ADC Reform Bill (HB2418) Passes First Committee with Some Amendments!
The House Committee on Agriculture unanimously voted to pass HB2418 this morning out of its first committee with roughly half of our suggested amendments!
Your involvement, ongoing testimony, and support for ADC reform this session is critical to getting a good reform bill passed this year.
As we pointed out in our recent call to action, it is clear that the way the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) has operated within the last 30 years isn’t working. If we want the future of agriculture and food production in Hawaiʻi to succeed, the agency cannot continue to exist as is. Passing a strong ADC reform bill this session is a meaningful way to show our commitment to growing and transitioning our agricultural sector into a flourishing sustainable food production system.
Please join us in engaging this legislative session and passing a solid ADC reform bill into law.
Adopted Amendments
In today’s committee hearing, the bill was amended into HB2418 HD1 to adopt the following three points of the seven we had suggested in our testimony:
At least 80% of all lands within the ADC’s inventory are leased or licensed for agricultural production
At least 50% of production from the ADC’s lessees or licensees intended for local consumption and produced in accordance with the principles of sustainable agriculture
At least 20% of all leases and licenses of the ADC’s lands are for parcels no greater than twenty acres
What’s Next for HB2418?
HB2418 HD1 now has to go through the House Committee on Finance before it can cross over to the State Senate.
What You Can Do
To pass a strong ADC reform bill this session, we will continue to keep the community informed as we track this issue every step of the way.
As we await future hearing notices, you can do the following:
1) Thank the The House Committee on Agriculture for unanimously voting to pass HB2418 and adopting some of our suggested amendments.
2) Stay involved and continue to testify on ADC reform and other good agriculture bills via the State Capitol portal website this legislative session!
3) Follow us on our social media channels for updates and future action alerts!
The fight to reform the ADC is far from over, but we should also take time to celebrate this win! Together, we can heal Hawaiʻi’s broken food system. Thank you for standing alongside us to fight for a more just Hawaiʻi.