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House committee forms Farm to Families program, directs reporting and notes $2 million request
Summary
SB1250 SD1, the Farm to Families program, passed the Agriculture committee with technical amendments to create a House draft and record the original $2 million request for the finance committee; HDOA and food banks supported the measure to address food insecurity.
The House Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems voted March 19 to pass SB1250 SD1, establishing a Farm to Families program intended to alleviate food shortages and increase access to fresh local foods.
Cedric Gates of the Department of Agriculture testified the department strongly supports the measure, calling it a tool to “fill the gaps to feeding our hungry families across our state.” Nonprofit and food-bank witnesses, including Mariah Yoshizu of Ulupono Initiative and Melissa Pavlicek of the Hawaii Food Bank, described food insecurity statistics and urged passage. Pavlicek cited a recent Hawaii Food Bank study finding one in three Hawaii families are food insecure and that 9 percent of families with children sometimes go a whole day without food in some months.
Committee leadership said they would create a House Draft 1, defect the effective date to July 1, 3000 (a drafting convention used to hold bills that need further work), make light technical amendments for clarity and style, and note the original $2,000,000 request in the standing committee report to assist the Finance Committee’s review.
The committee record showed 62 testifiers in support and none in opposition on the measure. The committee voted to pass the bill with amendments; the chairs said the measure is part of the House majority caucus package and has a Senate companion.
Members asked Department of Agriculture and stakeholders to prepare details that the Finance Committee can use when it considers the appropriation request. The committee’s action will send the bill forward with a House draft reflecting the agreed technical edits and the standing committee report’s notation of the $2,000,000 funding request.
