Oppose the Transfer of the ADC (SB2473 SD2 HD1)!
*Note: A previous version of this blog incorrectly described SB2473 SD2 HD1 as a bill that would transfer the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism. Please disregard this information. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
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It’s 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. If passed, SB2473 SD2 HD1 would allow for this to happen.
Rather than deeply reform the agency, the bill would simply transfer *the ADC from the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBET). Although the recent amendments add some reforms, they are not nearly as comprehensive as HB2418 HD2, which HAPA supports.
Please join us in opposing SB2473 SD2 HD1. This bill will be heard by the House Committee on Finance on Friday, April 1 at 1:30 PM. Testimonies are due Thursday, March 31 at 1:30 PM.
Learn more about the ADC’s controversial past
About the Bill
SB2473 SD2 HD1 (Transfer of ADC to DBET)
Despite undergoing a scathing audit and decades of controversy, all bills that sought to repeal or reform the agency last year were deferred. This resulted in the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives creating an investigative committee to follow up on the audit and develop a set of recommendations for how best to reform the agency. Those reforms are encapsulated in HB2418 HD2.
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 address 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
What You Can Do
Submit testimony in OPPOSITION of SB2473 by Friday, April 1st, 2022 at 1:30 PM via the Hawaiʻi State Capitol Portal. Please feel free to use the talking points below.
Share this call to action on your social media channels and spread the word! You can repost the Instagram version of this CTA via @hiprogressiveaction. There is more power in numbers.
Stay involved and continue to testify this legislative session!
Additional Talking Points
In 2021, a shocking state audit revealed that the ADC has failed to fulfill its mission within its nearly 30-year existence
The Hawaiʻi State Auditor described the ADC as an agency that "has done little – if anything – to facilitate the development of agriculture enterprises to fill the economic void created by the demise of the sugar and pineapple industries."
Prior to the 2021 audit, the ADC has also faced additional scandals throughout the years. This includes being sued for blatantly mismanaging land and water resources, people dying on ADC-managed lands, denying local farmers leases without justification, violating the Clean Water Act, allowing tenants to operate without formal leases, and leasing the majority of their landholdings to agrochemical companies that test experimental pesticides and grow herbicide-resistant seed crops.
If Hawaiʻi is to meet its goals of doubling food production for local consumption, the agency must be reformed. Rather than focusing on using agribusiness for export, ADC-managed lands could be used to strengthen Hawaiʻi’s food security.
Several studies have shown that small farmers overwhelmingly identified a lack of access to affordable, right-sized farm leases as a major barrier to farming. If the state is to meet its local food production goals, the ADC should be a part of the solution in prioritizing access for farmers that are committed to sustainably producing food for local consumption.
The state audit found that the ADC was lacking in deep agricultural expertise. The ADC should seek to increase the agricultural expertise on its board and staff through its strategic planning process. According to James Nakatani, the Executive Director of the ADC, “no one [at the agency] has a deep agricultural background.”
Despite being required by statute, the ADC never developed an agribusiness plan for defining and establishing goals, objectives, policies, and priority guidelines. Having this plan in place would help the agency to fulfill its mission.
(Click here for full legislative website guide)
