STAND. COM. REP. NO. 510

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 740

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 740 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:

(1) Establish additional monthly assistance for households that meet all eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), regardless of income level; and

(2) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, Food+ Policy Internship 2023, AARP Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Hunger Action Network, Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, Hawai‘i Pacific Health, Hawai‘i Foodbank, Hawaii Food Industry Association, and six individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Human Services.

Your Committee finds that the minimum and maximum monthly SNAP allotments established by the federal government do not cover the real cost of purchasing quality, nutritious food in Hawaii. Additionally, SNAP's two hundred percent poverty level eligibility cutoff creates an extreme benefits cliff where every additional dollar earned over the limit by a household can result in an over $2,900 loss in SNAP benefits. Your Committee further finds that one in three families in Hawaii are asset limited, income constrained, employed households that struggle to make ends meet but earn too much to receive meaningful financial assistance. This measure is intended to assist all households by providing financial assistance to SNAP-eligible households, regardless of income level.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $475,350,000 for SNAP-eligible households whose income is below two hundred percent of the federal poverty level. Your Committee notes that the funding needed to cover benefits for households whose monthly income is above two hundred percent of the federal poverty level and that meet all other SNAP eligibility requirements and the cost for the Department of Human Services to implement the program are not yet available.

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. 740, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 740, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

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

____________________________

JOHN M. MIZUNO, Chair