Senate committee advances DAGS request to exempt limited specialized positions amid local hiring concerns

Comptroller Keith Regan told the joint Senate committees on Feb. 11 that SB 3069 asks for a narrow set of civil‑service exemptions for the Department of Accounting and General Services’ special projects branch to bring specialized project‑management expertise in-house.

"What we're asking for is a very narrow number of positions that, we're asking to be exempt," Regan said, describing the roles as akin to senior project managers with combined engineering and architectural experience and pay flexibility needed to recruit from the private sector. He said the positions are intended to reduce the state’s reliance on external consultants and to keep consultants "in check." Regan also told senators the administration is requesting three positions in the special projects branch, and that the supplemental budget request for the branch was on the order of "700‑something thousand" dollars for salaries and operations, though he did not present a line‑by‑line breakdown on the record.

Senator Dru (Senator Fevella in the transcript) and others pressed the administration on pathways for current civil servants to advance into these roles. "A lot of these guys who get civil service job, we probably wanna move up... Are we trying to promote within?" a senator asked, expressing concern that outside hires at higher pay could limit internal career progression. Regan responded that the intent is to attract local talent — including Hawaiians born and raised on the Mainland who might return — and that the proposal is not intended to broadly replace civil service staff. He also said DAGS has previously used targeted reclassification and pay flexibility to recruit engineers and has had some success, but argued the requested exemptions are for nontraditional, highly technical roles not available in current classifications.

Labor groups (testimony from HGA and UPW was recorded) registered opposition or concern in the hearing record. Committee discussion focused on limiting the scope of the measure, adding transparency and oversight: the chair proposed amendments requiring an annual report to the legislature listing projects these employees work on, changed the effective date to Jan. 1, 2077 (a standard committee scheduling practice), and included a repeal date of Dec. 31, 2031. The committee adopted the recommendation to pass SB 30 69 with those amendments.

What the record shows and does not show: the transcript records the committee’s adoption of the chair’s recommendation, and some members said they voted with reservations; the transcript does not provide a full roll‑call tally for every member on the record. Regan described the budget request as "700 something thousand" without producing a detailed budget breakdown on the record; the committee required an annual reporting requirement to increase transparency.

Next steps: SB 30 69 will move with the committee’s amendments (annual report and sunset language) for further consideration in the legislative process. The annual report requirement is intended to provide oversight of which projects and positions the special‑projects employees are assigned to, addressing concerns about scope and accountability.