STAND. COM. REP. NO. 266

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 140

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water and Land and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 140 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HOUSING SHORTAGE,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to identify and analyze existing and projected housing needs and identify adequate sites for housing sufficient to meet housing demands for all income levels each year.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Association of REALTORS, Maui Chamber of Commerce, one member of the Kaua‘i County Council, and one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

Your Committees find that the State has a housing crisis. According to a 2019 study commissioned by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, the State will require an additional 50,156 homes by the year 2025, with the City and County of Honolulu requiring 22,168 new units, the County of Hawaii requiring 13,303 new units, the County of Maui requiring 10,404 new units, and the County of Kauai requiring 4,281 new units. Your Committees further find that having the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development study and create a strategic plan identifying adequate sites for housing will help the State address its housing challenges now and in the future. Therefore, this measure requires the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development to identify and analyze existing and projected housing needs and identify adequate sites for housing sufficient to meet housing demands for all income levels each year.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a blank appropriation amount for one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) position for the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development; and

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water and Land and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 140, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 140, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Water and Land and Housing,

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair