Human Services Director Abruptly Retires Amid Hawaiʻi AG Probe
His retirement comes as questions swirl about his connection to millions of dollars in state funds appropriated to address the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hawaiʻi Human Services Director Ryan Yamane abruptly stepped down on Tuesday afternoon as a state attorney general investigation examines money he appropriated as a state lawmaker.
“Director Ryan Yamane has announced his retirement from the Department of Human Services effective immediately,” Gov. Josh Green’s communications director, Makana McClellan, said in a statement.
She did not cite a reason for his departure.
“We thank him for his 22-plus years of service to his constituents as a legislator,” McClellan said, “and to our residents who rely on DHS services.”
Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez’s office is conducting a high-profile investigation into $35,000 handed to a state lawmaker in 2022. Yamane was questioned by Lopez’s office as the AG’s probe examines millions of state taxpayer dollars that flowed through the Department of Health to a kidney nonprofit, according to sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Attorney General’s Office has also questioned at least one Department of Health employee about those funds, according to another source familiar with the investigation.
A Note On Anonymous Sources
As of last month, the AG’s Office said it had reviewed thousands of pages of subpoenaed materials and conducted 18 interviews that “have helped refine the timeline of events surrounding the transaction and is bringing investigators closer to resolving key questions.”
Yamane, a former state representative, was the chair of the House’s health committee when he sponsored a bill to appropriate $170 million to the health department for Covid testing and mitigation. The health department paid the Kidney Foundation of Hawaiʻi approximately $95 million between 2020 and 2022, mostly for Covid-related work, according to records obtained by Civil Beat.
The Kidney Foundation was invoicing the health department up to $166 per Covid test — a rate experts characterized as “outrageous” in interviews with Civil Beat earlier this year.
According to written testimony from the Department of Health, the $170 million represented a “bridge loan” to allow the department to continue testing services and pay for services previously rendered.
Civil Beat asked the health department for a breakdown of how the funds were spent, including how much went to the Kidney Foundation, but the agency said it was unable to provide the information on Tuesday.
State Officials Decline To Comment
The Kidney Foundation and its consultant, Tobi Solidum, are at the center of the state’s bribery investigation. Evidence suggests Solidum was the person suspected of handing the lawmaker the money. Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke has said investigators may suspect she is the lawmaker of interest, though she has denied ever accepting $35,000.
McClellan did not respond when asked if Green told Yamane to retire after learning of his involvement in the investigation. Yamane did not respond to calls and text messages asking him if this was the reason for his departure. Kristen Takushi, acting public information officer for the Department of Human Services, did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
Luke did accept $10,000 from Solidum and his step-daughter, Kristen Pae, during a dinner in January 2022 but did not report the donations until Civil Beat asked her about it in February. She said she returned the money in March 2022 after former state Rep. Ty Cullen — who was also present for the dinner — was charged with bribery.
Cullen was later sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Luke ended her reelection campaign last month. Shortly thereafter, she announced she’d be taking an indefinite leave of absence, and Green named Comptroller Keith Regan as acting lieutenant governor.
The AG’s Office started investigating the matter in January. The case was previously part of a federal investigation, but the U.S. Attorney’s office referred it to Lopez’s office.
When asked if any Department of Health employees had been questioned by the AG’s Office or received subpoenas, spokesman Adam LeFebvre referred questions to the AG’s Office.
Toni Schwartz, spokeswoman for the AG’s Office, said in an email she could not release information about who may have been “interviewed, contacted, subpoenaed or otherwise notified.”
“Those details go directly to the scope and direction of the investigation, and we are not going to release information that could compromise the process or affect the rights of any individuals involved,” she said.
Maile Kawamura, CEO of the Kidney Foundation of Hawaiʻi, said earlier this year the foundation is doing an internal review but hasn’t responded to requests to share any of its findings.
Abrupt Retirement
In a letter announcing his retirement, Yamane did not cite a reason for his departure but said his last day would be Tuesday.
He called his service with the department “an honor and a privilege.”
“I am encouraged by the progress we have made together on issues relating to housing, homelessness, and social services for Hawaiʻi’s people,” he said.
As a state representative, Yamane introduced a bill in 2022 that funneled millions to the Department of Health over two fiscal years to support community testing and surge medical staffing while the state awaited reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Yamane and Cullen were two of the so-called “Three Amigos,” along with former state Sen. Henry Aquino, who voted together to amplify their voice. According to Luke, Cullen and Solidum were close friends. And Solidum and Yamane were acquainted, according to public records.
In 2012, Yamane acknowledged Solidum on the floor of the House as an advocate who had helped shepherd a bill on organ transplants. The bill also directed $300,000 to the Kidney Foundation. Solidum “never let this issue rest,” Yamane said, according to the House Journal.
According to McClellan, Deputy Director of Human Services Joseph Campos II will serve as acting director of the department.
Civil Beat reporter Blaze Lovell contributed to this report
