{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://tokuda.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-tokuda-votes-against-houses-partisan-farm-bill-includes-wins-hawaii-falls", "Rep. Tokuda Votes Against House\u2019s Partisan Farm Bill Includes Wins for Hawai\u2018i, Falls Short for Working Families", "2024-05-24", "2024", "2024-05", "Democrat", "House", "HI", "Jill N. Tokuda", "T000487", "tokuda.house.gov", "tokuda", "https://tokuda.house.gov/media/press-releases?PageNum_rs=7&", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda (HI-02), a member of the House Agriculture Committee and the only member of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s congressional delegation to serve on one of Congress\u2019s agriculture committees, voted against sending the House Republicans\u2019 partisan Farm Bill to the full House of Representatives during a 13-hour markup. The committee reported the bill with a vote of 33-21.\n\n\u201cIt was important to me that Hawai\u02bbi has a seat at the table when it comes to developing the Farm Bill. We succeeded in addressing the significant drop in nutrition assistance for Hawai\u2018i, expanding microgrants to grow small-scale farming, and helping specialty crops iconic to our state in the House Republican draft. However, I could not support in good conscience the harm caused by other provisions in the bill, and I had to vote against it,\u201d said Rep. Tokuda.\n\nThe $1.5 trillion bill, which dictates agriculture and food policy, includes a drastic cut to the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). The proposed cut to the TFP would impact several nutrition programs which includes slashing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the country\u2019s largest anti-hunger program, by nearly $30 billion. This would mark the largest reduction in nearly 30 years if this bill became law.\n\n\u201cWorking families across Hawai\u02bbi and the country are already struggling with skyrocketing food prices. I cannot support a bill that would slash food benefits for our most vulnerable population and lead to more people going hungry,\u201d said Rep. Tokuda. \u201cThe cost of living in our state is already too high, and this reduction would steal valuable resources away from those who need and depend on them the most.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis bill opens the door to privatizing the jobs of civil servants who currently administer the SNAP program in Hawai\u02bbi. This is unacceptable, and totally insulting of our local, highly trained government workers. It could lead to Hawai\u02bbi SNAP recipients having to call an out-of-state call center to receive their benefits. We appreciate Rep. Tokuda's rejection of this damaging provision and her continued support for state workers,\u201d said Randy Perreira, Executive Director of the Hawai\u02bbi Government Employees Association.\n\n\"Having Rep. Tokuda on the agriculture committee during a farm bill year has resulted in issues and supports for Hawaii's agriculture industry being included in the House Draft that will now be a part of negotiations with the Senate,\" stated Brian Miyamoto, Executive Director of the Hawaii Farm Bureau. \"Since entering Congress, Rep. Tokuda has held listening sessions with our members, and even hosted a talk story with Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson, allowing us to advocate for Hawaii ag at the federal level.\"\n\nThe House\u2019s version of the Farm Bill would also dramatically limit the deployment of solar energy and impact federal investments helping Hawai\u02bbi and the nation reach our renewable energy goals.\n\n\u201cAlthough the House Republicans\u2019 Farm Bill had some of my top priorities for Hawai\u2018i and for rural and indigenous communities across our country, the poison pills in this bill would ultimately hurt our hardworking residents more than help them,\u201d continued Rep. Tokuda. \u201cI will continue to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and the Capitol to deliver a Farm Bill that meets Hawai\u2018i\u2019s needs and priorities.\u201d\n\nHere are some of the provisions for Hawai\u02bbi that Rep. Tokuda advocated for and secured in the House Republicans\u2019 version of the bill:\n\nSeparates Hawai\u2018i\u2019s TFP calculation between urban and rural areas to provide additional SNAP, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) money for those living on the neighbor islands. Separating out our rural areas, as is done for Alaska, ensures the higher food costs on the neighbor islands result in higher levels of food assistance.\n\nIncreases the Micro-Grants for Food Security Program\u2019s authorization to $30 million, which would respond to the overwhelming demand for the program and increase locally grown food for food-insecure areas.\n\nCreates a Tropical Plant Health Initiative within the National Institute of Food and Agriculture dedicated to supporting tropical specialty crops, including kalo, \u2018ulu, and \u2018uala.\n\nAuthorizes the noncontiguous areas, including Hawai\u2018i, to directly purchase local commodities through TEFAP.\n\nReauthorizes the Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program.\n\nReauthorizes the Regional Aquaculture Centers Program.\n\nIncludes $2.5 billion in mandatory agricultural research facilities, which will help address the deferred maintenance backlog for the University of Hawai\u2018i College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources\u2019 research facilities.\n\nCreates a pilot program for custom meat processing facilities to sell meat products directly to consumers, which could increase Hawai\u2018i\u2019s meat processing capacity.\n\nThe bill awaits further action by the House. Rep. Tokuda\u2019s opening statement can be viewed here. The text of the measure can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:01:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://tokuda.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-tokuda-votes-against-houses-partisan-farm-bill-includes-wins-hawaii-falls"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0365601629018784, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}