Committee recommends Bill 98 (Food and Nutrition Security Plan) for first reading after CD1 amendment

The ADEPT Committee voted to recommend passage of Bill 98 (2026), which would add the county''s Food and Nutrition Security Plan to Title 22 of the Maui County Code, on first reading after adopting a CD1 replacement.

Chair Alice Lee moved to replace the introduced version with the CD1 amendment and the motion was seconded by Council Member Kamili Batangan. Staff read the amendment summary form, which lists three changes: identify the new county code chapter, change the bill''s stated purpose language to "guide policy toward the goal of ensuring" (rather than create mandates), and add a definition of "food security." Chair Gabe Johnson presided over the roll call vote; staff recorded six ayes and one member excused, and the motion passed.

Supporters argued the ordinance creates transparency and a mechanism for regularly tracking progress. "The county of Maui's Department of Agriculture is in support of adding the food and nutrition security plan to Title 22," Department Director Kale Arce told the committee during the meeting. Department staff also stressed the reporting requirement in the bill that mandates annual updates via an online dashboard and periodic five-year plan updates to the council.

Opponents or cautious stakeholders did not block the measure but sought clearer process and engagement opportunities. The Maui County Farm Bureau asked the committee to defer final adoption until producers could review how the proposed code interacts with the Title 19 zoning rewrite and Important Agricultural Lands work; the committee instead committed to continued outreach and to accepting producer comments at later readings.

The committee action was procedural: the vote directs the bill to the full council for first reading as the CD1 version. The ordinance includes a reporting requirement (an online dashboard) and a requirement that future plan updates be submitted to the council, but, as corporation counsel noted in committee discussion, the CD1 language frames most plan elements as advisory unless and until specific implementation duties are later enacted by ordinance.