State legislators this morning will consider what options are available to help hundreds of Del Monte Fresh Produce workers and their families who live at the company's Kunia Camp.

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing will hear an emergency measure being introduced by the committee's chairman, Sen. Ron Menor, D-17th (Mililani, Waipi'o), that will assist employees and their families when the plantation closes.

"About 600 people will be losing their jobs within the next two years," said Brandon Bajo-Diniel, president of the newly formed Kunia Camp Association, which supports the act.

Mass layoffs could begin soon, he said.

Del Monte announced on Feb. 1 that it would plant its last pineapple in Hawai'i Sunday, and that the company would cease operations here altogether in late 2008 after more than a century.

Bajo-Diniel, who has lived at the camp since the early 1970s, said about 30 workers face the possibility of no longer having a classified job after the final pineapple planting Sunday.

"The company might be offering them different kinds of jobs," he said. "But we don't know. It's still a big question."

Not knowing what will happen increases the anxiety of camp residents, many of whom have lived at the plantation for much of their lives, he said.

"The worries of the people are, No. 1, keeping their homes. The second thing is losing their jobs."

Senate Bill 2773, which would offer emergency relief to displaced plantation employees, was drafted by Menor, and the bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Robert Bunda, D-22nd (North Shore, Wahiawa), with the help of Rep. Michael Magaoay, D-46th (Kahuku, North Shore, Schofield). Bunda and Magaoay represent districts that include Kunia.

Magaoay said he, Menor and Bunda met last week with officials of the ILWU, the union that represents Del Monte workers, and with officials from Campbell Estate, which owns the land Del Monte leases.

The bill is the result of concerns raised at that meeting.

Among other things, the bill would provide grants to finance the purchase of their homes, low-interest mortgages, rent supplements, funds for demolition and reconstruction of dilapidated units, and down payment loans to eligible borrowers.

The bill doesn't mention how much money would be needed.

"The reasons we don't have a specific dollar figure is because this bill is supposed to be a vehicle by which we may be able to provide assistance," Menor said.

"But we're not going to know what that figure is until the ILWU and Campbell Estate proceed more in their negotiations."

Still, Menor said his committee expects to have a better idea of the dollar amount as a result of today's hearing.

"Obviously, it's going to be in the millions," he said.

Menor said he was optimistic about the bill's chances of being passed. He said he thinks members of the Legislature share his concerns about the workers.

One person who plans to testify today is former Del Monte agricultural superintendent Bob Bevacqua, who was laid off last month and thinks he could be the first person evicted from his camp home.

Bevacqua said he was asked to speak in support of the bill on behalf of the Kunia Camp Association.

"I describe myself as the first casualty of the closing of the plantation," he said.

Residents are "in limbo," he said.

Magaoay said one thing residents have going for them is the backing of the ILWU, which strongly supports the legislation.

In a letter Magaoay received on Feb. 14, ILWU President Fred Galdones pledged to work with Del Monte, Campbell Estate and everyone else involved.

"We will be raising a number of concerns about bumping, housing, severance rights, and assistance to workers needing to make the transition from pineapple to other careers," Galdones said.

"We hope to establish a labor-management committee with the company and government agencies to effect a smooth transition. Funds seem to be available for job training, although the company is also indicating that workers whose jobs are eliminated will have the opportunity to stay on in other positions."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.