ACTION ALERT:

Talking Points:

PROBLEM

• Hawai‘i imports approximately 90% of its food and has food costs that are 82% higher than the national average.
• In December 2020, there were over 189,000 low-income SNAP recipients in the state, a 20% increase from the year before.
• Hawai‘i has the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 9.3% in December 2020.

POLICY SOLUTION

• SB 512 creates more flexibility in state funding provided to the DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks program by 1) removing the $10 daily cap on incentives that can be issued to SNAP recipients for the purchase of local foods, and 2) allowing healthy local proteins to be eligible purchases.
• DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks offers a solution to three pressing issues in Hawai‘i during the pandemic:
  • Makes healthy foods more affordable and feeds hungry families.
  • Supports local farmers by incentivizing the purchase of locally-produced food.
  • Stimulates economic activity by keeping food dollars within the local economy.
• The removal of the $10 cap will encourage increased spending of SNAP dollars on local foods. SNAP spending helps to stimulate the economy during economic downturns, as these food dollars are often quickly spent for necessities and are federal dollars entering the state’s economy. These dollars ripple throughout the supply chain, supporting farmers, retailers, and food distributor employees. Each SNAP dollar has an economic multiplier of 1.79, which means every SNAP dollar spent at food retailers contributes $1.79 to Hawaii’s economy.
• Each free DA BUX incentive dollar issued has an economic multiplier of 2.3, which means every incentive dollar spent at food retailers contributes $2.30 to Hawai‘i’s economy.
• While $10 of State funding can purchase a SNAP household $20 of local produce, our Hawaii families can benefit from a higher cap as many struggle to feed multiple-generation households and to afford higher-priced cultural foods like ‘ulu, taro leaves, and poi.  Additionally, families are needing to purchase food in larger quantities per grocery visit as a result of the pandemic–they are minimizing their trips to the grocery store to minimize their exposure to COVID-19 and are needing to purchase enough food to last them until their next grocery visit.
• The $10 daily cap removal will better align with the flexibilities of the larger federal GusNIP grant providing funding to DA BUX and additional federal contributions that are anticipated.

CURRENT PROGRAM IMPACT

• By the end of 2020, DA BUX program expansion resulted in more than two-thirds (77%) of all SNAP-participating households having a participating retailer within a reasonable shopping distance of their homes.
• In 2020 alone, DA BUX food retailers issued over $978,000 of incentive discounts; this translates to $1.9 million of local food purchases.
  • Of this amount, over $847,000 of incentive discounts were issued for local produce; this translates to $1.7 million of local produce purchases.
• In December 2020, SNAP sales of incentivized local produce at 30 participating DA BUX grocery stores increased 167% compared to 2019 average sales.