai\u02bbi Ant Lab to bid on the RFP for little fire ants. To say it was liability is very confusing to me. As far as I know, HAL has been treating and has the equipment and expertise to do it. Unless you\u2019re saying that they\u2019ve been treating this whole time without proper insurance \u2026 then I\u2019m not sure where your liability argument is coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He continued: \u201cI\u2019m being told Hawai\u02bbi Ant Lab can do it at about 10 percent of the cost. This is not only a huge waste of state funds in my opinion, but also just not using our own guys to treat. Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI understand that sometimes we contract out when we don\u2019t have the personnel to treat but here we\u2019re literally ignoring the people who are government employees to do this. It doesn\u2019t make any sense, and we\u2019re paying ten times the amount in order to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo me not only is that government waste, but it means we\u2019re not treating to the extent that we could by a very large margin. And when you have the kind of infestations like we have in our communities, we need every house we can get to be treated. So this kind of waste is very, very disturbing to me\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHawai\u02bbi Ant Lab is ready to go. I\u2019m not sure why we have Terminix, who\u2019s asking for advice and trying to get their things in order in order to go out and treat when we have someone who\u2019s actively treating in the community right now and needs the resources to expand that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ho of the Plant Quarantine Branch once more came forward with the argument for liability. The issue isn\u2019t whether HAL has the expertise, he said. But it\u2019s small. \u201cTerminix is this very large company. They have the people, and once the contract is issued and they are trained, we provide them with sites and they can start immediately\u2026. HAL would need to do a little ramping up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matayoshi then suggested that the RFP with Terminix is faulty. \u201cThere seem to be things missing from it,\u201d he said. \u201cSome disconnects here that need to be worked out. You pulled the other RFP because you forgot to put in loading. If it\u2019s a matter of re-issuing this, it seems like you have grounds to reissue the RFP and broaden it to allow organizations like HAL to bid\u2026. Can you pull the RFP and reissue it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd insisted there was no reason to do that. \u201cThe proposal that came in was vetted by the committee, the procurement office. They met every term, every piece of the scope of the RFP. So why would we pull it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matayoshi then asked Chelsea Arnott, executive director of the multi-agency Hawai\u02bbi Invasive Species Council, to talk about funding for the Hawai\u02bbi Ant Lab and the furloughs it has undergone as a result of the lack of hard funding from the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arnott said that the majority of HAL employees are on the Big Island, with about one and a half on O\u02bbahu. The Hilo personnel \u201cmove across the islands to support communities across the state in LFA mitigation,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan they hit the ground running? Of course. They\u2019re the ones who developed the monitoring and treatment control protocols\u2026 They are definitely the experts in the field who know this system and have been assisting not just communities but also state agencies and other organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arnott praised what the Ant Lab has done and is continuing to do, albeit with reduced funding. \u201cBecause they have limited staff, they\u2019ve been developing community action programs to enhance their capabilities\u2026 But we also need to increase the capacity of HAL so they can work more effectively across the state,\u201d she said. At present, HAL\u2019s entire program runs about $1.3 million a year for around 16 staff members, she added, and that includes equipment, general operations, and overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sen. Mike Gabbard of west O\u02bbahu asked Hurd if any funding from Act 231 was being directed toward the island invasive species councils and the Ant Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t say if the ISCs are getting any dollars,\u201d she replied. \u201cWe asked Hawai\u02bbi Ant Lab to submit a proposal. I threw out a number, that maybe they can submit a proposal for $75 thousand. We recently got a proposal from the University of Hawai\u02bbi at $150. So we\u2019re looking at funding that. We have not yet begun the process.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ant Lab is run as a project of the university\u2019s Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, but its funding comes from competitive or discretionary grants and donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arnott went on to describe the Ant Lab as \u201ca critical piece of not just LFA mitigation, but other invasive ants. And they are soft-funded, like the island invasive species committees. We\u2019re trying to find a way to institutionalize them, give them long-term, stable funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hurd noted the DOA had supported the Ant Lab in the past. From 2014 to 2021, she said, the department had awarded it funds totaling just over $3 million, money that came from the fee the DOA collects on incoming cargo. \u201cSo, yeah, we\u2019ve been collaboratively funding each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Patricia Tummons<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last year, the state Legislature awarded the Department of Agriculture nearly $20 million to allow it to carry out more aggressive efforts to deal with invasive species. Governor Josh Green pared that back by half. Still, $10 million for biosecurity … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-16341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-february-2025","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}