The state Senate has launched an assessment of the impact of Gov. Linda Lingle's plans for layoffs and furloughs of state workers, starting with an ad hoc committee to examine the closure of Kulani Correctional Facility on the Big Island and cuts to agriculture inspectors.

State Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli, Makaha), has assigned state Senate Vice President Russell Kokubun, D-2nd (S. Hilo, Puna, Ka'u), to coordinate the assessment. Kokubun and state Sen. Dwight Takamine, D-1st (Hamakua, S. Hilo), will serve on the committee and will conduct informational briefings into Kulani and the agriculture inspectors next week on the Big Island.

The Lingle administration issued written layoff notices this week to 1,100 state workers who could lose their jobs in November because of the state's budget deficit. The layoffs include the entire staff at Kulani prison outside of Hilo, which will close in October. Layoff notices have also been sent to 50 of the 67 agriculture inspectors in the plant quarantine branch who are paid from state general funds, according to the state Department of Agriculture.

"One of the questions we've had in leadership is how to get a feel for what the actual impacts are going to be to the public, because we're getting it all piecemeal," Hanabusa said.

Hanabusa said, for example, that she is concerned about Kulani's closure because it serves as the primary location for prisoners in the state's sex offender treatment program. Big Island officials, meanwhile, have questioned the potential impact of the loss of agriculture inspectors on the export of produce and nursery stock.

"I want all the information to be in one place," Hanabusa said.

Kokubun said he would approach the assignment both as an oversight and public-policy mission.

"It's really to come up with some sound information," he said. "Obviously, the budget is out of sync and there's a deficit that needs to be addressed. No question there. But I think, when we try to address that deficit, we need to keep our eye on our state economy, because there are going to be some implications from these layoffs that are going to directly affect our economy."

The Senate committee will hold informational briefings Aug. 13 in Hilo, Aug. 14 in Kailua, Kona, and Aug. 19 at the state Capitol. The Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee and the House Public Safety Committee will also hold a joint briefing on Kulani prison on Aug. 19 at the Capitol.