Senator Mike Gabbard

November Newsletter

Vol. 19 Issue 11

Agriculture and Environment Committee, Chair

Judiciary Committee, Vice Chair

Government Operations Committee, Vice Chair

Aloha e friends,

Mahalo for staying connected with our office. I hope you and your ‘ohana are well as we move into this wonderful season of Thanksgiving and Christmas. My team and I are deep in preparation for the 2026 legislative session, which begins January 21. This is the time of year when we shape our bill packages, and your ideas truly help guide that work.

If there’s an issue you’d like me to introduce legislation on, please send over any bill drafts or written concepts you’ve been working on. The more detail you can share, the better — it helps us move quickly before our deadlines arrive. 

As always, please contact me at (808) 586-6830 or sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov if I can help you or your family in any way. I invite you to follow me on social media: Instagram @SenatorMikeGabbard, Facebook, YouTube, and X @SENMIKEGABBARD. Also, if you’d like to be added to my mailing list, please send me an email with “mailing list” in the subject line. 

Sen. Gabbard speaking with Leah Laramee, State Climate Change Commission Coordinator, during the joint Judiciary and Agriculture & Environment Committees climate briefing on November 3, 2025.

COMMUNITY UPDATES

October Listen Story Recap – Building Brighter Futures

Sen. Gabbard listens as guest speaker Ken Kakesako, Director of the DOE Policy, Innovation, Planning & Evaluation (PIPE) Branch, joins the October 25, Listen Story meeting via Zoom at Kapolei High School.

Sen. Gabbard welcomes attendees to his October 25 Listen Story meeting at Kapolei High School.

Mahalo to everyone who joined us on Saturday, October 25 at Kapolei High School (and on Zoom). I always value these mornings together—straight talk, good ideas, and a shared commitment to keep West Oʻahu moving forward.

Our guest speaker, Ken Kakesako, who leads the DOE’s Policy, Innovation, Planning & Evaluation (PIPE) Branch, focused squarely on the West Side. He walked us through how DOE is aligning resources for our area—support for teachers and principals, planning for enrollment growth, improving attendance and student support, and prioritizing facility needs on this side of the island. It was a clear, grounded update, and I appreciate Ken taking time to meet with us and answer community questions.

We closed with an open Q&A and a few follow-ups my office is working on now—mahalo for the thoughtful, respectful conversation. Also, big mahalo to Kapolei High for hosting and to everyone who spent part of their weekend with us. If you missed it, check out my YouTube channel for the recording.

Heads up: our next Listen Story will be in January as we prep for the 2026 legislative session. If you couldn’t make it in October but have a question or idea, please email or call—my door is always open. 

Left to right: Sheila Medeiros (Kapolei Neighborhood Board member), Meg Turner (Sen. Gabbard’s Office Manager), and Sen. Gabbard at the October 25 Listen Story meeting.

Sen. Gabbard talks story with Hawaiian Railway Society volunteer Jeff Livingston during an October 17, 2025, site visit in ʻEwa.

Jeff Livingston and Sen. Gabbard at the World War I–era “Gratitude Train” exhibit at the Hawaiian Railway Society on October 17, 2025.

On October 17, I visited the Hawaiian Railway Society (HRS) in ʻEwa to see firsthand how volunteers are preserving and operating the last stretch of the historic Oʻahu Railway & Land Company line. Big mahalo to Jeff Livingston, Kevin Yamamoto, and Ross Stevenson for the kōkua and the walk-through of current restorations and operations.

HRS is more than a museum—it’s a living classroom. Weekend rides from ʻEwa through Kapolei and toward Ko Olina let keiki and visitors experience the sounds, stories, and places that shaped our Leeward coast. Volunteers restore vintage locomotives and cars, maintain miles of narrow-gauge track, and keep the right-of-way safe—all on a shoestring budget and lots of aloha.

Why this matters? Keeping the West Side’s history alive means protecting the people, places, and work that built our communities—from plantation days to today’s growing city. When we ride that train, we’re not just sightseeing—we’re honoring the families who lived and labored along this corridor and passing their moʻolelo (Hawaiian stories, myths, legends), to the next generation.

If you can, please support HRS:

• Ride the historic train (great for families and school groups)
• Volunteer your skills (restoration, operations, outreach)
• Donate to help with track, equipment, and safety needs

Learn more and get tickets at hawaiianrailway.com.



Mahalo to the HRS team for your decades of stewardship—you’re keeping West Oʻahu’s story on track.

Left to right: Ross Stevenson, Kevin Yamamoto, Jeff Livingston, and Sen. Gabbard in front of the historic “Gratitude Train” boxcar at the Hawaiian Railway Society on October 17, 2025.

Left to right: Ross Stevenson, Kevin Yamamoto, Jeff Livingston, and Sen. Gabbard in front of Oahu Railway No. 12 at the Hawaiian Railway Society yard on October 17, 2025.

AGRICULTURE & ENVIRONMENT UPDATES

Joint Judiciary & Agriculture Briefing: How Federal Shifts Are Hitting Hawaiʻi’s Food System

On Oct.16, 2025 Sen. Awa, Sen. Richards, Sen. Rhoads, and Sen.Gabbard discuss next steps to support Hawaiʻi’s food system heading into the 2026 Legislative Session.

On October 16, I co-hosted an informational briefing in Conference Room 16 with my colleague, Senator Karl Rhoads, Chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary (JDC). I serve as Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment (AEN). Our goal was simple: get straight talk from folks on the ground about how recent federal policy and funding changes are affecting Hawaiʻi’s farmers, ranchers, and the families we serve.

Mahalo to our panel:

• Brian Miyamoto, Executive Director, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau
• Sharon Hurd, Chairperson, Hawaiʻi Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity
• Suzanne Shriner, Executive Director, Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council
• Amanda Shaw, Director of Food Systems, Oʻahu Resource Conservation & Development Council
• Hunter Heaivilin, Advocacy Director, Hawaiʻi Farmers Union
• Amy Miller, President & CEO, Hawaiʻi Foodbank

Panelists Sharon Hurd (Chairperson, Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity), Suzanne Shriner (Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council), Hunter Heaivilin (Hawaiʻi Farmers Union), and Brian Miyamoto (Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau) share on-the-ground perspectives from Hawaiʻi’s farmers and ranchers on October 16, 2025.

Here’s the headline: with tens of millions in federal dollars frozen or cut and USDA staffing reductions on the horizon, our smaller, diversified Hawaiʻi farms are being squeezed hardest. Many national programs are built for large, mainland commodity operations—not the small, specialty, and regenerative farms that feed our communities here at home.

As we head toward the 2026 Legislative Session (January 21–May 7), AEN and JDC will use this feedback to shape practical next steps—protecting local producers, strengthening food access, and keeping our islands’ food dollars circulating in Hawaiʻi.



Mahalo nui to Chair Rhoads and every presenter for their kōkua and candid insights. Feeding 1.4 million people a day takes teamwork; we’ll keep doing our part at the Capitol to support a resilient, local food system for our keiki and kūpuna.

Panelists brief lawmakers on federal shifts affecting Hawaiʻi’s food system on October 16, 2025. (L–R: Sharon Hurd, Chairperson, Hawaiʻi Board of Agriculture and Biosecurity; Suzanne Shriner, Executive Director, Synergistic Hawaiʻi Agriculture Council; Hunter Heaivilin, Advocacy Director, Hawaiʻi Farmers Union; Brian Miyamoto, Executive Director, Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau; Amanda Shaw, Director of Food Systems, Oʻahu Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D). Across the table: Sen. Awa, Sen. Richards, Sen. Rhoads (Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee – JDC), Sen. Gabbard (Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment – AEN), and Sen. San Buenaventura.

Youth Climate Future Forum & Summit — Our Keiki Showing the Way

Sen. Gabbard with former Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justice Michael Wilson at the Youth Climate Future Forum on November 1, 2025.

Sen. Gabbard with Debbie Millikan, Director of Sustainability at Punahou School, at the Youth Climate Future Forum on November 1, 2025.

Sen. Gabbard delivering welcoming remarks at the Youth Climate Future Forum on November 1, 2025.

On November 1, I joined students, teachers, and community partners for the Youth Climate Future Forum & Summit at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol. I offered brief opening remarks in the Capitol Auditorium, and the energy was electric—students came ready with solutions, not just slogans.

What I loved most was how action-oriented the conversations were: building resilient local food systems, accelerating clean energy and transportation, and preparing neighborhoods for extreme weather—all grounded in aloha ʻāina and kuleana.

Breakout sessions paired youth leaders with practitioners so ideas can move from the auditorium to classrooms, community projects, and (soon) the policy table.

Mahalo nui to Debbie Millikan and Paul Bernstein for their leadership in bringing everyone together, and to all the educators, mentors, and partners who made space for youth voices. Days like this remind me why I love this work: when we lift up young people, we shape a climate future that’s more sustainable, more just, and proudly local.



As we gear up for the 2026 legislative session in January, my door is open. If you presented, volunteered, or attended, please keep the ideas coming—we’ll work to turn this momentum into action for Hawaiʻi’s climate future.

Planning for Climate Resilience in Hawaiʻi

Sen. Rhoads and Sen. Gabbard lead the November 3, 2025, climate resilience briefing, joined by Leah Laramee, Coordinator of the State Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation Commission, and retired Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justice Michael D. Wilson.

Sen. Rhoads and Sen. Gabbard during the November 3, 2025, joint briefing on the impacts of federal climate policy changes on Hawaiʻi.

On November 3, I joined my colleague Sen. Karl Rhoads, Chair of the Judiciary Committee (JDC), to host an informational briefing on how recent federal policy changes and funding delays are affecting Hawaiʻi’s climate resilience work. As Chair of the Agriculture and Environment Committee (AEN), it was important to me that we bring our community, agencies, and legal experts into one room to talk honestly about what these shifts mean for our islands.

We were fortunate to hear from Leah Laramee, Coordinator of the State Climate Change Mitigation & Adaptation Commission, who walked us through the real impacts these federal actions could have on local projects that lower energy costs and strengthen community safety. Retired Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Justice Michael D. Wilson also shared his manaʻo on the legal responsibilities we hold to protect our ʻāina and future generations, and why the work we do here in Hawaiʻi continues to matter at a national level. He also emphasized the need for a statewide Climate Protection Plan, which I’ll be following up on during the upcoming session.

I’m grateful to everyone who tuned in, asked questions, and helped get the conversation going. If you’d like to watch the full briefing, the recording is available on the Hawaiʻi State Senate YouTube page at: https://www.youtube.com/@HawaiiSenate



Mahalo again to Sen. Rhoads, Leah Laramee, and Justice Wilson for their leadership and insight as we head into the 2026 session together.

Retired Justice Michael D. Wilson places a lei on Sen. Gabbard at the start of the November 3, 2025 Judiciary and Agriculture & Environment informational briefing.

Sen. Rhoads and Sen. Gabbard during the November 3, 2025 joint briefing on the impacts of federal climate policy changes on Hawaiʻi.