STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3373

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1745

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1745, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS TO SUPPORT HAWAII'S FOOD BANKS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to support Hawaii's four food bank efforts to continue meeting the food security needs of the people of Hawaii during this time of unprecedented need due to disturbances caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Community Services; City and County of Honolulu Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency; one member of the County of Maui County Council; Hawaii Foodbank, Inc.; Hawaii Foodbank, Inc.'s Kauai branch; The Food Basket, Inc.; Hawai‘i Farm Bureau; Hawaii Food Industry Association; AlohaCare; Ulupono Initiative; Hawaii Primary Care Association; Hawai‘i Hunger Action Network; Hawaii Association of Health Plans; Kaiser Permanente Hawai‘i; Hawaii Medical Service Association; Chef Point of View; Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center; Parent And Children Together; Hawai‘i Public Health Institute Obesity Prevention Task Force; United Public Workers, AFSCME Local 646, AFL-CIO; Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL‑CIO; and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations' Office of Community Services is the state administrator of The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), a federal program that helps supplement the diets of low-income households by providing them with emergency food assistance at no cost. The Office of Community Services contracts with a food bank for each of the State's four counties, to establish, maintain, and supervise a network of eligible recipient agencies that distribute food received through TEFAP in designated areas of each county.

Your Committee also finds that the COVID-19 pandemic heavily impacted food security levels in Hawaii, increasing the volume of food collectively distributed in Hawaii by the food banks in fiscal year 2020-2021 to 36,500,000 pounds, which is more than double the volume distributed before the pandemic. Your Committee further finds that more than eighty-two thousand children in the State are projected to struggle with hunger in 2022, placing Hawaii as a state with the second highest rate of child food insecurity in the country. Your Committee acknowledges that the federal funds and donations that enabled the food banks to meet demands of the State during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have declined considerably, and without additional funds, the food banks will not be able to continue meeting the food security needs of Hawaii residents. This measure will appropriate the funds necessary for the food banks to continue meeting the food security needs of the people in Hawaii.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that of the sum appropriated:

(A) One percent shall be allocated to the Office of Community Services to administer the funds appropriated pursuant to this measure;

(B) Ten percent shall be allocated to the food bank in each county for administrative expenses, based on the county's proportional share of the State's poverty population as set forth in the latest small area income and poverty estimates issued by the United States Census Bureau (SAIPE formula); and

(C) The remainder shall be allocated to the food bank in each county for food purchase expenses using the SAIPE formula; 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 Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1745, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1745, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________

JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair