This is my public record.

Aloha Chair Dela Cruz, Vice Chair Moriwaki, and members of the Committee,

My name is Cristina Holt. I am a resident of Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island, a small business owner, and a community organizer. I am submitting this testimony today for two purposes.

First, I urge this Committee to aggressively support publicly funded elections in Hawaiʻi. A government that is insulated from the influence of large donors is a government that can actually serve its people. That work matters deeply and I hope this Committee will treat it accordingly.

Second, and the primary focus of this testimony, I am urging this Committee to oppose any use of state funds for the Military and Community Relations Office, or MACRO, and I am formally requesting that this Committee provide the public with a clear accounting of whether any state funding for MACRO has already been appropriated, allocated, or released, and if so, from what source, in what amount, and under what authority.

The people of Hawaiʻi have been asking this question for months. We deserve an answer.

What MACRO Is and Where It Came From

MACRO was established on April 1, 2024, by Governor Josh Green in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. It is housed within the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism as an attached agency. According to documents obtained through public records requests, the Pentagon's Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation awarded $3,192,198 to DBEDT on September 26, 2023, before MACRO formally existed. The principal investigator named on that grant was John Greene, then serving as DBEDT's Defense Industry Specialist. Greene later became MACRO's Deputy Director. He is an active U.S. Navy Reserve Lieutenant Commander with 32 years of service. In a March 25, 2026 interview on Hawaiʻi News Now, he stated on camera, "I'm still in the Navy." In the same interview, he also claimed that MACRO does not work for the Department of Defense.

As of June 2025, MACRO has received $8,010,646 in total federal Pentagon funding, with a period of performance extending through February 28, 2027. MACRO's own website states: "The Military and Community Relations Office was established on April 1, 2024, and is fully federally funded."

The Missing $650,000

Despite that statement, the public has been told repeatedly that MACRO has also secured $650,000 in state legislative funding. MACRO's own website posted December 1, 2025 states that it "recently secured $650,000 from the State Legislature to advance STEM, cybersecurity, and trade workforce development in K-12 schools." A March 6, 2025 Maui Now article reported that the House Finance Committee's draft budget allocated "$650,000 in both fiscal years for the Military and Community Relations Office." DBEDT's own Act 100 Report for 2026 states under Goal 1 that DBEDT intends to "Leverage $650,000 in legislative funding to implement education and training programs aligned with defense industry needs."

I have spent considerable time reviewing both the 2025 and 2026 budget drafts presented to the legislature. I cannot locate this $650,000 appropriation anywhere in any enacted budget document. I cannot find it in HB 1800. I cannot find it in Act 250, Session Laws of Hawaiʻi 2025. I cannot find a MACRO line item under BED, DBEDT, or any other program code in any version of the state budget I have been able to access.

The bills specifically designed to appropriate state funds to MACRO did not pass. SB 3240, which would have appropriated state funds to DBEDT for MACRO, passed the Senate 24-1 after a Ways and Means committee vote that took approximately seven seconds with zero public discussion. By the time the House heard it on March 16, 2026, the public had caught up. Over 600 pages of testimony were submitted, the overwhelming majority in opposition. The bill was killed by House Public Safety Chair Belatti on March 18, 2026, who cited public pressure, the state's fiscal situation, and the fact that the military has plenty of its own funding. HB 2235, the companion House bill, currently sits in House Finance unheard. So the standalone bills failed. And yet MACRO and DBEDT continue to reference $650,000 in state legislative funding as if it exists.

What MACRO Actually Does With Its Money

Documents obtained through public records requests reveal that MACRO has a contract with Becker Communications, Inc., a Honolulu-based PR firm, for $390,000, executed October 1, 2025, following a competitive sealed proposal process in which Becker was the only bidder. The contract is funded by Pentagon dollars flowing through DBEDT.

The scope of services requires Becker to "utilize automated data scraping tools to collect and analyze relevant public commentary from news sites, blogs, forums, and social media platforms to assess evolving sentiment toward military-related issues." Public social media commentary from Hawaiʻi residents is being systematically scraped using Pentagon money, without disclosure. The contract also requires Becker to draft legislative testimony for MACRO with a 24-hour turnaround, roughly 20 times per legislative session, and it reveals that Becker has ghost-written op-eds placed under third-party names to amplify MACRO messaging, including one attributed to a retired general arguing that Hawaiʻi must allow the Army to retain its land leases ahead of the 2029 Pōhakuloa renegotiations. That is astroturfing, paid for by the Pentagon, operating through a state agency.

Why 2029 Matters

Military leases on land taken in the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom come up for renegotiation in 2029. Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawaiʻi Island sits on 23,000 acres of state ceded lands, with documented depleted uranium contamination the military denied for years. MACRO sits on the Governor's Advisory Committee for Military Leased Lands, the body that will advise the state on those negotiations. An office created by the Pentagon, funded by the Pentagon, staffed in part by an active Navy officer, is now positioned to advise the state on whether to renew leases with the Pentagon. That is a conflict of interest operating inside state government.

On the State's Fiscal Situation

Hawaiʻi is facing significant budget shortfalls. Federal funding cuts are threatening MedQuest, SNAP, public education, and essential services. In that context, the use of state funds to support a Pentagon propaganda operation is not just a policy disagreement. It is a betrayal of the people this budget is supposed to serve.

My Requests to This Committee

One: Provide a clear, public, on-the-record accounting of whether any state funding for MACRO has been appropriated, allocated, or released since its founding. If the $650,000 referenced by MACRO, DBEDT, and Maui Now exists somewhere in the budget, the public deserves to know where it is.

Two: Oppose the inclusion of any state funding for MACRO in HB 1800 or any related budget provision. The military has $8 million of its own money in this office already.

Three: Support publicly funded elections. The people of Hawaiʻi need a government that works for them. That starts with removing the outsized influence of large donors from our political process.

Mahalo for your time and your service to the people of Hawaiʻi.

Respectfully submitted,
Cristina Holt — Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island