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State offices back study to place Office of Resilience and Recovery; working group composition discussed
Summary
The committee heard support March 17 for SCR 51 / SR 33 to convene a working group to evaluate establishing and placing an Office of Resilience and Recovery. The Office of Planning and Sustainable Development and the state's recovery office backed the resolution and suggested adjustments to membership to include county recovery leads.
Committee members heard testimony March 17 supporting SCR 51 and SR 33, resolutions requesting the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development (OPSD) to convene a working group to evaluate the establishment and administrative placement of an Office of Resilience and Recovery.
Mary Alice Evans, director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, said OPSD supported the resolution and noted the Office of Resilience and Recovery’s role in the Maui wildfire recovery. Luke Myers, branch chief in the Office of Recovery and Resiliency and the State Disaster Recovery Coordinator for the Maui wildfires, also supported the resolution and asked the committee to allow a flexible membership so counties could designate recovery/resiliency leads or mayoral designees. “We would ask that you look at the recovery and resiliency leads in the county,” Myers said, describing counties’ existing recovery offices and climate or resiliency staff.
Why it matters: witnesses said a formal evaluation of placement and structure would help coordinate future disaster recovery and resilience functions and preserve lessons from the Maui wildfire response. OPSD emphasized planning and coastal zone management experience and told the committee it has been studying regional shoreline erosion and response options.
Support came from multiple state and advisory entities. Luke Myers noted the Office of Recovery and Resiliency’s experience during wildfire recovery and recommended including county recovery leads as committee designees. The Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority and local climate advisory groups filed written support, and the Board of Water Supply and other entities signaled backing; Ernie Lau of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply said the state should prepare for future disasters and supported the proposed resolution.
Discussion focused on composition and roles: Myers and OPSD said the working group should include county recovery or resiliency leads rather than only emergency managers, to reflect counties’ recovery offices and climate staff. Committee members and testifiers framed the measure as a planning step rather than an immediate reorganization of authority.
No formal committee action was taken March 17; committee staff scheduled decision making at a later date. The resolutions were presented as tools to study placement, membership and responsibilities for a resilience and recovery entity, not as directives to implement organizational change without subsequent legislative or administrative steps.
All quoted speakers are drawn from the hearing record and are listed in the speakers array.
