STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1369

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 961

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness, to which was referred S.B. No. 961, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Human Services to:

(1) Adjust the minimum certification periods for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits households;

(2) Participate in the federal Elderly Simplified Application Project; and

(3) Submit reports to the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Executive Office on Aging; one member of the Hawai‘i County Council; City and County of Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; AARP Hawai‘i; Indivisible Hawai‘i Working Families Team; AAUW of Hawai‘i; Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Pele Lani Farm LLC, Kulia I Ka Nu‘u Outreach Services; Democratic Party of Hawai‘i; Hawai‘i Foodbank; Hawai‘i Hunger Action Network; Hawaii Food Industry Association; Get Fit Kaua‘i; Hawai‘i Children's Action Network Speaks!; Catholic Charities Hawai‘i; Hawai‘i Family Caregiver Coalition; AlohaCare; Hawai‘i Food+ Policy; Hawai‘i Public Health Institute; American Heart Association; Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

Your Committee finds that expanding access to nutritious food is essential to enhancing the health and well-being of local residents, particularly the State's keiki and kupuna. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides monthly financial assistance to eligible low-income households for purchasing food, plays a vital role in addressing food insecurity in Hawaii. This measure seeks to ensure more stable food access for kupuna and SNAP recipients by mandating the Department of Human Services to set a minimum twenty-four-month certification period for households with members aged sixty or older, participate in federal Elderly Simplified Application Project, and establish a twelve-month minimum certification period for all other eligible households.

Your Committee notes that because the Department of Human Services will be implementing its new eligibility system in the fall of 2026, an effective date of July 1, 2027, to implement this measure may be too early.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 961, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 961, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services & Homelessness,

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair