STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1195-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1737

H.D. 3

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1737, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO FARM EMPLOYEE HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to clarify the allowable uses within the agricultural district with respect to farm dwellings and farm employee housing.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; one member of the Kauaʻi County Council; Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; Grassroots Institute Hawaii; Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy; and two individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity and Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu.

Your Committee finds that many farming activities require the regular presence of employees on-site and that the lack of clear statutory guidance has hindered farmers' ability to provide housing reasonably related to bona fide agricultural use, particularly on lands with lower soil productivity ratings. Your Committee further finds that clarifying the allowable uses of agricultural lands to expressly include appropriately scaled farm employee housing promotes uniform enforcement, advances the State's interest in sustaining viable agricultural operations, and is consistent with Hawaii's constitutional mandate to conserve and protect agricultural lands for agricultural purposes.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1737, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1737, H.D. 3.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair