School Meals Cost Recovery Requirement
Summary
Hawaii HB2296 passed the Senate Ways and Means Committee 12-0 on April 6, 2026, advancing through the legislative process. The bill requires the Department of Education to charge no less than one-quarter of meal preparation costs for each school meal served.
What changed
HB2296 cleared the Senate Ways and Means Committee with unanimous 12-0 support on April 6, 2026, following passage through the Senate Education Committee and multiple House committees. The bill specifies that the Department of Education must charge not less than 25% of the actual cost of preparing a school meal for each meal served. The effective date is set for July 31, 2055.
The Hawaii Department of Education and affected school districts should monitor the bill's progress through remaining legislative stages. Once enacted, entities operating school meal programs will need to update pricing structures to ensure cost recovery meets the 25% minimum threshold. No immediate compliance actions are required given the extended effective date.
What to do next
- Monitor HB2296 progress through remaining Hawaii legislative stages
- Review current school meal pricing structures against proposed 25% cost recovery requirement
- Assess systems for calculating and documenting meal preparation costs upon enactment
Source document (simplified)
ChangeBridge / Hawaii / HB2296 Passed HB2296 House Bill Passed 2026-03-06
Relating To School Meals.
Requires the Department of Education to charge not less than one-quarter of the cost of preparing a school meal for each school meal. Effective 7/31/2055. (SD1)
Bill Details
State Hawaii
Session 2026 Regular Session
Chamber House
Official Source www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_ind...
LegiScan View on LegiScan
Sponsors
Nadine Nakamura (Rep - D)
Action History
2026-04-06 S The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 12 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Richards, Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lee, C.. 2026-04-01 S The committee(s) on WAM deferred the measure until 04-06-26 10:31AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference. 2026-03-30 S Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM. 2026-03-30 S The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 04-01-26 10:03AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference. 2026-03-30 S Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3391) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM. 2026-03-25 S The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Fukunaga. 2026-03-20 S The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 1:12PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference. 2026-03-10 S Referred to EDU, WAM. 2026-03-10 S Passed First Reading. 2026-03-10 S Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 200). 2026-03-06 H Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Sayama excused (2). Transmitted to Senate. 2026-03-06 H Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 954-26), recommending passage on Third Reading. 2026-03-04 H The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Alcos; Noes: none; and Excused: none. 2026-03-02 H Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Wednesday, 03-04-26 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. 2026-02-17 H Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Lee, M., Poepoe excused (3). 2026-02-17 H Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 316-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN. 2026-02-10 H The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Garrett, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none. 2026-02-06 H Bill scheduled to be heard by EDN on Tuesday, 02-10-26 2:15PM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. 2026-01-30 H Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 5 2026-01-28 H Introduced and Pass First Reading. 2026-01-26 H Pending introduction.
Votes
2026-03-25 Senate Education: Passed, With Amendments Yea: 3 Nay: 0 2026-04-06 Senate Ways and Means: Passed, With Amendments Yea: 12 Nay: 0
Committee Referrals
2026-01-30 H Education 2026-02-17 H Finance 2026-03-10 S Education 2026-03-30 S Ways and Means
Bill Text Versions
2026-01-29 Introduced 2026-02-13 Amended 2026-03-28 Amended
Subjects
DOE School Cafeteria Meals Costs Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)
Named provisions
Related changes
Source
Classification
Who this affects
Taxonomy
Browse Categories
Get Government General alerts
Weekly digest. AI-summarized, no noise.
Free. Unsubscribe anytime.
Get alerts for this source
We'll email you when Hawaii Legislative Events publishes new changes.