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Attorney general releases Phase 3 fire-safety report, seeks litigation and staffing funding
Summary
Attorney General Anne Lopez briefed the committee on the Fire Safety Research Institute’s Phase 3 Maui wildfire report and asked for continued funding for litigation and salary adjustments to retain deputy attorneys general; she also discussed proposed statutory changes on fireworks and creation of a state fire marshal office.
Attorney General Anne Lopez told the House Committee on Finance that her office completed a three‑phase investigative review with the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) into the August 2023 wildfires and that Phase 3 recommendations are now public.
Lopez said FSRI’s Phase 3 report documents state and county actions during the fires, highlights shortfalls and provides 10 immediate state-level recommendations and 10 county-level recommendations. The attorney general’s office posted a large amount of underlying evidence in unredacted form to allow public review, Lopez said, and called the report a foundation for prioritizing funds and legal or policy reforms to reduce wildfire risk and to strengthen response.
Lopez also described staffing and litigation needs in the attorney general’s budget: the office is seeking continued general-fund support for salary adjustments to keep deputy attorney general positions competitive after a period of high attrition, and it requested an increase to the litigation fund. "My job is to ensure that the rule of law is followed," Lopez told the committee, adding that the office will bring legal action where necessary to protect constitutional and statutory rights.
Lopez discussed two bills under development. The attorney general’s office is contributing drafting and technical work for a fireworks-focused bill to tighten prosecution standards and evidentiary requirements for incendiary-device offenses; that measure is expected to be included in the governor’s package. The office also drafted language to establish an office of the State Fire Marshal — with wildfire planning and prevention responsibilities — and expects that bill to be carried as part of the Department of Defense package.
Committee members asked about criminal prosecutions, the use of AG resources to assist county enforcement (for example, DOCARE environmental prosecutions), and how federal grants for personnel and programs are changing. Lopez said the office is working with prosecutors, DOCARE, and law-enforcement partners to improve evidence gathering and prosecution of resource-crime cases and that the office has been hiring deputies and investigators to respond to shifting workloads.
