Hawaii lawmakers grilled state Department of Agriculture officials at a recent legislative hearing about their plans for fighting invasive species.

The state departments of Agriculture and Land and Natural Resources, as well as the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience, briefed the Senate and House committees on agriculture last week about their efforts to combat various invasive pests over the past few years.

But those presentations — particularly one by Agriculture Director Sharon Hurd — raised more questions than answers among lawmakers, who questioned whether the department’s funds are being spent in the most effective way possible, or even if they are being spent at all.

Hurd’s presentation to the joint committees described, among other things, the department’s progress in spending $10 million allocated in 2024 by the Legislature to the department via Act 231. Most of those funds were earmarked for targeted biocontrol measures against invasive species such as coconut rhinoceros beetles, little fire ants, two-lined spittlebugs, coqui frogs and others.

About $670,000 of the Act 231 funding was intended for 44 new positions in the department, including 20 new plant quarantine inspector positions.

Hurd told the joint committees that none of the funds intended for the new positions have been spent yet. She said the recruitment process is in the “classifier review” stage, which ensures the requirements and qualifications for the jobs are consistent with similar positions statewide.

Hurd said the department expects the job openings will by posted by June 30, the date by which all unspent funds of the Act 231 allocation are to lapse back into the general fund.

Hurd also said 52% of the biocontrol efforts funded through Act 231 have had their budgets encumbered — e.g., the money has been reserved for a future expense — while 65% have had their funds “obligated.” Hurd said this means “the funding is tied up, nobody else can get it,” but lawmakers were skeptical of this assessment.

“Did you intend to mislead the Legislature on how well you’re doing on Act 231?” asked Oahu Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole repeatedly, before presenting correspondence from the state comptroller indicating that only about 10% of the Act 231 funds has been encumbered as of Friday.

“The only funds that are encumbered are $1.1 million, 10% of the Act 231 moneys, and we are halfway through the year,” Keohokalole said. “You are 0-for-44 on your positions, and you’ve turned over four of your five managers who are responsible for invasive species in the last year — the only one who hasn’t turned over is still on probation. Things are going backwards right now.”

“Well, let’s define ‘spent,’” Hurd said, arguing that funds that are “obligated” are as good as “encumbered,” but Keohokalole said “obligated” does not have any legal meaning in the context of Act 231, and only funds that are specifically “encumbered” won’t lapse at the end of June. Consequently, he said, 90% of the Act 231 funds are at risk of lapsing “in a year where you’re coming back to ask for $28 million more.”

“I just have real problems with the community’s ability to have confidence in this money getting out the door,” Keohokalole said.

Lawmakers also were critical of the department’s decision to hire Terminix, a private pest control company, to treat private residences for little fire ant infestations. Hurd said Terminix was awarded $1.1 million to spray 290 residences on the Big Island and 580 on Oahu.

Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen said the department should not leave it to Terminix to “determine how state funds are expended and distributed to citizens,” and added that the 290 Big Island homes selected for treatment are “a drop in the bucket” compared with the degree to which little fire ants have spread across the island.

“It will not move us forward whatsoever on controlling the problem long-term,” Lowen said. “And while it’s taken some responsibility to pay for it off the hands of a few homeowners, we’re already concerned that isn’t being distributed equitably. … And what’s the plan? LFA treatment is not a one-time thing; it’s ongoing treatments over months. So, this program is going for how long, how many treatments? … It feels like throwing away taxpayer dollars … instead of investing it in long-term solutions to treat these problems.”

Hurd said the Terminix contract is largely being used to determine how many homes can be treated with a given sum of money and use that to extrapolate the cost of treating an entire island, but Lowen and other lawmakers said other organizations already have data on the subject.

Oahu Rep. Lisa Marten added that the Hilo-based Hawaii Ant Lab, which is funded by multiple government agencies and operated by UH Manoa, was unable to even apply for that $1.1 million award because the department limited the pool of applicants to private pest-control companies.

“I’m super concerned that we’re leaving the experts behind, who are trying to serve the public interest, and instead asking private companies with very little experience and expertise not only to do the job, but even make policy decisions about who gets the benefits and who does not,” Marten said.

Oahu Rep. Scot Matayoshi added the Hawaii Ant Lab could have done the same work for about 10% of the cost, which he called “a huge waste of state funds.”

Hurd said the state chose a private company both for liability reasons and because it has greater resources in terms of manpower and equipment.

Hilo Rep. Matthias Kusch questioned whether the department has effective data about the locations and scope of Big Island fire ant infestations, and called the $1.1 million Terminix contract “a fishing expedition” after Hurd said the department has not yet conducted any Big Island surveys of fire ant populations.