STAND. COM. REP. NO. 159

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: H.B. No. 525

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 525 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TEACHER HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Education (Department) to construct housing for teachers on a public school campus; provided that any housing units constructed or acquired on a school campus after June 30, 2021, be rented at a low cost or no cost to new teachers employed full-time at the school where the housing units are located.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawaii Association of REALTORS, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and two individuals.

Your Committee finds that a January 2020 compensation study contracted by the Department revealed that seventy-eight percent of survey respondents indicated that the lack of housing availability negatively impacted teacher retention in Hawaii. A comparison report in December 2020 that was developed for the Department on teacher recruitment revealed that similarly situated school districts in other states provide greater opportunities for low cost or no cost teacher housing for full-time employees. Your Committee further finds that according to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism's 2019 report on Housing Demand in Hawaii, the State needs up to 46,000 housing units to meet demand in Hawaii by 2030. This measure will help in recruiting and retaining effective educators by lessening the financial burden of being a public school teacher in the State through the establishment of affordable teacher rental housing.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 525, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 525, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Housing.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair