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Senator presses Department of Agriculture over disputed encumbrance figures for invasive-species funds
Summary
Senator Keohokalole asked that a Department of Agriculture letter be entered into the Senate journal after saying the department overstated how much of a $10 million appropriation from Act 231 had been encumbered; the Senate approved the request and handled routine referrals and scheduling motions without objection.
Senator Keohokalole used a point of personal privilege to say the Department of Agriculture misstated how much of a $10 million appropriation from Act 231 had been encumbered and asked that a department letter correcting the record be entered into the Senate journal.
Keohokalole told colleagues that the 2024 law (Act 231) originally appropriated $20 million to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture for invasive-species work but the governor reduced the appropriation to $10 million. He said the department chair, Sharon Hurd, presented a slide in a joint legislative briefing indicating that 52% of the appropriation — roughly $4 million — was encumbered. Keohokalole said that, after…
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