STAND. COM. REP. NO. 646
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 961
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 961 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Department of Human Services to:
(1) Adjust the minimum certification periods for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit households;
(2) Participate in the Elderly Simplified Application Project (ESAP); and
(3) Report to the Legislature.
Your Committee
received testimony in support of this measure from one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council, Hawaii
Food Industry Association; AlohaCare; Hawai‘i
Public Health Institute; AARP Hawai‘i;
Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice; Hawai‘i Primary Care Association; Hawaii Food Bank, Inc.; Hawaii Substance Abuse Coalition; Hawaiʻi Alliance for
Progressive Action; Hawaii Farmers Union United; Democratic
Party of Hawai‘i; AAUW of Hawaii;
Green Party of Hawaiʻi; Strata Farms LLC;
Chamber of Sustainable Commerce; Hawaiʻi Hunger Action
Network; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; and
twenty-eight individuals.
Your Committee
received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.
Your Committee
finds that increasing access to nutritious meals will improve overall health
and decrease adverse health outcomes for the State's keiki and kupuna. Your Committee further finds that the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of
Agriculture oversees SNAP which provides
monthly funds to eligible low-income households to purchase food. The duration of the SNAP benefits, known as
the certification period, can range from one to thirty-six months, and states
are given the option to extend the
certification period for SNAP households
with members who are aged sixty
years or older from twelve months to twenty-four months without a waiver. Your
Committee further finds that ESAP is a project under SNAP that seeks to
increase program participation among the low-income population aged sixty years
or older by streamlining the application and certification process. This measure will allow SNAP families and
kupuna to gain stable access to nutritious meals by requiring the Department of
Human Services to set the minimum SNAP certification period for households with
members who are sixty years of age or older to twenty-four months and to
participate in ESAP and set the minimum SNAP certification period for other
households to twelve months.
Your Committee
acknowledges the concerns raised in testimony by the Department of Human
Services that the anticipated increase in
the number of SNAP households pursuant to this measure would overburden the
Department's current SNAP eligibility determination system and workforce,
leading to a potential increase in payment issuance errors. Your
Committee also notes that the Department is planning on implementing a new SNAP eligibility system in the fall of
2026 that will enable the Department to handle the potential increase in SNAP
households. Therefore, amendments to
this measure are necessary to allow the Department of Human Services to finish
updating their SNAP eligibility system.
Accordingly, your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2027, to allow the Department of Human Services to complete the implementation of its new eligibility system for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 961, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 961, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,
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________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair |
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