Some important invasive species bills are close to making it through this year's legislative session.
A measure to fund the state Department of Agriculture with about $20 million for port inspectors, pest control workers and other biosecurity personnel around the state is still alive and could pass through conference hearings this week.
Separate bills to support efforts against coconut rhinoceros beetles, little fire ants and other species are also set to move on.
Additionally, a measure to allow the agriculture department to declare a biosecurity emergency to quickly respond to and slow or stop the spread of an invasive species is also still making its way through the late stages of the legislative session.
For many, it comes down to funding the agriculture department, which is one of the primary agencies in charge of managing invasive species.
“My position on it is that we need urgency and that we need to take it seriously and give our department the support and funding they're going to need to go and actually implement tangible solutions,” said Rep. Cedric Gates, who chairs the House Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems.
Gates has told other legislative leaders that invasive species is his priority late in the session.
Informational briefings at the Capitol a few months ago detailing the shortage of staff at the agriculture department and the state’s vulnerability to introduced pests — along with a swath of biosecurity-related measures introduced this year — signaled the importance of dealing with invasive species this year.
“There were dozens of bills related to different parts of biosecurity altogether. So, I think we had a hunch that it was important to members. It’s just a matter of, can it get funded? Does the community agree on the importance of this?” said Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa, the committee’s vice-chair.
The bills have been rescheduled multiple times this week. Gates said measures that would require funding can’t pass until the supplemental budget measure passes.
How did we get here? Read previous coverage on invasive species legislation from this session:
