Support Good Food Bills and Oppose the Transfer of ADC!
Join us in opposing SB2473 SD2 (Transfer of ADC from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism).
Please also join us in supporting more good agriculture bills this week! SB2992 SD1 (Agricultural Investments), SB2989 SD1 (Healthy Soils), SB2990 SD1(Cover Crops), SB341 SD2 (Taro Tax Exemption), and SB3004 SD1 (Composting).
SB2473 SD2 (Transfer of ADC from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism), SB2992 SD1 (Agricultural Investments), SB2989 SD1 (Healthy Soils), SB2990 SD1(Cover Crops), and SB341 SD2 (Taro Tax Exemption) have a hearing in the House Committee on Agriculture on Friday, March 18th, 2022 at 9 AM. Please submit testimonies for these bills by Thursday, March 17th, 2022 at 9 AM.
SB3004 SD1 (Composting) will be heard in the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2022 at 9:30 AM. Please submit testimony for this bill by Monday, March 21st, 2022 at 9:30 AM.
Testimony needs to be submitted 24 hours in advance of each hearing. Late testimonies will still be considered, but marked as “late”.
About the Bills
SB 2473 SD2 (Transfer of the ADC to DBEDT) - OPPOSE
What Does This Bill Do?
If passed, SB2473 will transfer the administrative attachment of the Agribusiness Development Corporation from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. Provides some positive reforms to the ADC board and mandate.
Why Is It a Concern?
Please feel free to use the following as talking points for your testimony. You can also write something powerful from your experience on why this issue matters to you.
While some business and economic development expertise should certainly guide the ADC’s effort of increasing local food production enterprises in Hawaiʻi, an agency tasked with catalyzing the transition from pineapple and sugar to diversified agriculture must be well versed in the needs of the agricultural sector.
Moving the agency into DBEDT would only further alienate the agency from its key stakeholders. The agency does not need to be housed under DBEDT to access business and economic development acumen.
The legislature should take a more comprehensive approach to addressing the failings of the agency and enact reforms based on the recommendations of the state audit.
While we support some of the reforms of the ADC that have been added to this bill, they do not go far enough.
Should the House Committee on Agriculture decide to pass out this measure, we recommend the following amendments:
Remove the provision that transfers the agency from the DOA to DBEDT
Include the deeper and more specific reforms in HB 2418 HD2
SB2992 SD1 (Agricultural Investments) - SUPPORT
What Does This Bill Do?
Establishes the Hawaiʻi Agricultural Investment Program to support local agricultural food producers via a 50% matching grants program.
Why Is This Important?
Please feel free to use the following as talking points for your testimony. You can also write something powerful from your experience on why this issue matters to you.
High costs in Hawaiʻi limit the competitiveness of local agriculture and have undermined efforts to expand local food production. Direct support for local agricultural producers can help overcome the high costs faced by Hawaiʻi's agricultural sector.
SB2989 SD1 (Healthy Soils) - SUPPORT
What Does This Bill Do?
Requires the Department of Agriculture to establish a Healthy Soils Program. Establishes a Healthy Soils Program Special Fund. Provides a comprehensive framework and long-term program to both assess and improve soil health and incentivize regenerative practices statewide.
Why Is This Important?
Please feel free to use the following as talking points for your testimony. You can also write something powerful from your experience on why this issue matters to you.
There is not a statewide assessment of soil health or a roadmap to improving Hawaiʻi’s soils that were depleted during the plantation era due to industrial farming practices. This bill will incentivize regenerative farming, ranching, and land management practices that improve soil health and capture carbon. Supporting the capture of carbon in the soil is a win-win for the environment and local food production.
Want to learn more about the need to support healthy soils in Hawaii?
SB2990 SD1 (Cover Crops) - SUPPORT
What Does This Bill Do?
Establishes a cover crop reimbursement pilot program to provide up to 75% cost reimbursement to farming operations in the State for the acquisition of cover crop seeds, green manure, or compost.
Why Is This Important?
Please feel free to use the following as talking points for your testimony. You can also write something powerful from your experience on why this issue matters to you.
Cover crops improve water quality, soil health, and build resiliency in the face of climate change. They are one of the most common, accessible agricultural strategies for improving soil health and water retention. They also prevent nitrogen pollution in water and erosion to the benefit of both the environment and the farmer.
Want to learn more about the need to support healthy soils in Hawaii?
SB341 SD2 (Taro Tax Exemption) - SUPPORT
What Does This Bill Do?
Establishes an exclusion from the state income tax for an unspecified portion of a person's income derived from the business of taro cultivation or production of taro products.
Why Is This Important?
Please feel free to use the following as talking points for your testimony. You can also write something powerful from your experience on why this issue matters to you.
Will provide much-needed tax relief to taro growers. This is an important step towards supporting traditional and customary Native Hawaiian foodways, as well as farming and food security for Hawaiʻi.
SB3004 SD1 (Composting) - SUPPORT
What Does This Bill Do?
Establishes and appropriates money for a compost reimbursement program within the Department of Agriculture and for one full-time permanent compost reimbursement program manager position.
Why Is This Bill Important?
Please feel free to use the following as talking points for your testimony. You can also write something powerful from your experience on why this issue matters to you.
Efforts to expand composting can divert up to 54% of household waste from the landfill and create garden gold for healthy, nutritious plants.
Through encouraging composting programs, we have the added benefit of avoiding the costs associated with hauling waste to other locations for recycling or disposal as well as reducing costs of inputs such as fertilizer or compost.
Composting will reduce carbon dioxide and human-made methane emissions, which are greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change and are also a critically important part of regenerative agriculture.
What You Can Do
Please submit testimony for each of these bills via the Hawaiʻi State Capitol Portal.
Share this call to action on your social media channels and spread the word! There is more power in numbers.
Stay involved and continue to testify this legislative session!
Thank you for standing alongside us to fight for a more just Hawaiʻi.
Together, we can heal Hawaiʻi’s broken food system.
