STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3625

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2310

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2310, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to make an emergency appropriation to the Department of Human Services to replace general fund appropriations that were redirected to provide emergency food assistance during the 2025 federal government shutdown.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, Department of Human Services, Catholic Charities Hawaii, Hawaii Food+ Policy | Purple Maia Foundation, Hawaii Children's Action Network Speaks!, Hawaii Public Health Institute, Hawaii Food Industry Association, and Hawaii Foodbank.

Your Committee finds that the 2025 federal government shutdown threatened the food security of Hawaii residents who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Your Committee further finds that, during the shutdown, pursuant to instructions from the Food and Nutrition Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of Human Services redirected state general fund appropriations from its eighteen programs and received transferred funds from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations to support residents' food security. Accordingly, your Committee finds that the emergency appropriation provided by this measure is necessary to replenish funding for the Department of Human Services and enable the Department to meet its obligations for fiscal year 2025-2026.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2310, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair