STAND. COM. REP. NO. 169-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2119

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems, to which was referred H.B. No. 2119 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO COFFEE PEST CONTROL,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Temporarily reestablish the Pesticide Subsidy Program for three years and pesticide subsidy manager position for four years; and

(2) Appropriate funds into and out of the Pesticide Use Revolving Fund for the operations and implementation of the Pesticide Subsidy Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity; Hawaii Coffee Association; Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative; Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; Hawaiʻi Farmers Union United; Kona Coffee Farmers Association; Hawaiʻi Food+ Policy; and numerous individuals.

Your Committee finds that the coffee berry borer, a small beetle, has infested coffee crops in the Kona and Kau regions of Hawaii island and has been detected on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Lanai. Additionally, in 2020, coffee leaf rust, caused by a fungal pathogen, was discovered for the first time in the State on Maui and Hawaii island. These two pests threaten the viability of Hawaii's entire coffee industry.

Your Committee further finds that in response to these threats to the coffee industry, the Coffee Berry Borer Pesticide Subsidy Program was established by Act 105, Session Laws of Hawaii 2014, to assist Hawaii coffee farmers with offsetting the cost of certain pesticides to control coffee berry borer populations, and later amended to add a subsidy for coffee leaf rust pesticides. Your Committee notes that the Program was repealed on June 30, 2025. This measure temporarily reestablishes the Pesticide Subsidy Program and pesticide subsidy manager position to continue supporting farmers' mitigative efforts, including through reducing the financial burden of purchasing certain pesticides.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the appropriations to unspecified amounts; and

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion.

Your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $300,000 to be appropriated into and out of the Pesticide Use Revolving Fund for the operation and implementation of the Pesticide Subsidy Program.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2119, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2119, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Agriculture & Food Systems,

____________________________

CORY CHUN, Chair