Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara said that he is against using Hawaii National Guard personnel to help process the overflow in unemployment claims caused by the closure of businesses due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Hara, the Hawaii COVID-19 incident commander, said during a meeting Wednesday of the Senate Special Committee on COVID-19 that state workers idled by the virus should be redeployed to the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, which is struggling to process 230,000-plus unemployment claims it has received.

More than 600 state workers from other departments are not working but still are being paid.

Hara said about 1,100 guardsmen will be activated, but they need to be ready to provide immediate help, such as helping at hospitals or by tracing people who have been in contact with virus patients.

“Once we anticipate the needs, then we need to have the people, the equipment, the supplies and the training in place, so that when they do ask for this, they’re ready to go the very next day, or maybe sometimes even the same day,” he told the committee.

Hundreds of Hawaii National Guard troops are screening for COVID-19 at airports and have helped Kauai police at checkpoints. Maui legislators also have asked for the Guard’s assistance in rural areas.

The DLIR has requested 58 additional staff to help with the unemployment claims; it received 18 new staffers on Monday.

As of Tuesday 237,048 claims have been filed since March 1, according to DLIR spokesman Bill Kunstman.

State Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kailua- Kaneohe), who asked Hara about using guardsmen at the labor department, said a longer delay in filing unemployment checks could be dangerous.

“We’ve had three weeks of people not getting pay,” Keohokalole said. “And we are going to reach a point, if this is not addressed by the administration, where this is a threat level that could potentially be reached, where people can’t afford to feed their children.”

State Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz (D, Wahiawa- Whitmore-Mililani Mauka) expressed concern about when the state Department of Human Resources Development will reassign state workers, although Hara said the department had been identifying who could be deployed.

The committee also discussed Gov. David Ige’s proposal Wednesday to cut the pay of teachers and other public workers by 20% and first responders by 10%. Ige said he and his Cabinet also would be taking a pay cut.

“The Legislature has not had a chance or an opportunity to look at whether or not we need to do a 20% cut,” state Sen. Michelle Kidani (D, Mililani- Waikele-Kunia) said. “God knows, we can’t afford to lose any teachers because we’re going to give them a 20% (cut).”

Hara also revealed in the meeting that Ige supports building a partnership with California, Oregon and Washington, whose governors made a pact to coordinate the reopening of their respective states — a response to President Donald Trump’s claim that he has “total” authority in deciding when to reopen the economy.

Hara said if COVID-19 testing can be done in West Coast airports, “then we could be more comfortable with allowing tourists to come in.”