HB 1602 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

HB 1602 allocates funds to create one full-time staff position within the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity. The bill establishes a grant specialist role focused on administering grant programs. This funding directly affects the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity staff, enabling them to manage grant-related work. The bill is procedural, specifically authorizing budget resources for a new position, with no broader policy changes.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2026 Last action Feb 23, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB1602 → HB1602_HD1 · 2 edits

MINOR

This version of the bill (HD1) updates the effective date of the new grant specialist position from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000, likely indicating a placeholder or error in the legislative markup. It also adjusts the bill's internal tracking numbers and metadata to reflect House of Representatives approval.

Scope change

The substantive scope of the bill remains unchanged; it still appropriates funds for a grant specialist to assist farmers and ranchers with USDA and state grants.

TIMELINE

The effective date for the new grant specialist position was changed from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 3000.

TECHNICAL

Internal bill identifiers, revision numbers, and metadata were updated to reflect House approval.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 17, 2026

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 322-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on AGR recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Chun, Kusch, Kahaloa, Perruso, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Lowen, Quinlan.

lower

Jan 26, 2026

Committee

Referred to AGR, FIN, referral sheet 1

lower

Jan 21, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 16, 2026

Introduced

Prefiled.

lower

2 primary · 1 co-sponsor