2023 Legislative Session Debrief
If the 2022 session was touted as a “banner year” for food and agricultural bills, the 2023 session was certainly a stark contrast.
Community groups gathered at the Hawai’i State Legislature on opening day on January 18th, 2023.
Sadly, the missed opportunities far outweighed the wins and the frustration of the public, food systems advocates and many lawmakers is well documented. These frustrations extend beyond food systems, and more broadly reflect on process, transparency and deeper structural problems at the legislature that cut across an array of issues, including but not limited to food systems.
HAPA’s fair and sustainable food systems policy agenda prioritizes support for policies that sustainably support Hawaiʻi’s goals of sourcing 30% local food by 2030 and grow our local food economy. We prioritize policies that center Native Hawaiʻian practices, wisdom and values. While food systems account for roughly a third of greenhouse gas emissions, we know that often homegrown solutions are best suited to move Hawaiʻi towards a more climate friendly and resilient, locally prosperous food future.
For the 2023 Hawaiʻi State legislative session HAPA tracked and mobilized testimony for over 50 bills for our fair and sustainable food systems policy agenda. However, of those 50+ bills, only two made it out of session and to the Governor’s desk.. At the moment only two of these bills remain.
“Overall, the 2023 session marked a decline in support for agriculture and food systems issues from last year.”
Bills are often amended as they move through each committee hearing. Conference committee is where the House and Senate meet to resolve differences between each chamber's drafts and either agree upon a final version of the legislation or defer it. Conferees are assigned by each chamber to negotiate a final draft of the proposed bill.
Good bills often mysteriously “die in conference” without clear rationale. There has been much critique around this lack of transparency and speculation about political motivations rather than policy analysis guiding decision-making.
Bills that emerge out of conference then head to the Governor’s desk to either be signed into law or vetoed. Overall, the 2023 session marked a decline in support for agriculture and food systems issues from last year. Of the bills that have advanced this far there are a couple bright spots and many missed opportunities.
Bright Spots
Sadly, hardly any good food & ag bills emerged from conference committee. The only two bills on our agenda to emerge from session are HB692 which will modestly increase fines for serial pesticide use violators, and SB746 a fair coffee labeling bill (see bill descriptions below).
The increased fines for pesticide violators comes on the heels of multiple egregious violations by agrochemical corporations Monsanto (now Bayer), for using banned pesticides and both Monsanto/Bayer and Syngenta (now ChemChina/Hartung) for allowing farm workers to enter fields before it was safe and legal to do so. Agrochemical giant Dow-DuPont (now Corteva) also is facing claims of retaliation for workers exposed at Dow-Dupont (now Corteva) who spoke out. The threshold for state fines was raised from $5k to $10k per violation.
A bill requiring fair coffee labeling, a long held priority for Kona Coffee Farmers Association, will ensure that coffee labeled Hawaiʻi grown is at least 51% local beans, so farmers are fairly compensated and consumers aren’t duped into buying blends that are predominantly grown outside Hawaiʻi with a token amount of local beans.
In addition to the bills in HAPA’s policy agenda that passed out of conference, HB972 will support the ranching/animal industry with more veterinary support and to combat animal diseases for livestock. Hemp farmers also will see some relief from redundant regulations under HB1359 and will have additional support within the DOA to identify needed infrastructure improvements on each island and the creation of a hemp task force.
Missed Opportunities
ʻĀina Mōmona hosted kuʻi at the Capitol was a symbolic call to action, reminding leaders to prioritize land health, community well-being, and cultural preservation. It underscored the profound impact of our present actions and the importance of responsible stewardship for future generations.
Anti-Hunger Initiatives
Perhaps one the greatest disappointments of the session was the failure to leverage a federal match of $3M for the SNAP DA BUX program. According to a recent update to local ALICE (ALICE: asset limited, income constrained, and employed) reporting, around 41% of Hawaiʻi residents fall below the ALICE threshold, with 12% living under the federal poverty line — the highest percentage in more than a decade. Local food banks are seeing an uptick in working families seeking food assistance. “Da Bux”, as the program is called, has a long track record of helping food insecure residents purchase locally grown food by doubling the value of SNAP/EBT benefits for purchasing locally grown produce. It has been a “triple win” for local residents and farmers alike.
In addition to supporting food-insecure residents and local producers, the Double Bux program is estimated to bring $12.6M of economic benefits into the local economy. Shockingly, this bill did not get funded this year, although there is some speculation about finding ways to work it into the budget.
Pesticide Regulation
Despite 2019 restricted use pesticide (RUP) usage data revealing some of the highest rates of application of RUP’s in the nation, we are disappointed that lawmakers have failed to prioritize public health and the environment. Contrary to the narrative that RUP’s are needed for our local farmers to succeed, analysis of the 2019 data shows that only 5 RUP users account for 97% of all RUP usage statewide. Of those 5, only two are producing food for local consumption. Given the well-documented threat that pesticides pose to public health in Hawaiʻi, it is even more egregious that no meaningful bills to protect public health from pesticide drift were even scheduled for a hearing in the House.
Public Ag Lands for the Public Good
One major food systems bottleneck that HAPA has been tracking is the management of state public agricultural lands under the purview of the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC), and the state’s ability to leverage those lands to sustainably meet local food production goals of 30% by 2030. Multiple farmers needs assessments have found that access to affordable, right-sized leases is a major barrier to farming in Hawaiʻi. Currently, the ADC has approximately 23,000 acres under its purview. However the agency is failing to connect the dots and help local food producers access those lands. According to a scathing 2021 state audit, the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) has “largely failed in its mission” to fill the gap left behind by the closure of sugar and pineapple plantations. The audit also found a lack of transparency or equitable process around how leases/licenses were awarded and how those leases or licenses are managed, under a section entitled “doing business by handshake”. The majority of its lands are leased to agrochemical tenants for research and development of herbicide resistant seed crops, rather than local food production. These vital public lands are home to the heaviest pesticide usage in the state, and in some cases the nation. Despite a House investigatory committee that formed to generate policy recommendations informed by the audit, none of those recommendations have come to fruition. In fact, a house bill (HB255) introduced this session aimed at reforming the agency never even received a single hearing.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) and Food Hubs contribute to the development of a more resilient and sustainable food system. One notable example is Maʻo Organic Farm, situated on the west side of Oʻahu.
Sustainable Food Systems Planning
A sustainable food systems planning bill would have provided a clear road map by identifying opportunities and challenges across the complexity of our food system to support a robust and sustainable local food economy for Hawaiʻi. Currently, Hawaiʻi has very little in the way of metrics to assess and measure progress towards or 30% by 2030 goals.
Incentives for Local Food Producers
From access to affordable land to climate impacts, the challenges of local farming and broader food production are well documented. A plethora of bills seeking to incentivize local food production were introduced this session, however sadly none emerged from this session. Incentives included a range of grant programs, tax credits and reimbursements. These incentives were targeted at supporting kalo farmers, reducing the costs of interisland shipping, grants for investments in equipment, infrastructure and other operating costs and overall support for local producers. Several bills sought to incentivize organic and regenerative practices. All failed this session.
Farm-to-School
Hawaiʻi’s farm to school program is failing to meet its targets for locally sourced school meals. A suite of farm to school bills would have helped to address the current shortcomings and ultimately expanded markets for local producers while providing keiki with nutritious locally sourced meals. Many other jurisdictions that are larger than Hawaiʻi have successfully implemented similar farm to school programs, so it is disappointing to see the lack of progress in Hawaii go unaddressed.
Healthy Soils Program
Healthy soil is the foundation of a regenerative, climate-friendly food system. Many other states have also already initiated healthy soils programs which both inventory local soil quality and then provide targeted investments in soil health and productivity through climate friendly practices. Given how depleted many of Hawaiʻi’s soils are, due to long standing industrial agriculture practices, a healthy soils program would have been a win-win for both farmers and the climate.
What will it take to create a just and sustainable food system?
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About the Author
Anne Frederick, HAPAʻs Executive Director
Anne Frederick brings over 16 years in non-profit management, community-driven programming and organizing to her work at HAPA. Before working at HAPA, she co-founded and directed Hester Street, an NYC non-profit that ensures neighborhoods are shaped by the people who live in them. Frederick is most passionate about honoring people’s connection to place and organizing to ensure that communities have a voice in how their land is used and managed. She currently lives with her husband at their Anahola, Kaua’i homestead.