Governor Josh Green, M.D., nominated longtime procurement official Bonnie Kahakui to head the State Procurement Office, which oversees billions of dollars in contract awards and goods and services purchases made by the state each year.

Kahakui’s nomination to a four-year term as Administrator and Chief Procurement Officer of the State Procurement Office is subject to approval by the state Senate.

Since January 2021, Kahakui has served as Acting Administrator and Chief Procurement Officer and before that, she was the Procurement Office’s assistant administrator.

In a statement Governor Green said, “Bonnie Kahakui’s knowledge and background in procurement made her the natural choice to officially fill this critical position, especially at a time when Hawai‘i’s taxpayers expect accountability and integrity in managing public funds.”

In a related matter, Governor Green signed the Hawai‘i Project Labor Agreement (PLA) which will ensure a steady labor supply to help rebuild Lahaina and meet the state’s growing affordable housing pipeline.

The Hawai‘i PLA aligns with President Biden’s Executive Order 14063, which requires PLAs for most large-scale federal construction projects.

PLAs help contractors with the recruiting, hiring, and training of local workers and prohibit labor disruptions to ensure that construction projects are efficiently completed on deadline. They also require out-of-state contractors to exhaust the supply of local workers before importing labor from the mainland.

The PLA can be found here: Administrative Directive 24-01.