Transcript Highlights:

• Because I'm thinking, I went and bought some food at a food truck in my neighborhood.
• Cottage food—where is that at?
• What is happening in these cottage kitchens is that people who do not care about food are putting food
• It's about food safety.
• If you sell $10,000 worth of food, what's your normal cost of that food?

Bills: HB3000 , HB2622 , HB2283 , HB541 , HB1776 , HB1803 , HB1669 , HB2588 , HB220 , HB3415 , HB50 , HB1314 , HB 107 , HB220 , HB50 , HB107

Committee: House Public Health

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> &gt;&gt; Next, we have Lauren Zerbal, Hawaii Food &gt;&gt; Next, we have Lauren Zerbal, Hawaii Food
• Next, we have Lauren Zerbal, Way Food Industry Association. Support local food production.
• </c> &gt;&gt; Next, we have Local Food &gt;&gt; Next, we have Local Food Coalition.
• </c> of producing food. of producing food.
• </c> food production. food production.

Bills: HB1602 , HB2246 , HB1707 , HB2216 , HB2594 , HB2595 , HB2155 , HB2113 , HB2207 , HB1832 , HB2015 , HB2152 , HB2548

Committee: House Agriculture & Food Systems

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> difficult for families to afford food difficult for families to afford food yet<00:40:22.400><c>
• </c><00:40:43.839><c> it's</c> this bill is not just about food it's this bill is not just about food
• </c> financial report um under the food financial report um under the food services<01:05:34.920><c>
• </c><01:09:14.040><c> for</c> know that so just a little food for know that so just a little food for
• 16-year-old member of the ha youth food 16-year-old member of the ha youth food Council<01:20:09.520>

Summary: The committee first took up House Bill 707 on the College Savings Program. Members discussed a suggested amendment from the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities to include the Hawaii ABLE Savings Program. The chair said the Department of the Attorney General advised there was no title problem, so the bill could be broadened to cover both the College Savings Program and the ABLE program. The committee also noted technical, non-substantive changes and a defective date of July 1, 3000 for further discussion. HB 707 HD1 was then voted on and the recommendation to pass with amendments was adopted unanimously by the members present, with two members excused. The committee then heard House Bill 424, which would provide free breakfast and lunch beginning the next school year to students who currently qualify for free and reduced-price meals. The Department of Education supported the measure, and testimony in favor came from teachers, public health and food security advocates, and several organizations. Supporters described students being denied meals because of unpaid balances, said school meals should not depend on family debt, and argued that the bill would reduce stigma and help hungry students learn. Committee questions focused on meal pricing, the impact of raising prices on families who pay full price, and whether portion sizes could be increased; DOE said breakfast costs less than lunch, full-price students would bear any increase, and portion sizes must follow USDA rules. Hawaiʻi Public Health Institute and Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network said many families above the free/reduced thresholds still cannot afford meals, citing estimates that the DOE collects about $20 million a year in meal payments and that federal reimbursement totals are much larger. The committee then heard House Bill 757, the universal free school breakfast and lunch bill. DOE and the Department of Health supported it, and testimony was overwhelmingly in favor from county officials, teachers, students, food banks, advocacy groups, and community organizations. Witnesses argued that universal meals would eliminate stigma, reduce paperwork and debt collection, and ensure students do not fall through the cracks because of income cutoffs, language barriers, or administrative hurdles. Several students from Castle High School described classmates asking for food and families struggling to keep meal accounts funded, while teachers said they regularly see negative meal balance notices and hungry students. Advocates also said the bill is the better equity vehicle because it avoids means testing and reaches students who are not currently receiving meals despite needing them. The hearing on HB 757 was still ongoing at the end of the transcript, and no final vote on that bill was shown.

Transcript Highlights:

• We give them $20, we get a $20 food card. You give them $50, you get a $50 food card.
• I'm going to give them more food.
• Or I've run out of food during the holidays because we only could collect so much food in our food bank
• Could we lift it for prepared foods or not? And that...
• Could we lift it for prepare foods or not?

Committee: House Health and Welfare

Summary: The House Committee on Health and Welfare met on May 12 and considered a wide range of health, social services, and licensing measures. Early in the meeting, the committee reported favorably HCR 98, which asks the Louisiana Department of Health to study whether SNAP recipients should be allowed to use benefits for grocery delivery fees. The author said the proposal would not change SNAP rules directly, but would examine access issues for elderly, disabled, rural, and transportation-limited residents. The committee also advanced SB 273, a hospice patient-protection bill requiring documentation of hydration, nutrition, and care decisions in inpatient licensed facilities where hospice is provided, with LDH oversight and enforcement authority; members discussed how responsibility is shared between facilities and outside hospice providers, and adopted technical amendments. The committee then approved SB 415, creating the Empower Louisiana Food Purchase Program, a privately funded charitable food-card program intended to let nonprofits distribute food-only cards to people in need. Members and the author discussed whether the cards would be reloadable, which retailers could accept them, and whether prepared foods could be included; LDH said the program could use all SNAP-authorized retailers, and the bill was reported favorably with amendments. SB 437, a cleanup bill for judicially referred residential substance abuse treatment facilities, was also reported favorably with amendments after LDH clarified that facilities providing treatment must be licensed, while residences only housing individuals would not be. SB 451, updating newborn hearing screening terminology and reporting requirements, was reported favorably after testimony that the bill would strengthen early detection and follow-up for deaf or hard-of-hearing children. Later, the committee advanced SB 426, which modernizes the addictive disorder regulatory authority and creates a formal peer support specialist licensing pathway. Supporters said the bill would strengthen the behavioral health workforce, improve accountability, and create a progression from peer support to higher credentials; the committee adopted technical and transition amendments and reported the bill favorably with amendments. SB 236, requiring LDH annual reviews and reports on kidney disease treatment services in Medicaid, was also reported favorably with amendments. Additional measures approved included SB 39, allowing provisional licenses for massage therapy graduates; SB 190, which tightens oversight of poor-performing nursing facilities in the CMS Special Focus Facility Program and sets an 18-month improvement timeline; SB 124, allowing hospitals within the same health system to share peer review records without waiving privilege; HR 174, urging study of fenbendazole as a possible cancer treatment; SB 270, allowing terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana in health care facilities; SB 359, changing terms for certain Morehouse Parish hospital district commissioners; and HR 194, requesting de-identified school visual acuity screening data for research. The committee adjourned after reporting all measures favorably, several with amendments.

Transcript Highlights:

• It's an argument for honest, real food, real natural food. Real natural food.
• And so not only is this an important food, but it's an important food to the economy.
• Therefore, added sugar as an ingredient in food or drink can lead to food addiction and binge eating,
• Granulated sugar is a highly processed food product, added to other foods without adding any nutrient
• to food, body to food, is really important.

Committee: Senate Agricultural Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• It gets plowed under, but that is food that can go into our food system, and that's what this bill is
• </c> that is food that can go into our food that is food that can go into our food system<00:20:40.360
• First and foremost, we believe that food is a right, and in addition, food security is a right, which
• </c> school about doubling our food school about doubling our food production<00:32:55.919><c> this</
• </c><01:18:22.040><c> for</c> is a little awkward but just food for is a little awkward but just food

Committee: House Economic Development & Technology

Summary: The committee on Economic Development and Technology heard testimony on several measures, with most witnesses either supporting the bills or offering technical concerns and suggested amendments. On SB 338, testimony came from the Department of Taxation, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, and Surpac, and the bill later moved forward with amendments. On SB 558, testimony was largely in support from the Department of Agriculture, Ulupono Initiative, Local Food Coalition, Hawaii Food Industry Association, Hawaii Farm Bureau, and the Agribusiness Development Corporation, which described the measure as supporting rural jobs, food-system development, and use of off-grade agricultural products. ADC requested flexibility for neighbor-island siting and funding allocations, while the committee also discussed whether the bill’s language should be made more general and whether it could raise constitutional concerns about overly specific site designations. The bill was advanced with amendments and a noted appropriation allocation of $350,000. The committee also heard SB 186, which drew support from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Department of Agriculture, Ulupono Initiative, Hawaii Food Industry Association, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Public Health Institute, DED, ADC, AAHU RC&D, and the Hawaii Youth Food Council. Supporters said the measure would improve coordination among agencies on food systems, help address food security and the state’s 30% by 2030 farm-to-school goal, and create a more organized statewide food systems effort. SB 328 received support from the Department of Taxation and Hawaii Farm Bureau, with Farm Bureau describing it as a way to repurpose existing dairy infrastructure to revive hog production and support livestock and farm-to-school goals; the Tax Foundation of Hawaii opposed the measure as a potentially narrow industry incentive that could unfairly benefit a specific taxpayer and said a direct appropriation would be more transparent. SB 89 was described by Hawaii Farm Bureau as a labeling measure intended to protect the integrity of a culturally relevant local product, though the group raised concerns about wording and implementation timing. Later, SB 742 received support from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, the Office of Wellness and Resilience, the Executive Office on Early Learning, the University of Hawaii System, Hawaii KidsCAN, the Hawaii Workforce Funders Collaborative, and the State Commission on the Status of Women. Testifiers said the bill would improve cross-agency data sharing, support workforce and education planning, and create public-facing dashboards; the Commission on the Status of Women asked to be included in the working group or as an advisory member. In decision-making, the committee adopted amendments and advanced SB 338, SB 558, and SB 1186. For SB 1186, the chair’s recommendation added three positions, specified committee-note funding amounts for those positions and operating funds, and revised working-group membership to have co-chairs appoint five members with relevant experience and expertise.

Transcript Highlights:

• From lower-income areas or just making sure we have well-rounded food for our students.
• Anytime that we approach this work in schools, we try to support all foods.
• We try not to go like just from our own lane, but support all foods.
• We try not to go like just, you know, from our own, our own lane, but support all foods.
• It includes dairy, but includes all food groups and just helping them be the best that they can be.

Committee: Senate Agricultural Affairs

Transcript Highlights:

• It recognizes the coconut palm as an official sustainable staple food source in the state.
• It brings us water, food, material, and mana.
• Niu is food, but it is also moʻo. It is history, and it's life itself.
• Niu is food, but it is also moʻo. It is history, and it's life itself.
• </c><00:16:32.199><c> resource</c> to acknowledge new as a food resource to acknowledge new as a food

Committee: Senate Agriculture and Environment

Summary: The committee heard two measures relating to dogs and coconut trees. On SB 301 SD1, which would add penalties for dog owners whose dogs destroy property on land zoned for a use, testimony was overwhelmingly supportive. Ranchers, farmers, and other testifiers described dogs attacking livestock, trespassing on property, and in some cases injuring people and killing goats or chickens. Several speakers urged stronger penalties, owner accountability, and in some cases insurance requirements. The Hawaii Farm Bureau also supported the bill, saying it would strengthen existing law and help protect agricultural producers. The committee noted there were 13 testimonies in support, none opposed, and no comments. The committee then heard SB 1582, which recognizes the coconut palm as an official sustainable staple food source in the state. Testimony was uniformly supportive from DLNR, the Hawaii Farm Bureau, Niu Now, and individual speakers who described the cultural, spiritual, and practical importance of niu/coconut in Hawaiian life, as well as its value as a food source and the need to protect it from the coconut rhinoceros beetle. Several speakers also emphasized biosecurity and continued funding for invasive species control. The committee stated there were 20 testimonies in support, none opposed, and no comments. In decision making, the committee recommended both measures be passed as is. SB 301 SD1 was adopted with four votes in favor and one no vote. SB 1582 was adopted unanimously, with five votes in favor.

Transcript Highlights:

• AB 1049 strengthens California's food safety net by making C...
• and member of the statewide Food for All Coalition.
• Those barriers do not just take food off the table.
• Kathy Musberg, California Association of Food Banks, in support.
• Kathy Musberg, California Association of Food Banks in support.

Committee: Senate Human Services

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> because I respect that as a food source. because I respect that as a food source.
• </c> recreating, and respecting cultural food recreating, and respecting cultural food sources. sources
• </c> relationships with a thriving food relationships with a thriving food source<00:14:12.399><c> that
• Um, so many animals do use it for nutrition, for food, and for habitat and shelter.
• If you go to where the food is, you're probably going to find some.

Transcript Highlights:

• I’ve just received a quote for a food truck. We want to open up the youth farm cafe.
• In your food, you’re still going to be in the same condition.
• So cooking flavorful food. So yes, that’s the path.
• I said, I don’t grow food, I don’t have a green thumb.
• I don’t watch YouTube videos about how to grow food.

Committee: Senate Agriculture

Transcript Highlights:

• policy issues, I'm curious if you can speak to the challenges around food access and food assistance
• policy issues, I'm curious if you can speak to the challenges around food access and food assistance
• Curious on food security challenges.
• My church collected food during the shutdown to provide to the food banks, which tended to run toward
• Food insecurities was brought up several times. We do have a problem here with food insecurities.

Summary: The committee heard updates from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Navy Region Northwest, Fairchild Air Force Base, the Coast Guard, state licensing agencies, the Professional Educator Standards Board, the Washington National Guard, and a veterans behavioral health presenter. Across the military briefings, common themes were readiness, infrastructure, and quality-of-life issues for service members and families, especially child care, housing, food insecurity, medical and dental access, and military spouse employment. JBLM highlighted its role in Indo-Pacific readiness, ongoing PFAS cleanup, 212 new family housing units under construction, efforts to expand child care, and continued work to keep the Lewis Army Museum open. Navy Region Northwest discussed its major installations and economic impact, the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan, future carrier and submarine homeporting needs, and asked the legislature to continue support for licensure compacts, educational stability for military children, housing, and medical access. Fairchild emphasized its tanker and survival missions, child care shortages, food insecurity, aging housing, and concerns about wind turbine development near flight paths, while the Coast Guard focused on rebuilding Base Seattle for new icebreakers and on rural access to housing, medical care, and child care at dispersed stations like Neah Bay. Members repeatedly raised food insecurity and asked for follow-up on solutions. JBLM and Fairchild both described increased demand for food assistance during the shutdown, and committee members noted progress in getting mobile food vans onto JBLM. The presenters also praised state action on military spouse licensure and child care, including Senate Bill 5545 and related compact and portability efforts. The Department of Licensing reported about 9,000 self-identified military members or spouses licensed, with average time-to-license just under nine days, and said applications are prioritized when military status is self-identified. The Department of Health said its military-to-civilian crosswalk now covers more than 35 health professions, that temporary practice permits and expedited processing are in place, and that 1,300 credentials were issued to military spouses and domestic partners and 129 to military-trained health professionals in the last fiscal year, all within 30 days. The Professional Educator Standards Board explained that military spouses and service members can receive expedited teacher certification with reduced documentation, and that they are moved to the front of the review queue when they self-identify. Members asked about verification, and staff said the process relies on attestation with investigatory safeguards if needed. The Washington National Guard briefed on its dual state and federal mission, the impact of the recent shutdown on nearly 700 employees who worked without pay, and policy and budget requests including youth academy protections, alignment of the Washington Code of Military Justice with the UCMJ, making Civil Air Patrol a division of the Military Department, 911 funding, disaster assistance, and capital funding for headquarters and readiness facilities. The Guard also warned about drone threats and said it wants authority to identify, track, and monitor suspicious drones. A veterans behavioral health presenter, an Army combat veteran and clinical social worker, described high suicide risk, barriers to care, and the need for more culturally competent services, especially for women veterans and caregivers. He said Washington veterans’ suicide rate remains above the national average and emphasized that childcare, transportation, and provider shortages can prevent timely treatment. Members generally responded supportively throughout, asked for follow-up on food security and other issues, and encouraged agencies to bring forward legislative ideas for future sessions.

Transcript Highlights:

• By addressing this waste and finding a beneficial use... process food waste in process food waste in
• </c><00:06:12.880><c> scraps</c> agreement to provide those food scraps agreement to provide those food
• You put the food in and it processes the food and it produces liquids, solids, and gases.
• </c> of what food waste it can take the food of what food waste it can take the food waste<00:19:25.360
• </c> to produce energy from our food waste. to produce energy from our food waste.

Committee: House Energy Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• , and also add food banks as a qualifying entity.
• As you know, food banks use their scale and buying power to supply food to local pantries, churches,
• important role in reducing food waste.
• As you know, that food banks use their scale and buying power to supply food to local pantries, churches
• I think food pantry tax credits are a very worthwhile endeavor.

Committee: House Ways and Means

Summary: The Ways and Means Committee first met in executive session and voted 8-0, with one member absent, to do pass House Bill 3405. Members described the bill as clarifying how pass-through entity tax information and credits are handled, with supporters saying it would reduce confusion and administrative burden while preserving the tax credit. In public hearing, the committee took testimony on House Bill 2457 and House Bill 1782, both related to food pantry tax credits. HB 2457 would extend the food pantry/soup kitchen/homeless shelter credit to 2032, add food banks as eligible entities, and raise the cap from $1.75 million to $4 million, while keeping the credit at 50 percent. HB 1782 would remove the sunset from the food pantry tax credit. Supporters said food banks and related charities need stable, predictable funding to address rising hunger and food waste; there was no opposition testimony. The committee then heard extensive testimony on House Bill 3518, which would redirect the existing athletes and entertainers tax into a dedicated fund and require distribution to arts, humanities, libraries, public broadcasting, and historic preservation, while extending the sunset to 2060. The sponsor and supporters argued the money was intended for these purposes and that current appropriations fall short of the statutory split, creating instability for cultural and educational organizations. Witnesses from arts groups, libraries, and humanities organizations cited economic impact, statewide reach, and the need for long-term planning; some members raised concerns about oversight, general revenue impacts, and the long sunset, but no vote was taken on HB 3518 in this transcript.

Transcript Highlights:

• purchasing assistance grants, which allows um uh food shelves and food hubs to purchase from our small
• purchasing assistance grants, which allows um uh food shelves and food hubs to purchase from our small
• </c> grants which allows um uh food shelves grants which allows um uh food shelves to<00:04:23.360><c
• and to purchase or food food shelves and and food<00:04:25.919><c> hubs</c><00:04:26.240><c> to</c><
• And then for the food food made.

Bills: HF2784 , HF2785 , HF2778 , HF2281 , HF2576 , HF2280 , HF2579

Committee: House Agriculture Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• Will you call them lazy, worthless, unworthy of food?
• Will you call them lazy, worthless, unworthy of food?
• Will you call them lazy, worthless, unworthy of food?
• They're stealing your food, your health care, your security.
• We gut Medicaid, food assistance.

Transcript Highlights:

• But I love seeing the rainbow of food that's at the salad bar and knowing that food from farmers right
• co-ops a restaurant program local food co-ops a restaurant food<00:34:10.599><c> shelves</c><00:34:11.159
• </c> knowing that food from Farmers right knowing that food from Farmers right around<00:37:17.920><c
• <00:42:04.040><c> we've</c><00:42:04.280><c> even</c> Foods we've even Foods we've even confirmed<00:
• </c> eggs that they had gotten off the food eggs that they had gotten off the food service<00:43:23.720

Bills: HF2446 , HF2878 , HF2667 , HF1795 , HF2683 , HF2916

Committee: House Agriculture Finance and Policy

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> education, the arts, and food education, the arts, and food distribution. distribution. distribution
• Hoy Good Food Alliance, $1 million. Family Law Clinic, $140,000. Hui Food Bank, $5.5 million.
• Kauaii Food Bank, $95,000. Kahu Foundation, $83,000. EU Medical Youth Project, $250,000.
• Maui Food Bank, $895,000. Maui Hub, $45,000.
• The Food Basket, $1.5 million. The Legal Clinic, $100,000. Upcountry Strong, $50,000.

Summary: The hearing was an informational briefing on Act 310, which set aside $50 million for nonprofit and community organizations facing uncertainty, especially amid federal funding disruptions. Speakers thanked Aloha United Way for handling applications, as well as the governor, lieutenant governor, House and Senate leadership, and legislative staff for helping craft the measure and review more than 200 applications totaling over $150 million in requests. They noted the funding was intended as a safety net for organizations serving at-risk populations and those that had lost federal support, with priority given to healthcare, human services, education, the arts, and food distribution. The co-chair then presented the recommended award list, describing it as aimed at programs with broad reach and high impact. The list included a large number of nonprofits and community providers across the state, such as food banks, health centers, youth and family services, domestic violence and legal aid organizations, cultural and educational groups, and hospitals. Several of the larger awards mentioned included Hui Food Bank, Boys and Girls Club of the Big Island, West Hawaii Community Health Center, The Food Basket, and multiple Maui and Oahu service organizations. After the full list was read, the chair asked for discussion or objections. Hearing none, the committee adopted the list of nonprofit awards as read. The briefing then adjourned.

Transcript Highlights:

• </c> can puts food on the table. can puts food on the table.
• Peter Food Shelf.
• Um and he receives Peter Food Shelf.
• the</c><00:15:26.720><c> Federal</c> food assistance through the Federal food assistance through the
• </c> increase the funding for the local food increase the funding for the local food purchasing<00:24

Transcript Highlights:

• They cannot be placed in foods in the EU. They cannot be put in foods in Latin America.
• They cannot be put in foods in South Korea.
• towards more real food.
• towards more real food.
• bipartisan support, and then the California School Food Safety Act that we passed to get the food dyes

Summary: The Assembly Education Committee heard a full agenda of bills, first adopting a consent calendar of 11 measures without individual presentations. The committee then took up AB 1412, which would require California schools to implement or adopt a transferred special education student’s IEP within 30 days for out-of-state transfers and to coordinate more quickly on records. The author and military-family witnesses said the bill would reduce delays for highly mobile students, especially military children; a school administrators group opposed it. The bill received initial support from committee members and was moved on call. The committee also reconsidered AB 281, which would require notice to parents when outside consultants provide sex education instruction; the author accepted amendments removing a copy-right provision, but the bill remained on call after a split vote. The committee heard AB 1005, which would create a statewide drowning-prevention education and swim-lesson voucher framework for underserved communities. The author and supporters described drowning as a preventable public health and equity issue, while the bill was clarified as developing a plan rather than immediately launching a voucher program. It was voted out on a 3-0 roll with the measure placed on call. AB 908, as amended, would add compliance monitoring for existing requirements that schools use LGBTQ-inclusive instructional materials and curriculum under the FAIR Act. Supporters said the bill would improve implementation and student safety; opponents raised concerns about privacy, girls’ sports, and school burdens. The committee approved the bill 5-2 and sent it to Appropriations. The committee then heard AB 1401, which would affirm parents’ access to school records, including unofficial records unless exempt by law. The author argued that parents need clearer access to information held by schools and vendors, while school officials and teachers’ union representatives warned the bill was too vague and could sweep in personal notes, journals, and other sensitive material. The bill failed on a 2-3 vote and was placed on call. Finally, AB 727 would require student ID cards to include the Trevor Project hotline for LGBTQ youth; supporters framed it as a suicide-prevention measure, while opponents argued it conflicted with parental rights and religious beliefs. Committee discussion focused on whether 988 already provides similar access and whether the Trevor Project is an appropriate resource to print on IDs; the hearing continued with the bill still under consideration.