HB 968 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

Summary

Requires the Department of Agriculture to establish a Healthy Soils Program. Requires an annual report to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Feb 11, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB968 → HB968_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from a standard legislative document to a Word document template format, with the most significant substantive change being the effective date moved from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 3000. The core policy content regarding the Healthy Soils Program remains unchanged, including the $500,000 appropriation for two fiscal years and the program requirements for soil health assessments and farmer education.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it still establishes a Healthy Soils Program within the Department of Agriculture with the same duties and requirements.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 3000, which effectively delays the program's implementation indefinitely.

FISCAL

The appropriation amount was changed from '$500,000' to a blank field '$_______', removing the specific funding commitment.

TECHNICAL

The document format changed from a plain text legislative bill to a Word document template with metadata headers and footers.

The description section was updated to include the new effective date of 7/1/3000 and added an '(HD1)' identifier.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 11, 2025

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 389) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on AGR recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Kahaloa, Kusch, Lowen, Perruso, Quinlan; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Ward.

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

Referred to AGR, FIN, referral sheet 3

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

19 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role

Legislator

Party

State

District