One of the high priorities on the Neighbor Islands in this year of state cutbacks has been to restore the dozens of plant quarantine inspectors laid off late last year. Budget negotiators have replaced the lost positions and found some of the money that would be needed to fund them.
"This restoration is only a temporary stopgap, and it is imperative that we look for other sources of funding," said Big Island Rep. Clift Tsuji, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. "Our food products could languish at the ports up to a couple of weeks because of the disruption, and, subsequently, another week before they are stocked on our Neighbor Island grocery shelves."
Maui Sen. Shan Tsutsui said placing the inspectors back on the job will be up to Gov. Linda Lingle, who would have to release any appropriated funds. The $10 billion budget is still being wrapped up by negotiators from the two houses of the Legislature.
Also, Tsutsui said, only about two-thirds of the money needed was found in the tight budget.
Last year, all the mayors and numerous legislators, including all three Maui County senators, asked the governor to rescind the 52 cuts at the Department of Agriculture Plant Quarantine Branch.
The inspectors are a barrier between alien pests and the islands' farms and forests.
Lingle later found money to restore 22 of the positions.
The House last week voted to restore 59 Department of Agriculture positions, with the majority in the Plant Pest and Disease Control Division, Tsuji said. The budget bill has now crossed over to the Senate for consideration.
Special funding totaling $600,000 has come from the Hawaii Invasive Species Council and $1.2 million from the Pest Inspection, Quarantine and Eradication special fund. The special fund money is derived from air and maritime cargo entering Hawaii.
The 50-cent fee per 1,000 pounds of cargo is required to help inspect for invasive species. The fund was established on an initiative from Tsuji in 2008.
In a telephone interview Monday, Tsutsui called the budget measure a "bridge" and said it would provide some flexibility to the governor, even if it does not provide for restoring the entire inspection network.
