SB 504 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO AGRICULTURE.

Summary

Establishes a Local Agriculture Transportation Cost Reimbursement Program within the Department of Agriculture to reimburse eligible ranchers and farmers a portion of their costs to transport livestock, livestock products, agricultural commodities, and certain supplies, under certain conditions. Establishes a position to administer the Program. Appropriates funds. 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

SB504 → SB504_SD1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was updated from a House draft to a Senate committee version, expanding eligibility to include cooperatives, food hubs, and small startups, while adding strict caps on reimbursement amounts and requiring annual reporting. The effective date was significantly delayed from July 2025 to July 2050, and the bill's title was changed to reflect its Senate committee status.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include cooperatives, food hubs, and small-scale farmers in addition to existing livestock and commodity producers.

TIMELINE

The bill's effective date was changed from July 1, 2025, to July 1, 2050, delaying implementation by over 25 years.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible recipients were expanded to include cooperatives, food hubs, and small-scale farmers demonstrating commercial intent with low gross receipts.

FISCAL

New limits were established, capping individual reimbursements at $25,000 or 50% of costs, and cooperative/food hub limits at $50,000 or 50% of costs.

REQUIREMENT

A new requirement mandates that the Department of Agriculture submit an annual report to the legislature within 20 days of each regular session.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'agricultural commodity' was updated to explicitly include nursery production.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was updated to 'SB504 SD1' and metadata was revised to reflect Senate committee processing.

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. 180) 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 31, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 02-03-25 1:02PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Committee

Referred to AEN, WAM.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

8 primary · 0 co-sponsors