After two hours of passionate testimony on both sides of the issue, all before an overflow crowd and packed conference room, three state Senate committees killed House Bill 174 — the GMO labeling bill.

Agriculture Chairman Clarence Nishihara said Attorney General David Louie‘s opinion that the bill was unconstitutional persuaded a majority of senators to defer the legislation this session. But the Senate said they will call for a study of the issue via a concurrent resolution.

Josh Green, chairman of Senate Health, issued a dissenting statement, saying he wanted the bill to move forward.

Essentially, testimony on HB 174 was split along these lines: that people should know what is in their food and GMOs may harm health and the environment, and that GMOs are safe and labeling could hurt jobs.

Testifiers included a lot of folks who work for big agribusinesses like Monsanto. Opponents of GMOs pointed out that many lawmakers receive campaign contributions from Monsanto.

—Chad Blair