A plan announced by Gov. Josh Green for the state, Maui County and several private entities to pay compensation for Maui wildfire deaths and serious injuries is facing blowback at the Legislature.

Some members of a Senate committee that will help decide whether to allocate money for the initiative are critically questioning state participation in what is now called the One Ohana Fund.

A major concern raised is having Hawaii taxpayers pay for loss of life and injuries when the state may not be liable for the Aug. 8 fire, which killed at least 101 people and injured an unknown number of others in Lahaina.

Green announced the fund in November, and wants the state to contribute $65 million of its $175 million total.

The money would provide $1.5 million for each fatality, paid to surviving family members, and use $23.5 million to pay qualified injury claims in return for participants foregoing litigation.

On Wednesday during a hearing on a bill that might appropriate money for the One Ohana Fund, a few members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee suggested that it might not be prudent for the state to essentially settle personal injury and death claims, especially before a pending investigation determines the fire’s cause.

“I have one big problem with this,” said Sen. Lynn DeCoite (D, East and Upcountry Maui-Molokai-­Lanai). “I have a problem with it in how we going about the payouts.”

DeCoite said it’s irresponsible to commit to pay such claims while a fire causation investigation is ongoing, and she questioned whether it would set a precedent for taxpayers covering losses from other Hawaii wildfires that cross state land.

“What is the message we’re sending out?” she said. “I feel like we’re guilty at the point of — forget the investigation, we’re just going to pay out. That’s irresponsible of us, and I don’t agree with it.

“Where does it stop?” DeCoite continued. “Cause we not one endless bank. We’re going to hit the taxpayers.”

Sen. Michelle Kidani, vice president in the Senate, said she can’t understand why the state would make such an offer if state attorneys don’t believe the state is liable.

Kidani (D, Mililani Town-Waipio Gentry-Royal Kunia) said it’s not clear to her what plaintiffs in pending lawsuits are alleging as to the state’s responsibility for the disaster.

“Did our property start the fire? … I guess I’m still not getting it as to why we’re putting ourselves into this,” she said.

State Attorney General Anne Lopez told committee members that no admission of liability is being made with the offer.

“Right now I’m going to say we’re not liable for anything,” she said. “We’re one of the deep pockets. It (being sued and settling) happens all the time.”

Green in November described the fund’s purpose largely in terms of compassion.

“We want to make sure that we care for families, that they can move on to some degree with their lives,” he said at the time. “No amount of money will ever help anyone deal with the loss of a loved one. However, it does make a difference as they rebuild. It might help them rebuild a home sooner. It might help them care for their grandchildren. So that’s why we are doing it. … The way we view this is that as an ohana we’re all taking responsibility as a state. Rather than it being about liability, it’s about responsibility.”

Lopez on Wednesday said there is risk that the state could be found liable to some degree.

“We’re never going to come out and say we’re liable for ‘x’ amount, but a court may in five years … and so it really is a sort of risk-benefit analysis of trying to settle earlier for less money.”

Sen. Kurt Fevella (R, Ewa Beach-Ocean Pointe-­Iroquois Point) wanted to know how any potential state share of responsibility for the wildfire relates to its proposed fund contribution.

A $65 million contribution represents 37% of the $175 million fund total.

Hawaiian Electric, which is alleged in litigation to be responsible for sparking the fire when transmission equipment was blown down by high winds, is contributing up to $75 million using company insurance proceeds. The utility company has said it will fight litigation.

The other contributors to the fund are Maui County, Hawaiian Telcom, Charter Communications and two landowners, Kamehameha Schools and West Maui Land Co.

The Ways and Means Committee did not decide Wednesday whether to advance a bill the Department of the Attorney General wants to have amended to provide $65 million for One Ohana Fund.

That measure is Senate Bill 582, which was introduced last year as a blank bill pertaining to the state budget and also is proposed for use now to make emergency appropriations to pay for much-higher-than-expected state expenses for Maui wildfire recovery efforts for the current fiscal year ending June 30.

Lopez told the committee that there is a goal to launch One Ohana Fund on March 1 with a website and documents for participation made available.

Retired state Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra from Hawaii island has agreed to be the claims administrator for the fund at no cost.

The state is a defendant in over 70 Maui wildfire lawsuits, according to Lopez, though many or most of them involve only property damage claims.

Some of the pending litigation alleges that public and private owners of land filled with dry brush are liable for the wildfire disaster.

Lopez estimated that 75% to 80% of people who are eligible for fund payouts will participate, with the remainder pursuing litigation likely over several years.

Green has said he is hopeful that initial payments from the fund can be made between April and June to qualified applicants.