THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2779

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that as of December 31, 2022, approximately 29,300 native Hawaiian adults were on the department of Hawaiian home lands application waitlist for residential, farming, or ranching homesteads.  The homelessness crisis in Hawaii is already serious, ranking fourth in the country among states with the most homeless people per ten thousand residents in 2023.  The waitlist backlog only exacerbates this crisis that already disproportionately affects native Hawaiians.

     The legislature finds that even at the end of 2022, the number of native Hawaiians on the waitlist has not significantly decreased despite plans to develop more Hawaiian home lands lots.  As of 2021, more than two thousand native Hawaiian beneficiaries have died while on the waitlist.  Furthermore, due to the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, those waiting who are not homeless are struggling to pay rent to the point where a federal government stimulus package offered relief specifically for native Hawaiians on the waitlist.  The department of Hawaiian home lands must ameliorate this situation.

     The purpose of this Act is to require the department of Hawaiian home lands to satisfy the housing needs of native Hawaiians currently on the waitlist for homestead leases.

     SECTION 2.  The department of Hawaiian home lands shall build sufficient rental housing, including apartment units and rent-with-option-to-buy housing units, to satisfy the housing needs of native Hawaiians currently on the waitlist for homestead leases.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

DHHL; Homestead Lease Waitlist; Rental Housing

 

Description:

Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to build sufficient rental housing, including rental apartment units, and rent-with-option-to-buy housing units, to satisfy the housing needs of native Hawaiians on the waitlist for homestead leases.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.