SB 506 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

Summary

Requires the Department of Agriculture to conduct a study on agricultural markets for Hawaii farmers. Appropriates funds for the one-year study on agricultural markets for Hawaii farmers. Establishes and funds two full-time equivalent (2.0 FTE) positions to collect agricultural data and conduct data analysis for public consumption. Requires a report to the Legislature. Effective 7/1/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

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

SB506 → SB506_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was updated from an original introduction to a Senate Draft version, primarily changing the effective date from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, and adjusting the appropriation amount to be blank. The text was also reformatted to remove specific metadata and standardize the language describing the funded positions.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding the study and data collection remains unchanged, but the timeline for implementation has been drastically extended.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the Act was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, delaying the implementation of the study and new positions by nearly 25 years.

FISCAL

The specific dollar amount appropriated for the study was removed and left blank, whereas the original version specified $200,000.

TECHNICAL

The description of the funded positions was slightly rephrased to remove the word 'equivalent' before listing the job titles, though the total number of positions (2.0 FTE) remains the same.

Metadata regarding bill numbers, dates, and revision history was removed or 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 5, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 5, 2025

Committee

Reported from AEN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 41) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Jan 29, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in AEN were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Gabbard, Richards, DeCoite, Rhoads, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Jan 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 01-29-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to AEN, WAM.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

7 primary · 0 co-sponsors