Ige bypasses lawmakers to pay for HI-EMA plans

More than a month after Gov. David Ige announced he would ask lawmakers for millions of dollars to upgrade the state’s emergency preparedness systems in the wake of the statewide false missile alert, the administration has decided it does not need that extra money after all.

In the aftermath of the Jan. 13 false alarm, Hawaii National Guard Brig. Gen. Kenneth Hara issued a report urging the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency to prepare a strategic plan and update its All Hazards Catastrophic Plan to include chemical, biological and nuclear scenarios.

That strategic plan and the update were expected to cost about $800,000, and were to be requested from the Legislature this year. However, lawmakers questioned the need for that funding at the time, and the request was never submitted.

Instead, Hara said the state Department of Budget and Finance released $780,000 in Department of Defense funding that had been restricted by the Ige administration as a cost-saving measure.

The administration regularly imposes restrictions of 5 percent of discretionary spending on departments, and Department of Defense money that had been restricted will now be released to fund the plan and the update.

Ige also had planned to ask lawmakers for $2 million to support HI-EMA’s emergency response. That money was to be used for planning and design of a HI-EMA Joint Emergency Management Center, a proposed new $135 million facility.

However, Hara said that project is “kind of cost-prohibitive in the current fiscal environment.”

HI-EMA and National Guard officials reviewed the plans for modernization of HI-EMA’s Birkhimer Tunnel Emergency Operating Center, and felt that effort would meet the need for the agency for at least 10 years, Hara said.

The Ige administration already has asked lawmakers for $1.25 million for the Birkhimer modernization for next year, which Hara said would involve tearing down walls and expanding the operations floor. He said planning and design for that project already has started, and construction funding is expected in the next couple of years.

House Finance Committee Chairwoman Sylvia Luke said the administration’s decision to use restricted funds to develop a strategic plan and update the catastrophic plan is “problematic.”

“Department of Defense is a small department, and they do important things,” said Luke, who is supporting U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in her bid to unseat Ige in the primary this year.

“That’s not a good approach. The right approach is for the governor to send down a governor’s message (asking for funding) so the Legislature has an opportunity to vet the request, as opposed to holding back 5 percent and using that as a slush fund,” said Luke, (D, Punchbowl-Pauoa-Nuuanu).

The Jan. 13 false missile alert was triggered by a HI-EMA employee who misunderstood a message sent as part of a drill, and said he believed the state was under attack. The alert appeared on cellphones across the state, and HI-EMA did not officially cancel the bogus warning for 38 minutes.

The state fired the employee who triggered the alert, and HI-EMA Administrator Vern Miyagi resigned.