Senate Standing Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection

Morning and welcome to this Wednesday, February 26, 2025 9:30am Joint Committee hearing in Conference Room 229 at the State Capitol between the Senate committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Economic Development and tourism to hear SB890 SD1 relating to business regulation.

This measure prohibits the sale, offer for sale, display or marketing for sale of any product labeled as poi unless the product is wholly derived from taro that is grown within the state. Okay, first up, we have the Attorney General's Office of Comments.

Good morning. Deputy Attorney General Travis Moon. We provided comments on a commerce clause and free speech clause issue. I'm here if you have any questions. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Hawaii Department of Agriculture with comments. Good morning, chairs, vice chairs, Members of the Committee, Cedric Gates here on behalf of the Department of Agriculture. The Department stands on its written testimony offering our support with comments and here for any questions. Mahalo.

Pomai Kulolo LLC.

Mr. Kekaula, good morning.

Excuse my inexperience.

My name is Keanuenue Kekaula of Pomai Lulolo LLC. And I guess I'll just read it verbatim as it is. Am I testifying or am I...

Yeah we asked members to observe a two minute limit just so that we can keep the hearing going because we have a tight schedule.

Okay.

We have received your written remarks, so you can just feel free to use the time to express any other concerns you might have. Okay. And we're not gonna be extra strict because you...

Okay. It's just that I am in opposition of the bill, as it is written, I'm for protecting poi. Okay. And Kalo and all of those things. But as it is written, it restricts what poi is. Poi is more than just kalo. It's a process. Yeah. And so we ourselves, we make 'uala poi.

Now all of a sudden, we won't be able to sell 'uala poi because it's not poi the way that the... how it's written. And just to let you know, I mean, I process and purchase over 1.7 million pounds of Kalo in the last four years. And in that same four years, about 100,000 pounds of 'ulala.

Just to let you know what the volume that we're working with. It's just that when this popped up, it came out of nowhere. And I'm wondering, who are we protecting against? As an industry leader, I was unaware of any outside threats.

And so where is the threat and why has it come to this measure to protect poi, you know, I've been doing this since 2007. I've been doing kalo my whole life. Right. And professionally since 2007. And this is the...I think, though it sounds good, it would do more harm to the industry.

And so it just needs to be clearer and we need to know what we're trying to protect against. I don't have much time and I would be available for questions as well, if you guys have any.

Thank you very much. So that's all the... wait. I'd also like to note we have written testimony from the following individuals. Joanne Leong in support. Lynn Matasal in support. Kyone Shizuma in support. Late testimony from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in support. Heia National Estuary Research Reserve in support. Koalau foundation in support.

Kolaupokoho in Civic Club in support. Omaika Ikikaula in opposition. Kamali Terkin in support. Vivian Lee and Charlie Rapun in support. Richard Cohen with comments. Is there anyone else who would like to testify? Please.

Kakoo Oiwi. Chairs. Thank you so much for this opportunity. We sit as Executive. My name is Kanekoa kukea-Schultz. I'm the Executive Director for Kakoo Oiwi. We are basically writing in Support of Bill 890 in relating to business.

We believe that this opportunity to ensure the purity of poi and whether you want to call it kalu poi, 'Uala Poi, we just wanted to make sure that when our children and our babies are eating poi, regardless of its origin, it has to be from Hawaii.

And we see from so many other industries how mainland and foreign products are coming in to pollute our system. It's just really important that we keep that purity in Hawaii. And for most of our taro farmers, 100% support it because that will ensure protect ours, our system.

Anyway, with that said, I just appreciate the time and opportunity and of course we support this Bill. Thank you.

Hello. Mai Kakou. I'm the Vice President for the Kakoo Oiwi and I just want to... you have a testimony from our Koʻolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club in support. But listening to the gentleman earlier, maybe we can, you know, fix some language in there. You know, all my life I was raised on kalo.

In fact, I have a sister that every single day she had to eat poi. Even when she went to Las Vegas, was crazy because she had to take her poi with her. But if you remember, you know, in the past, we did have a poi shortage.

And my husband, being a pure Hawaiian, was saying there's no excuse for poi shortage. Because there's enough land in the whole of Hawaii that we shouldn't be actually having tarot coming from, exported from someplace else. And maybe this is a time to look at it, you know, maybe opening up more properties for more farmers to farm poi.

And I support this Bill. Maybe you can amend whatever writing they need to do. Mahalo.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to testify? Members, questions? Yes, Senator McKelvey.

Oh, Senator Richards. I'm looking at the screen.

No, it's actually for Mr. Kekaula. Didn't want you to come all this way and not have a party. Right. Actually, all kidding aside, so. And to address the concern here. Completely agree. The problem is we don't produce enough kalo in the state and we have a shortage.

And since you're a manufacturer, how challenging is it for you to buy local kalu?

When I first started, it was very, very, very difficult to break into the commercial industry. There was only two commercial leaders at the time, and they controlled most of the taro production. Most kalo farmers didn't want to deviate from sending their taro.

So they don't want to risk going in with somebody they don't know, because these guys are the sure thing. And so I didn't get into, into it with commercial tariff farms until 2010. And even when I did, it was short. We didn't have enough. And so I did what any business does.

And you look into vertical integration, Right. When there's a lack in the supply chain, you look into vertically integrating. And every other person in the industry has done the same. Taro brand had their own farm in Haleiwa, Hanalei Poi. They have their. They started off as farmers, and we start off as producers and ended up farming.

So we took on a farm. And even with that farm, where we get bad weather, you know, there's bad water, you have all those things that account to not having enough taro. And so it's difficult. And that is our goal. We've been trying to grow more.

I think the biggest problem, though, is we talk about kalo, we talk about its importance, but we're not pushing enough to grow the demand for it. It's so significantly important. But I think we're focusing so much on these small groups. You know, our Hawaiian people are much larger than an ahupua'a or a little community. We're an island.

We're a state, and our people are vast amongst this world, and they're hungry for poi, too. A lot of them left not because they wanted to, but because they can't afford to be here.

And so our goal as Pomai Lulolo poi has always been to make poi affordable and make it a staple and put it back on the palates of the people. And we've been doing that.

We've been doing that by keeping our price unchanged, by pushing to try and get poi into the school so that we can grow our keiki to eat poi. In fact, I've seen that change, but on the way of Kulolo. So Kulolo is derived from taro. Before, you could only find Kulolo on Thursdays, and that's the only time.

And the funny thing is, I presented to this entrepreneurship class at Kamehameha schools just the other week, and none of them remember that. None of them know that. And that was because of Powai Kulolo. Because of what we did, we made kulolo available every single day.

Fresh kulolo on every seafood display case on Oahu and on other islands. And now these kids, I felt giddy and I felt happy that we were able to impact. But with kulolo, we're able to impact that. These kids don't remember not being able to get kulolo.

And the great thing is they, like, now they know what Kulolo is. Most people didn't know what kulolo was because it was so hard to come by and just it go to circle back to what you're saying it is. It is hard to get kalo.

And sometimes there's a glut, and sometimes we're short and it's always up and down, up and down. We just all need to be on the same page on how we're going to get it out there.

Well, this Bill addresses what we've been working on in the coffee industry, the mac nut industry, something in court and I have talked about concerning the cattle industry. If it's Hawaii, it's got to be. Hawaii. But our production isn't there. And I know agriculture is my background. We have 4 million acres in the state.

We have 350 acres total in kalo production. It's a little bit shameful because we can do better. Your, your farm, is it dry land or is it lo'i? It is lo'i. Okay, so. And that's the thing. We have some opportunity to really go after this. And so I'm sensitive to what you're saying. I do appreciate. Want to be very...

Cause kalo is cultural.

Yes.

We have to expand the production so the market expands. And it's going to have to be have to find a way forward on this stuff. So I appreciate your concerns because I don't want to alienate our industry and our manufacturer while we're building the overall thing. So I appreciate your comments on that. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you.

Members. Any other questions? Senator McKelvey.

Deputy Attorney General Travis

This Kind of goes off my counter, but. I'll make it quick. I agree with your analysis on United A, but how does this Bill differ from we have bills before regulating, you know, in essence, regulating commercial speech by labeling requirements. How come this one is violated and yet the other ones are not?

And can this one be rewarded like the other ones to avoid this type of...

Yeah, I think generally those truth, those labeling laws are about truth in labeling. So it's describe like the labels describe what's in the product. They, this Bill is about like a prohibition on the use of a particular word.

So I think if the Bill were to be revised to look more like a truth in labeling law, I think those constitutional issues wouldn't be there.

Okay. Thank you, Chair Members. Any other questions? Senator Kim.

Okay, I just, I'm not sure who can answer this, but how much kalo comes from outside the Ag, Department of Ag? Can you answer that?

Good morning. Regarding how much poi is produced in Hawaii, is that the no.

How much Taro, Kalo is coming from the outside?

I don't have the number. We didn't include that in our testimony. But I can follow up and get back to you.

Come, come up. Yeah, maybe. Mr. Stay there.

The kalo that's being brought into Hawaii is mostly for, for tabletop tarot that other cultures are bringing in. So they're coming in from Fiji, from Samoa, and mainly those are the ones that are bringing in taro. Companies like P & E bring it in.

They bring in fresh taro from Samoa and they bring in taro from Fiji, frozen taro from Fiji.

And that's they don't make poi with it.

It, or, they make, you don't make poi with that. But, but like we did look at it as an option when things were short. Yeah. I mean, we have to, you know, we have to survive.

So I guess I'm asking is what the problem is. I, I'm certainly can understand labeling and truth, but to be a prohibition, I'm wondering if there's a problem like, you know, we're being overrun by taro coming in and being used. So you, you mix your poi with...

I do not, I do not mix my poi.

What did you say? You make, you make a certain kind of poi.

And so it's poi that's made from sweet potato. So if you were to, if. I mean, sorry, I wanted to share my testimony. But if you look in there, it's a process. And so we use all kinds of starches. Sweet potato, ulu, there's pumpkin.

And they all come from Hawaii.

When we do make it? Yes. So ulu, sweet potato from Hawaii. Yes.

Okay. So it's all.

Okay. Thank you so much. Robert, when you shot, what happened?

When I'm short with Taro, what happens?

Or any of the ingredients in there? Because your ingredient label, if you have to switch out, what is the impacts to now say I had to substitute with taro that came in from Samoa.

While, if I'm the Department of Education and I say, okay, I'm gonna contract your company to make sure I get local grown food poi on the menu. Because the consistency gotta be there. Right. So what happens?

Yeah. When. When there's no consistency, you get angry customers. Right. And that is what happens. And so being a business, we have to keep customers happy. If we were under contract, we would lose everything.

So say if there was a contract that we have to make poi and provide this entity with poi and they're short, what would any business person do? They would look to try and substitute to make it work. And that is what happens. And that we're not unique in that way.

Our ancestors did that as well, you know, and so there's. It's always short. So we need more time.

Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Any other questions, Members?

Okay. If not, thank you very much. We'll recess for decision making.

Okay. Welcome back. This is our 9:30am Joint CPNEDT agenda in room 229 at the State Capitol. We're prepared to make recommendations on Senate Bill 890. Senate Draft 1 relating to business regulation. I'd like to thank the Members for attending and for the community for participating.

The recommendation is to pass this measure with amendments noting the Attorney General's testimony around commerce clause issues and creating a prohibition. The recommendation is to instead amend the Bill to create a labeling requirement so that poi that is made from ingredients outside of Hawaii needs to be labeled accordingly and needs to identify the origins of the ingredients.

And we're also going to add a severability clause just to accommodate those Attorney General concerns. Members, any questions or comments? And also a defective date on the measure, July 1, 2050. Just to get this conversation going. Senator Richards.

Yeah, thank you, Chair. I'm going to go with reservations on this because I completely agree we've got to boost up the kalo production in our state and we have the lands, we have the opportunity.

This brings the conversation to the table, but I am sensitive to processing to make sure we keep the economic engines in place as we make this shift. So I'm going to go with reservations just to make sure that we're handling this in an appropriate direction. Thank you.

So noted. Also, to make it clear, we're going to remove the references specifically to Taro so that we can accommodate the other types of poi. So we're going to convert the Bill just to a labeling requirement. Any other comments or questions, Senator McKelvey?

Yeah, no, I was going to go with WR because of the AG's conversation. However, because you're changing this to be identical to the Coffee Living one, which. Everybody supported without concerns, I'm going to go and support it straight up. But thank you for making these changes. Thank you, Senator DeCoite.

You know, just on a side note, you know, this is where I believe the Department of Ag really needs to step their game up and the promotion of growing Taro and to make sure the data aligns with the needs of grow local, buy local and continue to consume local.

So, you know, we need to reflect that because all too often we come up with these laws because we lack that ability. We can put all the land out there, but without the farmers, there's nothing. Yeah.

So there needs to be a support base within the Department of Ag to reflect the need of basically a staple of Hawaii and its culture. Thank you.

Okay, if there are no other comments or questions. Vice Chair for the vote. Passing with amendments. Chair votes aye.

Thank you. Vice Chair also votes aye. Senator McKelvey.

Yes.

Senator Richards.

Reservations

Senator, Awa measure is adopted. Thank you.

aye

measure is adopted. Thank you.

Committee on Economic Development Tourism seeing requests. Vice Chair for the vote. Chair goes aye

I vote yes. [roll call]

Chair, your recommendations adopt.

Thank you very much. We're adjourned.

Okay. Good morning and welcome. We are reconvening on two measures that were heard in a prior Committee. This is 9:31am agenda on February 26, 2025 in Conference Room 229 at the State Capitol. The first measure is SB 1281, SD1, relating to telehealth. The recommendation on this measure...

Can we get someone to close the door on the hearing room, please? Thank you, Dr. Lewin. The recommendation on this measure is to pass with amendments making changes to the definition of interactive telecommunications software to reinstate the opt out of video conferencing as requested in by some of the testifiers. There's a sunset already in place and the date is already defective on the measure. Any discussion? Okay. If not, passing with amendments. Chair votes aye.

Thank you. Vice Chair also votes aye. [Roll Call] Measure is adopted.

Thank you very much. And the next measure is SB 1449, SD 1, relating to prior authorization of health care services. The recommendation is to pass this measure unamended. Any discussion? If not, Chair votes aye.

Thank you. Of the Members present, are there any voting with reservations or objections? Hearing none. Measure is adopted.

Thank you very much. We're adjourned.