STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2221

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2543

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2543 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the homeownership revolving fund to pay the debt service for a dwelling purchased by households whose income does not exceed eighty percent of the area median income, with reimbursement at zero percent interest for the first sixty months and on a graduated scale thereafter.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Habitat for Humanity Maui, Community Alliance for Mental Health, and Hawaii Habitat for Humanity Association.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation.

     Your Committees find that encouraging homeownership is beneficial to society because homeownership provides shelter and stability to families and fosters involvement in community life.  Your Committees heard testimony expressing concern that this measure may allow individuals to become homeowners before they are prepared for the responsibilities of owning and sustaining a home.  In addition, testimony submitted to your Committees indicates that the homeownership revolving fund may not be adequately self-sustaining and, therefore, may not comply with statutory requirements.

     Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2543, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2543, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing,

____________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair