State Sen. Jill Tokuda will be removed from her position as chairwoman of the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday in an end-of-session leadership shake-up triggered in part by the volatile debate over the Honolulu rail project this year.

Tokuda confirmed she has been told she will be removed, and said a group of her colleagues plan to name Senate Majority Whip Donovan Dela Cruz as the new chairman of Ways and Means.

That is a much-coveted position because the chairman controls all appropriation and tax measures in the Senate, which gives that person enormous leverage over almost all issues that move through the Legislature.

“It’s power, it’s a power grab, and rail was the catalyst,” said Tokuda in an interview this afternoon. “You can sugar coat it and claim all kinds of stuff about transparency and all this other stuff, but let’s cut to the chase and say what this is really about.”

Dela Cruz refused to discuss the matter, other than to suggest that any news of the leadership swap should be delayed until after the Senate meets Thursday. Senate President Ron Kouchi did not respond to a request for comment.

Tokuda this year staked out a perilous position on the rail issue when she strongly criticized the city’s management of the project in a February hearing, and refused the city’s request for an extension of the half-percent general excise surcharge on Oahu that is providing most of the funding for rail.

Instead, Tokuda advanced a bill that reduced the state’s share of the surcharge, a step that would have provided only about $300 million in additional funding for rail. City officials said that was far too little money, and warned it would force them to raise city taxes or fees to complete the rail project.

Lawmakers are deadlocked over how to provide additional funding for the rail project, and it appears the issue will not be resolved by the scheduled adjournment on Thursday.