Here’s why having friends in high places is not always the best. You have expectations, which cause high expectations.

That is what Rep. Sylvia Luke, chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, and Sen. Jill Tokuda, chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, have for Gov. David Ige and his 1-year-old administration.

Two years ago when Ige left his colleagues to launch an underfunded, dark horse campaign for governor, friends were confident that if the Pearl City Democrat could win, he would be a whiz at running the state.

Instead, the administration has been rocked with unforeseen problems, from Native Hawaiian protests over the observatories on Mauna Kea to the appalling living conditions of thousands of homeless on public streets. And although it comes every year, last summer’s heat wave also appeared to catch the administration off guard as classroom temperatures across the state reached triple digits.

In the last two weeks, the concerns are showing up in legislators’ questions of state department directors.

For the first time in many years, the Democrats are looking at one of their own and thinking there should be more.

In separate interviews this week as the Legislature was about to open, the two lawmakers said it is time for the Ige administration to deliver.

“The governor came from the Legislature and he was WAM chair for four years, so he understands the goings on and the intricacies probably more than anyone else because he has seen it at the legislative level and now the executive level,” said Luke.

“Part of the reason why we are questioning more is the reality that whether it is this governor or the prior governor, the Legislature has not done a good job in scrutinizing the executive branch and the work of the various departments,” said Luke.

“It is a disservice to the public if we don’t demand answers to not just hard questions, but the simple questions,” said Tokuda, who adds that she thinks it is time for the Ige administration to do more.

“You are in the second year, some of them (department heads) are holdover; there need to be answers. To not have answers, to not have strategies, is not something we can accept, so we are challenging them to do better,” said Tokuda.

The problem is that Ige’s administration is not communicating with its own members, and that lack is resonating.

“They are still acting very siloed. As much as the administration says it is not siloed, and while it is one thing to want to say it is doing good, actually doing it is another,” said Tokuda.

Both legislative leaders stressed that they are not criticizing Ige, but the impatience was obvious.

Luke, for instance, said “there is no reason” why the departments of Transportation, Health and Hawaiian Home Lands have not been able to spend the millions in allocated federal funds given to the state.

Luke said she is considering calling for fiscal audits of the departments, if they are unable to quickly come up with plans to spend the available money.

“A lot of times, I don’t think the Legislature does a good job in following up,” said Luke, who along with Tokuda now are waiting for the Ige administration to stand and deliver.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.