The bill, HB2703, will have a minimal fiscal impact. In the next session we’ve promised to help pass the legislation to pay the (not very hefty) costs of hiring people in the Department of Ag to actually measure if we’re growing more food. Today, the DOA can’t even tell us how many farms there are in the state. So there’s no reason for WAM not to pass the bill. It ought to be a slam dunk.
There‘s only one reasonable assumption why it is not moving forward: the lobbyists for the major landowners (who would rather plant houses than food crops) are trying to kill it and/or the Chair of the DOA, Russell Kokubun is lobbying behind the scenes against it. He’s the guy who has refused to even meet with us.
The Governor revealed yesterday that Kokubun is going to come up with a plan for food production in 2013. For those who believe this promise there will be pie in the sky when you die.
For everyone else it’s time to pick up the phone and call David Ige’s office and ask him to schedule the bill for a hearing. His number is 808-586-6230.
Then, please, back that up with an email to Ige and all the other members of the committee. Just copy and paste these addresses:
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You know the drill, but here are some of the things you could say:
§ Doubling our food production, according to a 2008 UH study, would give a $313 million jolt to the state economy, create $47 million in profits, provide $6 million in state tax revenues and create more than 2,300 jobs.
§ Hawaii currently only grows 8% to 10% of the food we eat, according to the US Department of Agriculture. This leaves us incredibly vulnerable to supply disruptions.
§ Opinion polls repeatedly show this issue is one of the top political concerns of voters in Hawaii. They also show that local people are prepared to pay a little more than for imported food because they place a premium on locally grown food.
§ A statutory goal for food production will have a galvanizing effect both on the state and on the private sector - in the same way as the Clean Energy Initiative has helped kick-start the booming alternative energy sector.
