Farm Bill Agreement Contains Many Benefits for Hawaii, Hanabusa Votes to Support It

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 -- Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii (1st CD), issued the following news release:

U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa (HI-01) voted for the Farm Bill conference report, an agreement reached by House and Senate negotiators, which extends most major federal farm and nutrition assistance through Fiscal Year 2018.

The bill would benefit Hawaii by expanding investment in specialty crops, increasing funds for state-run pilot projects to incentivize employment and job training for needy families, helping our rural communities remain eligible for housing grants and loans, and supporting important U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, such as the sugar program.

"After analyzing the Farm Bill, I believe this compromise legislation contains many benefits for Hawaii and our agriculture industry, while the controversial provisions in it will have little to no impact on our state," said Hanabusa. "The bill provides for growing rural communities in the U.S. - allowing neighborhoods like Ewa Beach, Ewa Gentry, Kapolei, Makakilo, Nanakuli, Royal Kunia, and Waianae to continue being eligible for USDA rural housing grants and loans. According to the Hawaii USDA Rural Development office, 99% of single family housing loans on Oahu are made in these areas.

"I worked with our State Department of Agriculture to ensure funding is increased for the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which Hawaii farmers rely heavily on for research and development funding, and the bill also includes the Coffee Berry Borer amendment that I worked on with Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard for more resources to combat and treat this harmful pest.

"For the Hawaii Commercial and Sugar Company on Maui, which employs 800 workers, the bill reauthorizes the current sugar program, allowing the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to control imports and keep market prices above support levels so that the sugar program is run at no cost to taxpayers, while remaining profitable to sugar growers.

"I do have concerns about the $8 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade, however, that figure is a compromise from the nearly $40 billion in SNAP cuts that were included in the House-passed version of the bill. The $8 billion comes from closing a loophole that allowed 17 states to award a family with $1 of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) benefits in exchange for nearly the maximum amount of SNAP benefits. Hawaii is not one of these states, so would not be affected by this change. The bill does not disqualify any SNAP beneficiaries, and does not include any of the House Republicans' draconian provisions that the Congressional Budget Office estimated would have thrown 3.8 million people off SNAP this year alone."

The bill increases assistance for food banks by $205 million, reauthorizes various disaster assistance programs, and consolidates existing conservation programs. It also includes a provision that links conservation compliance with crop insurance premium assistance.

The Farm Bill agreement passed the House by a vote of 251-166 and now heads to the Senate.

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