State senators
reversed themselves today and announced they will hold a hearing on a
bill that would require the labeling of genetically modified produce
imported to Hawaii.
Senators had previously indicated they
would not hear House Bill 174, which state Attorney General David Louie
has said that if passed by the Legislature would likely be struck down
by the federal courts as unconstitutional. The federal government has
jurisdiction over food labeling.
Sen. Clarence Nishihara, the
chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said senators are
responding to public pressure from environmental and anti-GMO activists
who have demanded a hearing. After a lengthy private caucus among
senators today, Nishihara said he believed the consensus among senators
was to schedule a hearing.
The Senate agreed to waive its internal 72-hour public notice requirement to hold a hearing on the bill at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Senators agreed to make Nishihara's committee the lead on the bill in
conjunction with the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee
and the Senate Health Committee. The Senate Health Committee had
previously been the lead committee. If the bill clears the three
committees on Thursday, it would go before the Senate Ways and Means
Committee before the full Senate. Previously, the bill would have gone
to the Senate Judiciary and Labor Committee. Sen. Clayton Hee, the
Judiciary committee's chairman, had waived off jurisdiction Monday in
the hopes of keeping the bill alive.
House lawmakers who
approved the bill earlier this month acknowledged that it was flawed but
hope the legislation can be perfected before the session ends in May.
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GMO-label bill faulty, state says
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