HB 685 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.

Summary

Authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds and appropriate funds for the Agribusiness Development Corporation to purchase a land parcel in Kau on the county of Hawaii for agricultural development. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HB685 → HB685_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to clarify that the Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC) will use both bonds and appropriate funds to purchase specific land in Ka'u for agricultural development. The funding amount was removed from the text to be determined later, and the effective date was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 3000, likely to allow for future legislative adjustments.

Scope change

The bill now explicitly names the specific land parcel and its owner (Ellis Jacob Hester Trust) as the target for acquisition, narrowing the scope to a specific transaction rather than general land acquisition.

FISCAL

The specific bond amount of $2,931,960 was removed and replaced with a placeholder, indicating the exact funding figure will be finalized later.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 3000, significantly delaying when the law becomes active.

SCOPE

The text now specifies that the land is owned by the Ellis Jacob Hester Trust and is located on the county of Hawaii, providing clearer details on the target property.

REQUIREMENT

The description of the ADC's mission was expanded to explicitly include 'aquaculture groups' as partners alongside farmers and ranchers.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 634) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 12, 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; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Ward.

lower

Feb 5, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to AGR, FIN, referral sheet 12

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to LAB, FIN, referral sheet 2

lower

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Pending introduction.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors