STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1470

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: S.B. No. 941

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 941, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SCHOOL FACILITIES AUTHORITY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize the School Facilities Authority to partner with public and private agencies to develop teacher and educator housing and classrooms; and

(2) Appropriate funds for the construction of teacher and educator housing and classrooms and authorize, with the approval of the Governor, the School Facilities Authority to transfer its implementation authority to other state agencies.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the School Facilities Authority, Nānākuli-Wai‘anae Interim Complex Area Superintendent, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hydroponics Alternatives LLC, and three individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Government Employees Association, AFSCME Local 152, AFL-CIO.

Your Committees find that Hawaii is facing a shortage of qualified teachers, which is further exacerbated by the lack of affordable housing. Your Committees further find that many teachers are leaving the State or the teaching profession in search of better pay and cheaper cost of living. Your Committees believe that financial incentives, such as improving classrooms and providing affordable housing, are a key strategy for the recruitment and retention of teachers.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the types of housing the School Facilities Authority may partner with public and private development agencies to develop housing includes workforce housing and housing for teachers, educators, and staff;

(2) Changing the appropriation and allocations to unspecified amounts;

(3) Reinserting an allocation in an unspecified amount to Waipahu High School;

(4) Specifying that the housing projects developed pursuant to this measure shall be within certain school campuses or within a two-mile radius of certain school campuses and shall be reserved for teachers, educators, and staff employed at a school in the Mililani, Nanakuli, and Waipahu complexes;

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

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

Your Committees respectfully request your Committee on Finance, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider an appropriation amount of $185,000,000 and to allocate the funds as follows:

(1) $65,000,000 for Mililani High School;

(2) $65,000,000 for Nanakuli High & Intermediate School; and

(3) $60,000,000 for Waipahu High School.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 941, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 941, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Education,

____________________________ JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair

____________________________ TROY N. HASHIMOTO, Chair