STAND. COM. REP. NO. 635

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 460

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 460 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD BANKS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Office of Community Services of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to fund the purchase, storage, and transportation costs of food for distribution to food banks in the State.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services; Office of Community Services; Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center; Hawai‘i Primary Care Association; Hawai‘i Foodbank, Inc.; Hawai‘i Public Health Institute; Hawaii Food Industry Association; ‘Elepaio Social Services; Ulupono Initiative LLC, The Food Basket Inc.; Hawai‘i Hunger Action Network; Hawai‘i Children's Action Network Speaks!; Lanakila Pacific, Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; and four individuals.

Your Committee finds that due to the high cost of living and the recent historic inflation and other factors, many people in the State face food insecurity and food banks provide a safety net for local families facing these challenges. According to testimony received by your Committee, not only did the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic amplify the need for food and food banks in the State, but inflation, increased food prices, and decreased retail donations have changed the food bank model by increasing the purchases of food that food banks must make. Additional testimony from the Hawai‘i Food Bank states that it continues to serve fifty percent more people than it did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Your Committee further finds that many other states support their network of food banks with core funding. According to testimony received during the hearing, your Committee finds that the methodology used by The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) of the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture to determine the allocation of critical resources for the purchase and distribution of food contains an exemption that will facilitate the allocation of funds to food banks, as defined in title 7 Code of Federal Regulations section 251.3(f), and agencies that function as food banks through title 7 Code of Federal Regulations section 250.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the allocation of funds by the Office of Community Services shall be through TEFAP of the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture as provided in title 7 Code of Federal Regulations section 250;

(2) Clarifying that administering agencies shall use not more than fifteen percent of their allocation for administer the program; and

(3) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 460, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 460, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Labor and Technology,

________________________________

SHARON MORIWAKI, Chair