STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2235

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1587

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 1587 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish the Affordable Housing Land Inventory Task Force to update the maps, tier tables, and inventories of state lands suitable and available for affordable housing development in the Affordable Rental Housing Report and Ten-Year Plan; and

(2) Require the Task Force to report to the Legislature.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Building Industry Association Hawaii, Hawai'i Association of REALTORS, Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference, Hawaii Island Economic Development Board, and three individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

Your Committees find that Hawaii is one of the most expensive states in the nation in regards to housing, with median housing costs almost three times higher than the national average. This is a result of limits on land use within the State, restrictive housing regulations, and permit delays, among other things. This measure aims to reduce this issue by identifying opportunities to efficiently and quickly develop affordable housing.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Placing the Task Force in the Hawaii Community Development Authority rather than the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, for administrative purposes;

(2) Adding the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources as a member of the Task Force;

(3) Clarifying that representatives from organizations with experience in development or redevelopment may be invited to serve as members of the Task Force;

(4) Deleting the Executive Director of the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority, Deputy Director of the Highways Division of the Department of Transportation, and Chair of the Public Utilities Commission as members of the Task Force;

(5) Clarifying that the Executive Director of the Land Use Commission, rather than the Chair of the Land Use Commission, shall be a member of the Task Force;

(6) Requiring the Task Force to focus on existing urban lands to minimize the need for major regional infrastructure improvements;

(7) Requiring the Task Force to examine mixed-use development opportunities to redevelop underutilized State-owned lands with only one government tenant or use;

(8) Requiring the Task Force to identify lands to accommodate one hundred thousand new housing units and designating such lands as important housing lands;

(9) Delaying the reporting and termination dates of the Task Force by one year;

(10) Inserting language declaring that the general fund expenditure ceiling is exceeded;

    (11) Inserting an appropriation to the Hawaii Community Development Authority for a staff position and for contractual services; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1587, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1587, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair