2022 HFUU Legislative Priorities February 20, 2022

By hfuu@hfuuhi.org | February 20, 2022

Aloha HFUU Members & Subscribers,

Hawaii Farmers Union United is requesting our membership to send in testimony IN STRONG SUPPORT OF SB2664, SB2665, SB2675, SB2990, SB2865, SB2955 , SB3004, SB3197, HD2304 HD1, and HB1517. Sample Testimony BELOW.

Please submit testimonies on time, before 10:00am Tuesday 2/22.

1) SB2664 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF TARO – Creates a classification of agricultural public lands entitled “taro lands”. Appropriates funds to the Land Use Commission to create an inventory of lands classified as taro lands.

Talking Points from Senator Shimabukuro:

Good news, SB2664 & SB2665 have been scheduled on 2/24/22. SB2665 “Prohibits the Board of Land and Natural Resources, in declaring residential development areas and acquiring lands therein, from disturbing wetland taro lands and infrastructure on undeveloped lands. Establishes a fourth class–taro lands classification for public lands. Permits structures for lo‘i taro fields in the agricultural district. Establishes growth and perpetuation of traditional Hawaiian crops as a goal of the State Planning Act. Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources, with the Taro Security and Purity Task Force, to create an inventory of taro lands.”SB2664 is similar, and also appropriates funds for these goals.

2) SB2665 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF TARO – Prohibits the Board of Land and Natural Resources, in declaring residential development areas and acquiring lands therein, from disturbing certain wetland taro lands and infrastructure on undeveloped lands within the conservation district established pursuant to chapter 205, Hawaii Revised Statutes. Establishes a fourth class–taro lands classification for public lands. Permits structures for lo‘i taro fields in the agricultural district. Establishes growth and perpetuation of traditional Hawaiian crops as a goal of the State Planning Act. Authorizes the Land Use Commission, with the Taro Security and Purity Task Force, to create an inventory of taro lands. (SD1)

Talking Points from Senator Shimabukuro:

3) SB2675 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE – Establishes a three-year cover crop reimbursement pilot program to provide reimbursement to farming operations in the State for costs related to cover cropping. Establishes a cover crop reimbursement pilot program manager position within the department of agriculture to administer the program. Requires an annual report to the legislature. Appropriates funds.

4) SB2990 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE – Establishes a cover crop reimbursement pilot program to provide up to seventy-five per cent cost reimbursement to farming operations in the State for acquiring cover crop seeds, green manure, or compost. Requires the convening of a review panel to screen and rate applicants on the quality of their cover crop and green manure and composting practices. Establishes a cover crop reimbursement pilot program manager position within the Department of Agriculture to administer the program. Requires a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

5) SB2865 SD1 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS TO ASSIST DIBSHAWAII LLC. – Authorizes the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds to assist DIBSHawaii LLC in the construction of a net-zero carbon capture storage utilization platform that will recover vented carbon dioxide emissions and scrub and liquify them into food grade liquid carbon dioxide. (SD1)

Talking Points:

We ask for your written testimony and support to WAM committee on SB2865 that “Authorizes the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds to assist DIBSHawaii LLC in the construction of a net zero carbon capture storage utilization platform that will recover vented carbon dioxide emissions and scrub them into food grade liquid carbon dioxide”.

The heart of the request is to fully address the supply chain issues around carbon dioxide and stabilize the cost and storage capacity for local industry without competing for supply with the Soft drink industry. DIBS Hawai’i LLC is a Hawai’i farmers union United member in the Wai’anae Chapter of Oahu.

A local 3rd party co2 infrastructure allows for the rapid development of a virtual terminal to store, transport, utilize and sequester large volumes of carbon dioxide to combat climate change. Making available large volumes of carbon dioxide to made available to support family farmers in soil revitalization, increased production of nutrient dense foods and the ability to mitigate pathogens on our local produce.

Mahalo nui for your kokua and support. Please spread the word through your communities.

6) SB2955 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO COMPOSTING – Requires the Department of Agriculture to establish a three-year compost reimbursement pilot program to provide reimbursements to farmers and ranchers when purchasing compost from a certified processor, dealer, retailer, or wholesaler licensed to do business in the State. Establishes a temporary compost reimbursement pilot program manager position. Requires the Department to submit a report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds.

Talking Points:

The Hawaii Farmers Union United (HFUU) is a 501(c)(5) agricultural advocacy nonprofit representing a network of over 2,500 family farmers and their supporters across the Hawaiʻian islands. HFUU strongly supports SB2955 to provide cost-sharing with farms to purchase compost.

During 2019 and 2020 the compost reimbursement pilot program provided over $300,000 in funding to farmers large and small, organic and conventional, as well as landscape and turf operations, as cost-share for purchasing compost. HFUU would like a compost reimbursement program re-established and made permanent. The success of the pilot program is clearly demonstrated by it’s wide adoption, which would only grow through the establishment of a permanent program.

SB2955 serves as a mechanism to increase demand for locally produced agricultural inputs and supports farmer transitions towards sustainable agriculture.

7) SB3004 STRONG SUPPORT– RELATING TO COMPOSTING – Establishes and appropriates funds for a compost reimbursement program within the department of agriculture and one full-time permanent compost reimbursement program manager position to oversee the program. Requires an annual progress report of the program to the legislature prior to each regular session.

Talking Points:

Ulike SB2990 which would provide cover crop seed cost share. SB3004 establishes a cover crop program that reimburses by acreage, following the mechanism employed by the USDA NRCS and multiple other states. Furthermore SB3004 directs the HDOA to allocate funding reflecting the distribution of farm sizes across the state in a manner that will aid farm equity in access to state subsidies.

HFUU supports this program as means to support small and family farmers as well as any producer seeking to support their soil health.

Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

8) SB3197 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO AGRICULTURE – Establishes a Beginning Farmer Training Program. Makes an appropriation to the University of Hawaii for the Beginning Farmer Training program. Effective 1/1/2050. (SD1)

Talking Points:

The Hawaii Farmers Union United (HFUU) is a 501(c)(5) agricultural advocacy nonprofit representing a network of over 2,500 family farmers and their supporters across the Hawaiʻian islands. HFUU strongly supports SB3197 with amendments to fund a Farmer Apprentice Mentoring Program to teach and train farmers to utilize a whole farm system approach to agriculture.

In reviewing SB3197, we are interested in having the language in the bill follow the original version of SB2709 (2020). The current SB3197 draft has HDOA Chair determining program curricula, our hope is that instead a set of topic areas are articulated and then program applicants can apply for funding, as outlined in SB2709.

The Farm Apprentice Mentoring (FAM) program to train beginning farmers was first piloted 2015-2016 in Maui and responds to three major priorities for the State’s food security needs including growing more farmers, increasing the supply of Hawaii’s skilled agricultural workforce and contributing to increased local food production on small family farms through a hands-on farm immersion component. SB3197 would expand on the FAM program success on Maui and provide beginning farmer training across the islands.

As a division of the National Farmers Union (NFU), HFUU advocates at a national level for educating interns and apprentices on farms, as these educational opportunities result in improved farm viability, a larger pool of skilled agricultural labor, and more beginning farmers. In 2019, NFU established an on-farm labor priority urging Congress to take action to attract U.S. citizens to jobs as agricultural workers and acknowledge the importance of educating interns and apprentices on farms as a pathway to increased availability of skilled agricultural labor. SB3197 notes that the future of the State’s farming industry, food supply, and agriculture is reliant upon increasing and diversifying the number of new farmers in the state and introducing regenerative farming methods, statewide.

Increasing the number of farmers who grow food is a key facet of the HFUU statewide strategic plan, and a critical component of meeting State goals for increasing food security and agricultural self-sufficiency. For these reasons we ask you to support SB3197.

Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

9) HB2304 HD1 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO THE FARM SCHOOL PROGRAM – Appropriates funds to the DOE to secure additional resources to help implement the Hawaii farm to school program, specifically to implement internal systems and controls to meet the State’s local food goals in school meals. Requires the DOE to submit a report to the legislature no later than 1/1/2023 that details a plan and timeline for implementing the Hawaii farm to school program. Effective 7/1/2050.

10) HB1517 STRONG SUPPORT – RELATING TO COFFEE – Requires coffee blend labels to disclose geographic and regional origins and percent by weight of the blended coffees. Prohibits using geographic origins of coffee in labeling or advertising for roasted or instant coffee that contains less than a certain percentage of coffee by weight from that geographic origin, phased in to a minimum of fifty-one percent after 7/1/2024. Prohibits use of the term “All Hawaiian” in labeling or advertising for roasted or instant coffee not produced entirely from green coffee beans grown in Hawaii. Appropriates moneys for the pesticide subsidy program and for one full-time equivalent position to conduct inspections. Effective 7/1/2050.

Talking Points:

HFUU is a 501(c)(5) agricultural advocacy nonprofit representing over 2,500 family farmers and their supporters organized as 14 Chapters in the four Hawai’i Counties. That includes coffee farmers in Kona on Hawai’i Island. HFUU strongly supports HB1517.

Many such farmers have testified in support of this Bill. They speak as owners of family farms who are able to make a living because they grow, process and sell a high-value “Origin” coffee from “Kona” and other Hawaii Origins. It is well-recognized, as recounted in HB144, that the way in which Hawaii’s current law allows a 10% coffee blend to be labeled “Kona,” (or “Ka’u,” “Hamakua,” “Maui,” or “Kauai”) is “misleading”. The Legislature’s 2007 Concurrent Resolution called it “consumer fraud.” Hawaii County’s 2014 Resolution called it “inherently deceptive and misleading.”

It is also economically harmful to Origin coffee farmers. In 2018 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization concluded that these Hawaii Origin brands, like Kona: do “not enjoy any strong protection of its name” and that the result is “downstream stakeholders, rather than farmers, reap the economic benefits of the fame of Kona.’”

The opponents of this legislation are those “downstream stakeholders,” who the United Nations says “reap the economic benefits” of 10% blended coffee. They have testified that “no one can accurately predict” the economic effect of requiring Hawaii’s Origin coffee blends to contain 51% Kona, Ka’u, Hamakua, Maui or Kauai coffee. We can predict however, that Hawaii Origin coffee blends will no longer be deceptively marketed. We can also predict that 51% coffee blends will still be less expensive than 100%– only now their cost will be linked to the fair value of Hawaii’s Origin coffees.

We commend you and your colleagues representing constituencies throughout Hawaii for supporting this long overdue measure and urge your Committee to give it unanimous support.

Mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

SAMPLE TESTIMONY:

[Name]

Regarding [Name of the Committee and/or Agency You are testifying about]

[Date]

[Paragraph 1: Introduce yourself and the issue you want to testify about]

Give your first and last name and identify yourself. Ex. “My name is Leilani Jackson and I am a concerned Maui resident/a middle teacher/a mother of three.”

Tell them what you’re testifying about. Ex. “I am testifying on how the lack of funding for reentry programs and services has made it difficult for me to find housing” or “I am testifying about how police presence in my neighborhood has made me and my neighbors feel less safe.”

[Paragraph 2: Tell your story]

Pick an event or issue that you have worked directly on or been affected directly by that you are comfortable sharing with the public.

Tell what services caused this event or issue and how it impacted you.

[Paragraph 3: Explain why you felt the need to testify]

Tell why you wanted to share your story and what you want them to take from your story. The more personal, the more people are better to understand your perspective.

What would have helped prevent negative experiences or increase positive experiences.

[Paragraph 4: Give suggestions for solving the issue or problem you have raised.]

What do you think the government should do to make sure others do not have the negative experiences you did or that they have the positive experiences you did?

What do you think will be helpful in dealing with the issue or problem you talked about?

[Paragraph 5: Thank the Committee/Legislative body]

Thank the chair of the committee if you know their name for reading/hearing your testimony.

Tell them you hope they consider your testimony and the solutions you have suggested. Ex. “Your consideration of these matters and solutions is very much appreciated.”

Posted in HFUU Policy, Legislation & Lobbying