House Standing Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems

Thank you. Convening this morning's hearing for the House Community and Tourism and the House Community, Agriculture and Food Systems. Today is Thursday, February 5, 2026. Time is 8:45am here in Conference Room 423. In order to allow as many people in this crowded room to testify as possible, there will be a two minute time limit per testifier.

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Thank you. So, first up, we have House Bill 2585 relating to agricultural tourism. Establishes statewide uniform standards to promote agricultural tourism activities in the states for all counties that have adopted an agricultural tourism ordinance. Requires agricultural tourism active tourist activities to be registered by the county's planning Department.

Requires agricultural tourism activities to coexist with agricultural activity on farming opportunities, a farming operation, and requires termination of agricultural term activities tourism activities upon cessation of agricultural activities except under certain circumstances and makes conforming amendments. First up to testify, we have the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.

Morning chairs, Vice Chairs, and Members. Earl Yamamoto for the Agriculture and Biosecurity. Our testimony is kind of meant to be reviewed by staff primarily. That's to ease their review because I know they're. They're. They're key people to give this information to.

The Department supports the measure and offers a number of amendments specific to ensuring that any agricultural tourism activity activities on agricultural lands are related to secondary and accessory to agricultural activity. The Bill has, in my review, I noted that it had references that seem to be kind of inconsistent.

So our testimony tries to resolve that to be consistent with terms and definitions. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up, we have Office of Planning and Sustainable Development. Okay, next up we have Hawaii Tourism Authority with comments. among the chairs, Vice Chairs, Members of the committees.

Aloha Chairs, Vice Chairs, Members of the Committees. My name is Caroline Anderson, interim President and CEO. We offer comments and we stand on our written testimony. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up, we have Hawaii Farm Bureau in support.

Thank you. Chairs, Vice chairs, Members of the Committees, Brian Miyamoto here on behalf of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. You have our testimony. We are supporting intent. I want to state that we absolutely support ag tourism. Support AG tourism as long as that it is secondary and accessory to the primary activity of agriculture.

We know that there's some operations out there that maybe aren't really AG related and I think that's what this is with many other bills trying to address, but also trying to find some consistency from a statewide level, some uniformity so that there's not so much questions.

Whenever you want to go on ag tourism again, ag tourism can help our farmers and ranchers with generating additional income. We all we know farming, you got razor thin margins. So the activity of ag tourism, again being secondary, can help generate income that can help our farmers and ranchers weather those values. When it comes to ag production.

We agree with the Department of Agriculture. There needs to be guardrails and we do believe there's some in here because we want to only have true agriculture tourism if it's on agriculture land and that's what this is speaking to. So we don't have any specific amendments.

We'd like to continue to work with the Legislature and other stakeholders to ensure that we can great policies that support farmers and ranchers for ag tourism, but don't make it overly burdensome and make it a little bit clearer on what is and isn't allowed. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. That is all that we have signed up to testify in person. Is there anyone else in person that would just testify on the measure before us?

Good morning chairs, vice chairs, Members of the Committee. I'm Wendy Gady with the Agribusiness Development Corp. And we stand on our written comments with support and here for any questions. Thanks.

Thank you. Is there anyone on Zoom wishing to testify on the measure for us?

Chair wants to note that there is a number of individuals that submitted testimony and support from Hawaii coffee growers, Greenwell Farms, Kona Mountain Coffee, Hawaii Coffee association and Hawaii Cattlemen's Council, as well as individuals that provide such as the Grassroots Institute, Members of both the House Tourism Committee and Agriculture Committee. Any questions? Chair. Yes, Rep. Ilagan.

Chair is there someone who can answer regarding the trailer provision? Does anyone here knows anything on the permitting for the trailer provision on here.

So Department of Agriculture do you want to try to take a crack at that?

There's a trailer provision that exempts building permit. Would you be able to answer questions for that? It is. I, I just saw it. Page 10.

Okay.

Line six.

Yeah. This is the, this is the amendment that the General category of the, or the, the group of permitted uses is called or are called agricultural. Agricultural. Agricultural, business. Well, the acronym is EBCO. This, this, these amendments have to do with a roadside stand.

Traditionally, roadside stands are just pretty much, they began as an open table and then some, some people, enterprising people put up, put a top on top of that to prevent, you know, rain and sun exposure and stuff like that.

So the, the reason why I bring it up is because. Have you been having conversations with county building permit regarding sheds, because those are exempt from building permits. And what they're having problems with is that they don't have it on their file because they don't require a building permit.

But some are actually installing electrical and actually putting plumbing. I know this is withstanding electrical coming, but I just want to ask you, have you been in contact with the permitting agencies to ask about this provision to see what their thoughts are?

No.

Would you mind reaching out to them and see if there's further amendments that could be done, whether they just put it into their system so at least they know it's there. And then you don't know if these vendors might just start putting electrical in their trailer. And.

I just want to make sure that you communicate with them and reach out to them to see if there's any changes.

But, you know, I'm the author and the reviewer and everything else when it comes to these, these types of builds. And this amendment increases the. Goes far beyond what the original statutory language is, which is just what you typically see in agricultural areas on the side of the road, which is why they call it roadside stands.

So having all these additional things go everything but sewerage, I guess. But that, that goes far beyond what is the original language. And that's, that's why we did not, in our testimony, we did not support this. We do not support this language.

So you don't support this language?

We do not support it.

Okay.

We support the, the rest with amendments, but in this particular one, I don't know because I wrote testimony that we did not support this.

Okay. Thank you.

You're welcome.

There was any other questions? Okay. Seeing none, we're going to take a short recess.

Recess.

Thank you. Reconvening this morning's joint hearing for the Committee on Tourism and Agriculture for the Purposes of Hearing one Bill. February 5, 2026. 8:45am Hearing Conference Room 4 to 3. The Chair's recommendation is to pass this out with amendments. And if you will indulge with me, I want to just.

First, thank you, the Agriculture Chair and Food Systems chairs for his hard work on this, as well as the introducer of this measure for her hard work on this. Thank you so much. So the amendments are going to go as follows. First, we're going to insert a definition for principal farming operations.

The definition that we're going to insert is the primary and predominant use of a parcel of land or agricultural enterprise for the commercial production of agricultural commodities, including crops, aquaculture, livestock, livestock products or horticulture products conducted in a manner consistent with generally accepted agricultural practices from which agricultural production constitutes the majority of the operations, land use, labor, and operational activity.

Second, we're going on page four, line eight. We are going to clarify that and we're going to delete that and insert not interfere on with on farm operations. Not interfere with on farm operations. Third, we're going to amend page five, lines 14 to 20. We'll amend that paragraph regarding termination upon cessation.

It is unclear how this would be triggered in the current language, so we will clear that up. So it would say that it will be triggered when a farming operations fail to engage in active agricultural production for a continuous period of 60 consecutive days.

And we will continue to and we will further amend it to add a catastrophic event as one of the exemptions. Furthermore, we will add in a notice of determination, opportunity to cure or contest effective termination and a procedure for reinstatement and that the counties shall provide the enforcement of termination upon secession cessation.

Next, we're going to take the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurities amendment regarding removing the language on page 10, page 10, lines 4. Well, part of 3 to 11 and restore it back to its original form. So we're just going to take that amendment that they offered. Finally, technical, non substantive amendments and defect the date.

Members, do you have any comments or questions for the Committee on Tourism? Tourism Members, any comments or questions?

No. Any comments or questions?

Same recommendation for Committee. Seeing none. Vice chair for the vote.

Okay, thank you. Chair. Voting on HB2. 585 passing with amendments. Chair and vice chair vote aye. Rep. Holt, aye, Rep. Hussey. Rep. Ilagan, aye. Rep. Yamashita. Rep. Gedeon, aye. Okay, Chair, your recommendation is adopted. Thank you.

Committee on Agriculture and Food Systems, same recommendation. Thank you, Chair. Be voting on HB 2585. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye. Representative Kahaloa.

Aye.

Representative Lowen is excused. Representative Perruso.

Aye.

Representative Quinlan is excused. Representative Matsumoto oh, also excused. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you. This hearing is adjourned.

Convening this morning's hearing for the House Committee on Tourism and the Committee on Economic Development and Technology. Today's date is February 5, 2026, 9:30am here in Room 42. We, first up we have House Bill 2602 relating to sustainable tourism infrastructure.

Establishing the state a sustainable tourism infrastructure matching grant program within the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to support one time capital investments that advance measurable sustainability and climate resilient outcomes within the state's visitor industry. Requires annual reports to the Legislature and appropriate funds. Thank you. First up. First up we have Chamber of Commerce and support.

Aloha. This is Julian Kiyabu testifying on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii written testimony and support and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. That is all that we have signed up to testify. Is there anyone else wishing to testify on the measure before us? Members, any questions? Okay, moving on. Next up we have House Bill 1948 relating to single use plastics.

It prohibits lodging establishments from providing personal care products in small plastic containers within sleeping room accommodations, any space within sleeping room accommodations or bathrooms used by the public or guests and establishes civil penalties. First up we have DLNR.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair and Committee Members. Kellyanne Kobayashi with the Division of Aquatic Resources, Department of Land and Natural Resources. We stand on our testimony and I'm here for any questions.

Thank you.

It's nice to see you. Hi.

Hi. Remember we play tennis together. Next up we have Department of Health.

Good morning, Chair and Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. My name is Lynae Ichinotsubo. I'm with the Department of Health, Saladin Hazardous Waste Branch. The Department supports measures that will prevent waste entering Hawaii's landfills and we offer comments on this measure. Our primary comment is that we believe that both language belongs to in another chapter.

Chapter 342H is specific to solid waste management and landfills and we defer to the Department of Business Economic Development. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. That is all that I signed up to testify on the measure before us. We do want to acknowledge that we do have less testimony in support from the Surf Rider foundation of Hawaii and the Surfrider foundation of Maui. We have a number of individuals in support, couple with comments and one opposition testimony.

Is there anyone else in the hearing room wishing to testify on the measure before us, which is House Bill 1948? Is there anyone in zoom wishing to testify on the measure for us? Okay. Seeing none. Members, any questions to the testifiers? Seeing none.

We will move on to our last Bill on the agenda, which is House Bill 1960 relating to human trafficking. Requires the Department of Attorney General to develop a human trafficking awareness training program to educate and train workers in the transient accommodation sector.

It requires transit accommodations employers to periodically provide the human trafficking awareness training to certain employees and contract workers. It keeps records of the trainings, post signage and development. Implement a human trafficking prevention policy that includes procedures for the reporting of suspected human trafficking, establishes penalties and requires the Department of Labor Industrial Relations to adopt rules.

First up, we have DLIR support.

Good morning Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, Bill Kumsman, Deputy Director, Department of Labor and House Relations Department supports the intent of this measure and the Directors of Labor and law enforcement have agreed that DLE should be the lead in the Department name in Section two of the Bill. Thank you.

Next up we have Hoya Hotel alliance in support.

Aloha Chairs, honorable Members of the Committee, Kekoa McClellan on behalf of the Hawaii Hotel alliance and the American Hotel and Lodging Association, we stand in strong support of this measure. For a generation, Hawaii's hotels have made it clear that there is no room for human trafficking at any of our establishments.

And we thank the bill's introducers for truly standing up for the meekest amongst us. For as long we have been implementing policies that prevent, identify and help to ensure that this kind of activity is not happening in Hawaii's visitor industry.

And so we think that having these bright lines and safe harbors around mandatory training and mandatory posting are the bare minimum.

We did provide some amendments that would allow for organizations that have well developed programs to have those vetted by the state to ensure that they comply with these minimal standards of care, which frankly for a number of reasons will enhance human trafficking prevention.

And that would also include all providers of transit accommodation so that there's an equitable application of this safety net for for all of us who call Hawaii home and for everyone passing through our visitor industries. So again, mahalo to you all for hearing this most important measure.

Happy to answer any questions that you have on our provided comments. Thank you so much.

That is all that we have signed up to testify on the measure before us. House Bill 1960. Is there anyone in the room wishing to testify on this measure? Anyone on Zoom? Thank you. Chair wants to note that the testimony is all in support.

We have Department of Law Enforcement in support, EMU alliance and two other individuals Members. Any questions to the testifier?

Seeing none, we will recess for quorum.

Reconvening. This morning's hearing today is February for the House Committee on Tourism and the Committee on Economic Development and technology for February 5, 2026, 9:30am agenda here in room conf, here in conference room 423. First up, we have House Bill 2602 relating to sustainable tourism infrastructure.

Chair's recommendation is that we pass this out with a note in the Committee report that this will cost about $5 million and we will amend the measure to defect the date. Members, any questions or comments? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote.

Voting on HB 2602 with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye Rep. Holt. Rep. Hussey. Rep. Ilagan Aye. Rep. Yamashita. Rep. Gedeon. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Members, same Recommendation.

Voting on HB2602 for ECD. Recommendation is to pass with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye. Representative Holt Aye. Representative Tam. Aye. Representative Templa. Aye.

Representative Yamashita Aye. Representative Gedeon Aye. Chair, the recommendations.

Thank you. Next up, we have House Bill 1948 relating to single use plastics. Chair's recommendation is that we pass this out as an HD one as well. We're going to omit lotions from the definition of personal care product. And we're going to take the Department of Health's amendments.

For Section 2, page 15, lines 19 to 20, deleting the part that says and is not intended to be reused by the end user. And we're going to defect the date. Members, any comments or questions? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote voting on.

HB 1948 with REC with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye. Any nos? Any reservations? Chair, your vote. Your measure is adopted.

Thank you. Next up, we have House Bill 1960 relating to human trafficking. I want to thank my Vice Chair for introducing this and for working on this incredible measure. It's going to help a lot of people. We're going to pass this out as an HD one.

We're going to insert language requiring the Attorney General to develop training materials no later than July 1, 2027 and insert language requiring employers to provide training low less than July 1, 2027. We're also going to take the amendments offered by the American Hotel and Lodging Association their testimony.

We will also take DLIR's amendment to transfer this over to Department of Law Enforcement. We're going to pass it with tech amendments for clarity, consistency and style. And we're going to defect the date. Members, any questions? See none. Vice Chair for the vote voting on.

HB 1960 with amendments. Chair and Vice Chair vote aye. Any nos? Any reservations? Chair the measure is adopted.

Thank you. Members this hearing is adjourned.