Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Environment

Hello, Mai Kakou, and good afternoon. Mahalo for joining us today's AEN hearing here in room 224 on February 26th. And we are video conferencing, which includes the audio and video of remote participants that's being streamed live on YouTube.

So in the likely event that anything happens and we have to cut the hearing short, the Committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business and a public notice will be posted on the Legislature's website.

And because of our 90 minute time limit for hearings, there'll be a 2 minute time limit for all testifiers and we'll have a virtual countdown timer on the Zoom screen. So we have two measures on today's agenda.

SB 301 SD1 relating to dogs establishes an additional penalty for a dog owner whose dog destroys property while on land zoned for ag use. And let's see. First up to testify from the Cattlemen's Council on Zoom, Nicole Galase. Hello, Nicole.

Thank you Chair Gabbard, Vice Chair Richards. The Hawaii Cattlemen's Council stands on our testimony in support of this as ranchers have been dealing with the issue of dogs attacking their livestock, trespassing on their property. Thank you so much for the attention given to this matter. Mahalo.

Thank you, Nicole. Next is Kele Salcedo.

Aloha Chair and Vice Chair. I strongly support this law, but we, you know, with a little amendments of punishment, disciplinary punishments of the dog owners because I myself personally got attacked by two hunting dogs on my property personally. I have pictures, graphic pictures of my injuries.

And the concern that I also have is when HPD came, humane society they contacted, they had nowhere or no one to come to retrieve those dogs that attacked me and my rescue fire dog. So there's a problem.

So, you know, being all these things that's going on, HPD gave the dog owners back the dogs knowing it attacked a human, it tasted human blood. These are trained dogs.

So we need, we really need the dog owners to be responsible because it came into my property, it attacked at me and my rescue dog, and it was right next to my grandchildren's swing set, you know, so please, you know, if we can do some kind of amendments. It's not one or the other.

You got to slap them around, you know, with a fine. You really got to let them know we're not going to tolerate allowing because you have trained dogs. Okay. If you are training them to kill, then you supposed to make sure they completely secure not to harm a human or another animal. Another animal.

So that's my, you know, testimony, but like I said, if you look at this, this is the sweetest dog. It's a rescue dog. His bill came over $1200 alone. And you can see graphic pictures. I'd like to leave these with you guys. You can see what I went through. Thank you.

Next is Austin Salcedo.

Hello, Senators. My name is Austin Salcedo. And I'd like to take this time, if you will allow me to introduce some pictures of how animals can be related to each other, but if the trainer teaches their dogs to attack and kill, they will. I'll share these pictures with you. These are pit bulls with a goat.

And you will notice a picture will tell a thousand words. The dog is not leashed, doesn't have a collar and there's a golden back of him. It tells a thousand words on this picture alone.

So if the trainer, the owner teaches the dog how to kill and to attack, this dog will do this damages on people's property. And my property was suffered for milking goats of our own. Slaughtered by hunting dogs, hunters came on the mountain, poachers, because our mountain doesn't allow dogs at all. Four milking goats killed.

Trophy shots only the head, nothing touching the body. So we're trying to say that I fully support the bills, Senate Bill 301 and hold the owners of dogs fully accountable. If they're going to use it for hunting, they should have a insurance policy that covers them, a million dollars coverage itself too.

But juveniles who comes on our mountain with dogs with the ill intent to hunt, the parents of the legal guardians of these juveniles should be held totally equally accountable. So I fully support this bill in its entirety. And please, you have to penalize them at the highest point, prosecute and pursue them. I appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you Austin. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure, please come forward. State your name.

Aloha everyone. Pikachu Shelby Billionaire representing Kō Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina, our king of Hawaiian islands. I like to support this measure and bill. And when I think about a logical perspective, if I had a dog and it attacked any one of your kids in your property, you would put down the dog. You gotta eliminate the threat.

And I don't want this happening again because we have a lot of random puppies and dogs. It's like they're breeding like pigs on the west side. And it doesn't stop. They don't control. They ate her chickens. Now she got time to tell the story.

She had 100 chickens, the dogs 86ed the chickens, attacked her and, you know, how much value eggs are. So I encourage you guys to put any amendments you need. I know Karl Rhoads charter of the Judicial Committee. He knows more legalese that we can write amendments to make sure this doesn't happen to you, your kids or grandkids.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Good afternoon, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. My apologies, Chair, if you did call us for coming in late. We're in support of this measure and as a dog lover, we still support this measure.

All this measure is doing is strengthening current law, adding additional protections by increasing the penalties. So there's already laws on the books.

But this-- You know, again we've hearing from our ranchers and our farmers of the incidences and the problems and we want them to be to be able to focus on their ag production and not ag crimes and things that are affecting and impacting their ability to provide the food, the feed, the fiber, the fuel and the floral culture that we here in Hawaii want.

So again, we're not creating necessarily new law, we're just strengthening the current law and offering some compensation really, and some penalties for those dogs and those dog owners that are impacting our ag community. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you, Brian. Members, any questions? Okay, moving on to the second measure, SB 1582 relating to the coconut tree recognizes the Coconut Palm as an official sustainable staple food source in the state. And by the way, on the last bill, 301, there were 13 testimonies in support, zero opposed and no comments.

So on this measure, SB 1582, Heather McMillan from DLNR.

Aloha, Chair and Committee, Heather McMillan, Urban and Community Forester with DLNR. We stand on our written testimony and strong support. I'm here happy to answer any questions. Thank you very much.

Next is Jesse Kelly in support. Master Shelby Pikachu Billionaire.

All right, Master Shelby Pikachu Billionaire here a Pikachu Shelby, Pinnacle Inoa. Thank you guys very much. I want to support this bill. So when I ran it through AI with coconuts, it if you see my report to you guys, the coconut industry, $6 billion just with water alone.

So when you talk to people on the streets, it feels like somebody brought the CRB here to eliminate us as challenging because you look at Fijian water, where all these coconuts are coming from, it's a $6 billion industry. We can make a lot of coconut water and start challenging the industry with a lot of coconuts here.

And you can see I put some Amendments to challenge the CRB because maybe you can eat them like Indiana Jones. Because how else are you going to do it the Waianae way? We got proact products.

You get a bucket and you put the solar light, because they're attracted to the light, and the sucker just drops in the bucket. And that's how we do. We catch them because they can survive a long time in water. It sounds stupid, but it's very simple. And then what are you going to do with them?

I figure you'd eat it or you make some kind of special curry. Just don't tell anybody. It's like an Indiana Jones special with aioli in it. Good protein, all natural, organic. Don't panic, Chee-hoo, support the bill. Love you guys. Coconuts rule.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to testify on this measure?

Okay, Harvey. Okay. Aloha, Kako. My name is Lania Espinosa and I'm testifying in support of Senate Bill 1582. The Tree of Life. New brings us water, food, material and mana. Being Chicano myself, I grew up surrounded by the smell of Niu or as we call it, cocoa. Its oil kept us moisturized, its water kept us hydrated.

And my childhood is filled with memories of eating different candies and sweets across the nations that are connected by the Pacific. Cocoa is intertwined within our people as indigenous people is the plant we use in our everyday lives are more than a resource to exploit. They're a being to cultivate relationship with.

They build culture, traditions and the health of a community. When we lose one of these relationships, we lose a part of our culture, of our history. And in Hawaii, Hawaiians relationship with Niu is the embodiment of this way of life. It is intertwined in their history and continues to feed them spiritually and physically every day.

New is food, but it is also Moulelo. It is history and it's life itself. I've had the honor of strengthening my relationship with Koko through new work here in Hawaii. And it is through my relationship with Niu that I am becoming the person I need to be for our people.

Although I am testifying as an individual, my time supporting community entities such as Niu Now and Elapayo Social Services has shown me firsthand how we as a community thrive when we are able to upkeep these relationships. I have seen how we can cultivate our relationship with Ina through perpetuating traditional agricultural practices.

Now the efforts of these people and many, many others have shown me a glimpse into a bright future of indigenous health and well being by securing Niu as a food resource and recognizing its part in Hawaiian culture. This work can be supported even further. When I taste Niu, I taste the essence of aina. Resilient, giving, abundant.

A taste of a future where indigenous people, Hawaiian people, can properly cultivate on their lands once more and continue the traditions of their ancestors, healing themselves and their lands. Will you be a part of building that future? Support Senate Bill 1582. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, anyone else wishing to testify on this measurement?

Aloha. Chair. Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. We did submit written testimony. Chair. We are in support of this measure. I don't think we could articulate better than the previous speaker on the importance of new coconuts. As I said, I was a dog lover.

I'm a lover of coconut. I actually buy coconut. I don't own my own coconut tree. It's important crop, food source. And so it emphasizes the importance of continued funding for invasive species control and eradication. Continued support for our biosecurity program, especially as it relates to the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetles.

So we urge the Committee to not just pass this measure, but to also address and continue to fund the Department of Agriculture and their partners so that we can win this war against our invasive species. And for this particular bill, Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony.

Thank you. Okay, Members, that's it. 1 more, please.

Hello, Heart centers. My name is Indrajit Gunasekara. I'm a co founder of Niu Now, a grassroots movement. And we recognize coconut as a relationship rooted in the Aloha Aina and the community.

And most importantly, we see coconut is a resource and that needed to be protected and acknowledged as it's a food, it is culture, it is also ecology. And this is a tree. Produce flowers year round and support many different ways of many layers of sustainability that's essential to humanity. And what is the function of coconut.

And there is a functional relationship that rooted in the community here and we support that relationship and we fully support this Bill. Mahalo Nu.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Aloha, everybody. My name is Lance Jensen. Mahi lapierre. I'm a Oahu boy. I grew up in Kapalama in Maunalua. My memories are also from sweets made from coconuts that my grandmother used to make. And for the last 20 years or so I've been using coconuts for ceremonial things to eat, to drink, also help with neonow.

And it's part of our culture. A lot of People don't have a relationship with coconuts because we cut them. With this CRB happening now, I urge you to find a way to let these trees grow out their nuts so we can get the seeds. As CRB hits us, we will have seed to plant in the future.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Aloha, Mai Kkou. My name is Kehau. I'm from Nanakuli, and I've been dedicated the past 67 years of my life to growing coconuts and everything surrounding it. I fully support this bill. And, you know, it's hard because growing up, we've seen this as an ornamental liability.

So we have been able to fully immerse ourselves in understanding this tree of life. And I would like to offer a different perspective today. I know that we want to acknowledge new as a food resource. And when you think about it, it doesn't only nourish us physically, but also spiritually and through Ike, through knowledge and through moʻolelo.

And I'd like to share moʻolelo with you guys today. It is. It talks about Kauluni Opukai, and it talks about this voyaging chief who brought coconuts to Oahu, and he planted this grove in Waianae. And as a Waianae resident, this story, this moʻolelo, this connects us back to our roots. Yeah.

Waianae has a stereotype, bad reputation, and it's because we don't know these stories. Yeah. Queen Emma herself wrote in her journal how these new that was hookupu to her, gifted to her from Waianae was the sweetest new that she ever tasted. And not being connected to these stories, we don't know who we are.

So in doing this new mission and planting coconuts, we're not only reclaiming our identity as Kanaka or as native Hawaiian, but. But the niu is also reclaiming their identity because it was a lost practice. You don't see people today that know how to grow coconuts or know how to plant coconuts.

And so being a part of Niyu now has opened up my mind and taught me to acknowledge this tree not only as a food source, but as a kumu niu itself, which is the Hawaiian word for it. And kumus are teachers. Yeah. That teach us many things.

And this tree lives 100 years in its lifespan, and it sees through three to five generations of Ohana.

And being able to see how much this tree gives to us, from the Lau, from the leaves to the coconut itself and even the trunk, to be able to make pahu, you can Utilize it in all aspects and just being able to get people to understand that in its entirety and acknowledge this tree as the tree of life.

So mahalo.

Thank you very much. Anyone else? Okay, Members, any questions? Department of AG here.

No, thank you.

Okay. It's okay with the Members. We'll just go right into decision making. The first bill. We'll take a brief.

Yeah. Take a quick recess. Okay.

Reconvening the one o' clock agenda here on two measures. SB 301 SD1, relating to dogs. The Chair's recommendation will be to pass as is. Any discussion? Chair votes aye. Vice Chair?

On Senate Bill 301, passing unamended. SB 301 SD1. Chair votes aye. Vice Chair votes aye. [Roll call]. Chair, you have four in favor. Motion is adopted.

Thank you, Members. And the other measure, SB 1582, relating to the coconut tree. Thank you all for participating today. And Professor, really appreciate you coming in. So the Chair's recommendation will be to pass as is. And by the way, there were 20 in support of the SB 1582, 20 testifiers, zero opposed and zero amendments. Chair votes aye. Vice Chair?

On Senate Bill 1582. Chair votes aye. Vice Chair votes aye. [Roll call] Chair, you have five in favor. Motion is adopted.

Thank you very much, Members. And this concludes the 1pm agenda.