STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3517
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.R. No. 164
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2024
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Agriculture and Environment, to which was referred S.R. No. 164 entitled:
"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT A PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE'S PLANT INDUSTRY DIVISION,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Office of the Auditor to:
(1) Conduct a performance audit of the Department of Agriculture's Plant Industry Division; and
(2) Submit a report of their findings and
recommendations to the Legislature before the Regular Session of 2025.
Your Committee finds that the State's mandated biosecurity program is delivered by the Plant Quarantine Branch within the Department of Agriculture's Plant Industry Division. Your Committee further finds that the Plant Pest Control Branch, also within the Department of Agriculture's Plant Industry Division, has been utilizing staff and operational capacity from the Plant Quarantine Branch to carry out its duties. Your Committee recognizes that additional resources are essential for the Department of Agriculture to fully meet its obligations to protect the State from invasive species. The performance audit requested in this measure will provide the information necessary for decision-makers to allocate the resources necessary to strengthen the State's biosecurity system and mitigate risks associated with invasive species.
Your Committee further recognizes that the Auditor has the duty to conduct postaudits of agency transactions, accounts, programs, and performance pursuant to section 23-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes. Your Committee acknowledges the concerns raised by the Auditor that the scope of the audit requested by this measure is not only broad and undefined, but also includes the evaluation of operational capacity, which is beyond the Auditor's purview. Therefore, this measure needs to be amended to address these concerns.
Accordingly, your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Narrowing
the scope of the performance audit requested to apply to the Plant Pest Control
Branch and Plant Quarantine Branch, rather than the entire Plant Industry
Division;
(2) Deleting language that requested the performance audit to include:
(A) Follow-ups to:
(i) Report No. 17-05, entitled "Audit of Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture's Plant Quarantine Branch"; and
(ii) Report No. 20-21, entitled "Follow Up on Recommendations from Report No. 17-05, Audit of Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture's Plant Quarantine Branch";
(B) Reports on the implementation status of the action items of the Hawaii Interagency Biosecurity Plan; and
(C) An evaluation of the true operational capacity of the Department of Agriculture to achieve its assigned action items established in the Hawaii Interagency Biosecurity Plan,
and
replacing it with language
that identifies specific programs and activities within the Plant Pest Control
Branch and Plant Quarantine Branch to be audited by the Office of the Auditor;
(3) Deleting references to the Hawaii Interagency Biosecurity Plan;
(4) Amending its title to reflect its amended purpose; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 164, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as S.R. No. 164, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture and Environment,
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________________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair |
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