STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1296

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2023

 

RE:   S.B. No. 1596

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1596, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL CAMPUSES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Establish and appropriate funds for a Maui Campus Housing Pilot Program under the School Facilities Authority to make housing available to employees at Lahainaluna and Kulanihakoi High Schools; and

 

     (2)  Require the School Facilities Authority and Department of Education to submit reports to the Legislature.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, School Facilities Authority, one member of the Maui County Council, and Hawaii State Teachers Association.

 

     Your Committee finds that the State continues to suffer from a shortage of licensed teachers, with over one thousand vacancies in the Department of Education each year.  Your Committee believes that affordable options for teacher housing is one key strategy to recruit and retain experienced teachers, particularly when Hawaii's teacher salaries continue to trail behind the rest of the nation.  This measure will lessen the financial burden on teachers by expanding the availability of affordable housing.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Expanding the Maui Campus Housing Pilot Program to be available to employees at schools in the Lahainaluna and Kulanihakoi complexes;

 

     (2)  Clarifying that housing under the Maui Campus Housing Pilot Program may be located within a school campus or within a two-mile radius of a school campus in the Lahainaluna or Kulanihakoi complexes;

 

     (3)  Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

 

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

 

Your Committee notes that although the appropriation in this measure is currently an unspecified amount, the initial cost for planning and design for the Maui Campus Housing Pilot Program is approximately $200,000.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1596, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1596, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Education.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

____________________________

TROY N. HASHIMOTO, Chair