University of Hawaii regent Neil Abercrombie, a former U.S. Representative and Hawaii governor, is well known for taking strong positions, and he has a new beef: using a fund filled by students’ tuition and fees to pay $42.5 million in “hazard pay” to staffers who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abercrombie opines that the money should come from the state’s general fund. UH administrators respond that UH salaries are paid from this fund, and the 2024 bill authorizing hazard pay requires the money to come from the same place.

“I’m not going to let it go,” Abercrombie said.