STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3166

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1763

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1763, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits be issued pursuant to a priority system;

(2) Amend the priority criteria for which funds in the Rental Housing Revolving Fund are to be used; and

(3) Require the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to add new criteria and point allocations to the Qualified Allocation Plan.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Partners in Care, AARP Hawaiʻi, Aloha United Way, and two individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Affordable Housing Connections LLC and Stanford Carr Development.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Disability and Communication Access Board, and Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii is currently undergoing a housing shortage. Your Committee also finds that the State's current housing inventory is aging, with many of its public housing units functionally obsolete or approaching this threshold. Therefore, this measure aims to combat this issue by promoting and funding the development of affordable housing.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting section 1 of the measure, which would have required the allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to be issued pursuant to a priority system;

(2) Clarifying that moneys available in the Rental Housing Revolving Fund shall be used for projects demonstrating project readiness;

(3) Deleting section 3 of the measure, which would have required the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to adopt rules relating to the Qualified Allocation Plan and criteria point system;

(4) Making this measure apply to Rental Housing Revolving Fund applications submitted after June 30, 2024;

(5) Making this measure effective upon its approval; and

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

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 H.B. No. 1763, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1763, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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STANLEY CHANG, Chair