Managing invasive species is a top priority for the state Department of Agriculture in the upcoming legislative session.
Last year, the spread of coconut rhinoceros beetles and little fire ants put the state on notice. The rhinoceros beetles had been limited to Oʻahu for the last decade, but in 2023, the species spread to Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi island.
Experts say the little fire ant is one of the world’s most aggressive and problematic pests and has already spread to many of the main Hawaiian islands.
At the minimum, the agricultural department wants $2.9 million in general funds to implement dozens of state inspection agents with its Plant Quarantine Office who could check shipped goods in Hawaiʻi for pests.
DOA Chair Sharon Hurd told state lawmakers at an informational briefing on Monday that general funds would help free up money for other biosecurity efforts and stabilize the funding for those employees.
“Converting the 46 plant quarantine staff from the cargo fee special fund to general fund will free up $2.9 million to the department to provide technical support, and the tools the farmers and the ranchers can use,” she said.
“This includes drones, sprayers, treatments and travel funds for outreach, education and training.”
The inspectors are currently funded through the state Cargo Fee Special Fund, which means the funding — and their work — could stop at the end of the fiscal year this summer, the department warned.
The request is part of a larger $54.6 million request from the agriculture department for its fiscal year 2025 operational budget, including about $14.5 million for biosecurity efforts.
The department had asked Gov. Josh Green to include that $54.6 million request in the governor’s supplemental budget to state lawmakers. However, Green included less than $3 million — and none of it was for biosecurity.
State revenue projections had been on a downturn, and they were exacerbated following the Maui fires in August.
Hurd has said that her department could use hundreds of extra agricultural inspectors to keep up with the increase in shipped goods in Hawaiʻi.
Lawmakers from the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Agriculture and Environment, which held the informational briefing, agreed that invasive species are a priority.
However, they say there needs to be more effort and results from the department.
“When you're looking at all the other program ideas in its entirety for the department, what is the most important thing you’ve got to get out of this session?” WAM Chair Donovan Dela Cruz said.
“I would think stabilizing the situation with biosecurity would probably be the most important because … if they're eating the papaya, and they're eating the taro, they won't have anything to sell.”
Lawmakers also wanted an overarching plan to fight pests and an overall biosecurity budget from the department.
