Committee advances bill to support agricultural workforce housing; measure passes committee

The House committee voted to pass SB2405 SD1 HD2, a bill related to agricultural workforce housing, after brief testimony from state agencies and advocacy groups and a short member discussion.

Vice Chair Dean Morikawa opened the item and recommended the bill be passed as is. Hunter Hevelin of the Hawaii Farmers Union told the committee the measure represents “an important opportunity to bring together key partners to address the need for agricultural workforce housing,” and the Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity indicated it would submit comments and offer testimony on the measure in writing.

Committee members raised no substantive objections during the decision-making phase. During roll call, multiple members recorded “Aye”; one member registered “reservations” and one member, Woodson, was excused. The chair announced that his recommendation to pass the bill was adopted.

The vote advances SB2405 to the next stage of the legislative process; the transcript did not record further procedural dates or amendments for the measure.