Hawaii Senate Bill SCR134

Hawaii 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/16/26
• Refer: 3/19/26

Caption

Requesting The Department Of Education And The University Of Hawaii At Manoa College Of Tropical Agriculture And Human Resilience To Support The Department Of Education's Secondary Agricultural Education Program And The Future Farmers Of America Program.

Summary

SCR134 is a Senate Concurrent Resolution requesting the Department of Education and the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience to support the Department of Education’s Secondary Agricultural Education Program, now known as the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Program, and the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program. The resolution frames these programs as important tools for building a local agricultural workforce, teaching science and academic skills through hands-on learning, and encouraging civic engagement and career exploration in agriculture. The measure explains that Hawaii’s heavy reliance on imported food and its declining agricultural workforce make agricultural education a strategic priority. It highlights the historical reach of the program, its decline since 2000 due to policy and funding changes, and the opportunity to rebuild it through school gardening, farm-to-school efforts, and regional kitchen initiatives. The resolution specifically points to an extension agent housed at UH Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience as a practical way to provide professional development and connect best practices to schools and FFA activities.

Impact

SCR134 does not amend statutes or create a new regulatory program; instead, it expresses the Legislature’s request that DOE and UH Manoa collaborate to strengthen agricultural education and FFA support. Its practical impact would be to encourage interagency coordination, professional development, and possible staffing or outreach support through the University of Hawaii system, especially via CTAHR. The resolution is aimed at influencing education policy, workforce development, and food self-sufficiency efforts rather than changing binding law.

Sentiment

The overall sentiment is strongly supportive of agricultural education and workforce development. The resolution presents the program as a proven, beneficial pathway for students and as a necessary response to Hawaii’s food security challenges. Because there is no recorded committee transcript or vote history provided, there is no evidence of formal opposition in the available materials, and the measure appears to be framed in a consensus-building, promotional way.

Contention

The main points of contention implied by the text are not about the goal of agricultural education itself, but about the structural reasons the program declined and how best to restore it. The resolution points to prior policy shifts, loss of science credit, funding cuts under the Weighted Student Formula, and the end of a teacher preparation program as causes of decline, suggesting that resource allocation and education policy have been obstacles. It also implies a policy choice between centralized support through UH/CTAHR and the decentralized school governance model, with the resolution favoring a more coordinated statewide support structure.