Lawmakers hear broad support for cooperative development program but ask DBEDT about staffing and grant size

SB 2716 would establish a cooperative development program in the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to provide cost‑sharing grants and technical assistance to local cooperatives. Multiple cooperative leaders testified in strong support, describing barriers—legal costs, governance design and feasibility studies—that keep cooperative formation out of reach for many groups.

Keoni DeFranco and other cooperative advocates said the bill would fund 10–20 cooperatives annually with startup or conversion costs such as legal services and governance design. DBEDT told the committee the bill appropriates $750,000 in FY26–27 to establish and administer the program, that the department lacks existing staff capacity and would likely need about three positions to run the program, and that individual grants appear contemplated at $10,000–$50,000 range depending on project needs.

Senators asked how the program would avoid duplicating existing grant-in-aid processes and how the department would prioritize awards. DBEDT said rulemaking, board review and scoring systems would be used to set parameters and that the process would likely include RFP and monitoring steps.

The committee deferred SB 2716 to Feb. 19, 2026 to do more work on language and staffing plans.