Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda (HI-02), a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the only member of Hawai‘i’s congressional delegation to serve on one of Congress’s agriculture committees, voted against sending the House Republicans’ partisan Farm Bill to the full House of Representatives during a 13-hour markup. The committee reported the bill with a vote of 33-21.
“It was important to me that Hawaiʻi has a seat at the table when it comes to developing the Farm Bill. We succeeded in addressing the significant drop in nutrition assistance for Hawai‘i, expanding microgrants to grow small-scale farming, and helping specialty crops iconic to our state in the House Republican draft. However, I could not support in good conscience the harm caused by other provisions in the bill, and I had to vote against it,” said Rep. Tokuda.
The $1.5 trillion bill, which dictates agriculture and food policy, includes a drastic cut to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). The proposed cut to the TFP would impact several nutrition programs which includes slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the country’s largest anti-hunger program, by nearly $30 billion. This would mark the largest reduction in nearly 30 years if this bill became law.
“Working families across Hawaiʻi and the country are already struggling with skyrocketing food prices. I cannot support a bill that would slash food benefits for our most vulnerable population and lead to more people going hungry,” said Rep. Tokuda. “The cost of living in our state is already too high, and this reduction would steal valuable resources away from those who need and depend on them the most.”
“This bill opens the door to privatizing the jobs of civil servants who currently administer the SNAP program in Hawaiʻi. This is unacceptable, and totally insulting of our local, highly trained government workers. It could lead to Hawaiʻi SNAP recipients having to call an out-of-state call center to receive their benefits. We appreciate Rep. Tokuda's rejection of this damaging provision and her continued support for state workers,” said Randy Perreira, Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association.
"Having Rep. Tokuda on the agriculture committee during a farm bill year has resulted in issues and supports for Hawaii's agriculture industry being included in the House Draft that will now be a part of negotiations with the Senate," stated Brian Miyamoto, Executive Director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. "Since entering Congress, Rep. Tokuda has held listening sessions with our members, and even hosted a talk story with Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson, allowing us to advocate for Hawaii ag at the federal level."
The House’s version of the Farm Bill would also dramatically limit the deployment of solar energy and impact federal investments helping Hawaiʻi and the nation reach our renewable energy goals.
“Although the House Republicans’ Farm Bill had some of my top priorities for Hawai‘i and for rural and indigenous communities across our country, the poison pills in this bill would ultimately hurt our hardworking residents more than help them,” continued Rep. Tokuda. “I will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the Capitol to deliver a Farm Bill that meets Hawai‘i’s needs and priorities.”
Here are some of the provisions for Hawaiʻi that Rep. Tokuda advocated for and secured in the House Republicans’ version of the bill:
- Separates Hawai‘i’s TFP calculation between urban and rural areas to provide additional SNAP, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) money for those living on the neighbor islands. Separating out our rural areas, as is done for Alaska, ensures the higher food costs on the neighbor islands result in higher levels of food assistance.
- Increases the Micro-Grants for Food Security Program’s authorization to $30 million, which would respond to the overwhelming demand for the program and increase locally grown food for food-insecure areas.
- Creates a Tropical Plant Health Initiative within the National Institute of Food and Agriculture dedicated to supporting tropical specialty crops, including kalo, ‘ulu, and ‘uala.
- Authorizes the noncontiguous areas, including Hawai‘i, to directly purchase local commodities through TEFAP.
- Reauthorizes the Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program.
- Reauthorizes the Regional Aquaculture Centers Program.
- Includes $2.5 billion in mandatory agricultural research facilities, which will help address the deferred maintenance backlog for the University of Hawai‘i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources’ research facilities.
- Creates a pilot program for custom meat processing facilities to sell meat products directly to consumers, which could increase Hawai‘i’s meat processing capacity.
The bill awaits further action by the House. Rep. Tokuda’s opening statement can be viewed here. The text of the measure can be found here.
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