SB 496 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

Summary

Requires the Board of Agriculture to define the terms "bona fide farmer" and "bona fide agricultural activity". Requires a report to the Legislature. (SD1)

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 17, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB496 → SB496_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was converted from a House bill to a Senate committee draft (SD1), updating metadata and formatting. The core policy change shifts the drafting responsibility for defining 'bona fide farmer' from the Department of Agriculture to the Board of Agriculture, which must now also solicit stakeholder input before submitting the final report and proposed legislation.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the drafting authority was modified; the Department of Agriculture is no longer solely responsible for drafting the definitions.

REQUIREMENT

Responsibility for drafting definitions was transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Board of Agriculture.

The Board of Agriculture is now required to solicit and incorporate stakeholder input during the drafting process.

DEFINITION

The definition for 'bona fide farmer' was updated to explicitly include the term 'bona fide agricultural activity' within its scope.

TECHNICAL

Bill metadata, including version numbers, dates, and report titles, were updated to reflect the Senate draft status.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 10, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Reported from AEN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 176) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in AEN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Gabbard, Richards, Rhoads, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) DeCoite.

upper

Jan 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 01-27-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to AEN, WAM.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

8 primary · 2 co-sponsors