The People's Ledger
← All Hawaii bills

SB2153Introduced in the Senate

Relating To Agriculture.

Passed

Introduced by Tim Richards, District 4

What does this bill do?

Plain-English breakdown

Writing a plain-English summary of this bill… this can take a few seconds the first time.

Official description

Requires the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity to convene a Bona Fide Farmer Working Group to develop multi-tiered, matrix-based definitions for the terms "bona fide farmer" and "bona fide agricultural activity". Requires a report to the Legislature. (CD1)

Where it stands

Act 167, on 06/26/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1269).

June 26, 2026

How did lawmakers vote?

House votes

1 recorded vote · each counted separately

Senate votes

3 recorded votes · each counted separately

SenateStage: Senate Conference: Passed, With Amendments · April 28, 2026

3

Yes

0

No

0

Absent or Not Voting

3 senators recorded in this Senate vote. Colors show vote categories only, not whether a vote was good or bad.

See how each senator voted

SenatorDistrictVote
Tim Richards4Yes
Lynn Decoite7Yes
Mike Gabbard21Yes

Bill history

  1. Pending Introduction.

  2. Introduced and passed First Reading.

  3. Referred to AEN, WAM.

  4. The committee(s) on AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 01-28-26 3:00PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.

  5. 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, DeCoite, Rhoads; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 0 Excused: none.

  6. Reported from AEN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2187) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

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

  8. The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-03-26 10:17AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

  9. The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Richards, Wakai; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

  10. Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2942) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).

  11. 48 Hrs. Notice 03-10-26.

  12. Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 1 (Senator(s) Awa). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

  13. Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 183) in amended form (SD 2).

  14. Pass First Reading

  15. Referred to AGR, FIN, referral sheet 17

  16. Bill scheduled to be heard by AGR on Friday, 03-20-26 9:30AM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  17. The committee on AGR recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Chun, Kusch, Kahaloa, Lowen, Perruso, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan.

  18. Reported from AGR (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1389-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.

  19. Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Garrett, Quinlan excused (2).

  20. Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 04-02-26 2:00PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  21. The committee(s) on FIN recommend(s) that the measure be deferred until 04-07-26.

  22. Bill scheduled for decision making on Tuesday, 04-07-26 10:10AM in conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  23. The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Morikawa.

  24. Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1998-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.

  25. Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

  26. Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 502).

  27. Senate disagrees with House amendments.

  28. Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 564).

  29. House Conferees Appointed: Chun, Kusch Co-Chairs; Kahaloa, Matsumoto.

  30. Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 787).

  31. Senate Conferees Appointed: Gabbard Chair; Richards Co-Chair; DeCoite.

  32. Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 714).

  33. Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-24-26 11:00AM; Conference Room 325.

  34. Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-28-26 9:30AM; Conference Room 325.

  35. The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Gabbard, Richards, DeCoite; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

  36. The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Chun, Kusch, Kahaloa, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none.

  37. Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 32-26).

  38. 48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-01-26.

  39. Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 32-26) as amended in (CD 1).

  40. Forty-eight (48) hours notice Friday, 05-01-26.

  41. Deferred one day 05-06-26.

  42. Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 24; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 1 (Senator(s) Fukunaga).

  43. Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 814).

  44. Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

  45. Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 888).

  46. Enrolled to Governor.

  47. Act 167, 06/26/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1269).

  48. Act 167, on 06/26/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1269).

Verify the information

Our commitment to neutrality

We provide factual information only. We never tell you which politicians or bills to support, and we do not rank, score, or endorse anyone.