HB1726

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State faces a structural housing crisis characterized by a critical shortage of available and affordable housing units. The 2024 Hawaii Housing Planning Study, which was prepared for the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation, estimates that the total projected housing units needed in Hawaii will be 64,490 additional units by 2027. Of this number, 62,750 units were an existing housing unit shortfall as of 2022.

The legislature further finds that the existing unit shortfall is the most significant driver in total housing need and requires a significant increase in housing production to close the gap between housing need and supply over time. Accelerating housing production for planned or entitled projects already in the housing production pipeline plays a key role in addressing the backlog in production.

The legislature also finds that the State needs a method to proactively monitor and facilitate the development of projects in the housing pipeline to achieve timely delivery of housing units. This approach requires information on planned and entitled projects, including where they are located and where they are in the development process, and actively working with project developers to address identified barriers to project development and construction, including infrastructure needs. No single agency tracks this information for projects statewide. Therefore, the capacity to facilitate planned and entitled projects is hampered by fragmented and uncoordinated data across state and county agencies, resulting in inattention to delays in the delivery of housing already in the housing production pipeline and a systemic mismatch between the units being produced and housing needs.

Furthermore, the legislature finds that the State must modernize the way it plans for, tracks, and delivers housing and supporting infrastructure. A shared, standardized, and geospatial-ready data platform is necessary to create a unified data model that can provide state and county agencies with critical information on projects in the housing production pipeline and related infrastructure and investment needs in planned growth areas.

Moreover, the legislature finds that accelerating housing development must be done in a fiscally sustainable manner so that decision-makers are aware of the long-term projected revenues and costs to public entities for the housing produced. Thus, the shared data platform should also provide the means to assess the expected fiscal contributions and ongoing costs for public services and infrastructure required to support housing development and planned growth. Development of a fiscal model to be used in conjunction with the housing and infrastructure data collected would give decision-makers and the public the information needed to weigh the public benefits and costs of housing projects and regional investments in infrastructure.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Require the office of planning and sustainable development to undertake a project to:

(A) Study and identify options for the development of a statewide housing and infrastructure data platform that serves as a shared data resource for information on projects in the housing pipeline and infrastructure improvement projects needed to support housing;

(B) Support the establishment and launch of the preferred option for the statewide housing and infrastructure data platform and administration and maintenance of the data platform and the data platform's project monitoring and facilitation functions; and

(C) Develop fiscal and other analytical models for the statewide housing and infrastructure data platform to enable evaluation of the impact of development and infrastructure investments; and

(2) Appropriate funds for consulting services for the project and for staff and other resources to support the conduct of the project.

SECTION 2. (a) The office of planning and sustainable development shall conduct studies and other activities as necessary for the development of a shared statewide housing and infrastructure data platform that enables multi-agency action to accelerate and steward backlogged and new housing projects in the development pipeline and provides reliable information and analysis on the status and effects of housing production and infrastructure investments statewide.

(b) The office of planning and sustainable development may procure consulting services, subject to chapter 103D, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide technical support and coordination of the design and phased development of the statewide housing and infrastructure data platform and related models. The data platform shall support users with the information necessary for analysis, predictive modeling, evidence-based policy formulation, and cost-effective and impactful investments in housing and infrastructure.

The platform shall be developed and deployed using information technology that prioritizes low operational costs, open standards, and portability and supports in-house user customization of data inputs, reports, and analytical models without relying on a single, proprietary solution.

(c) The scope of work for the statewide housing and infrastructure data platform project shall include but not be limited to:

(1) Defining the data model and platform requirements, based on multi-agency user inputs and a user-defined data access and governance model;

(2) Designing a tabular and geospatial data warehousing platform to integrate and standardize data from state and county agencies regarding housing project characteristics, including planned number of units, units by area median income levels, units by type and tenancy, project status, permitting and development requirements, and constraints related to infrastructure capacity or financing;

(3) Establishing secure automated data ingestion pipelines from source systems to provide a unified, real-time view of housing delivery progress and infrastructure readiness;

(4) Developing options for spatial analysis, reporting, and visualization capabilities to enable targeted policy and investment decisions, including a fiscal model that enables the assessment of fiscal costs and benefits of housing production and regional investments for each county;

(5) Determining how the dynamic infrastructure coordination and execution plan framework being developed for the Iwilei area could be built upon or integrated into a shared data platform;

(6) Developing options for where and how the shared platform would be administered and how multi-agency project data updates and sharing, monitoring, and project troubleshooting would be sustained over time;

(7) Supporting the development and launch of the preferred option for administering and managing the project monitoring and facilitation function;

(8) Training for state and county employees in the use, methodology, and update of the statewide housing and infrastructure data platform and models, including developing user-tested training material, to ensure that all users can successfully use and update the data and models; and

(9) Creating an easy-to-use, accessible public interface for members of the public to view and interact with the data and model outputs through geo-referenced visualization tools, dashboards, or similar applications.

(d) The office of planning and sustainable development shall consult and collaborate with state and county agencies and stakeholders regarding the statewide housing and infrastructure data platform project and establish a steering or advisory committee that shall meet regularly for the duration of the project. The office shall consult with and include representatives from the following entities in the design and conduct of the project:

(1) The office of the governor;

(2) The department of business, economic development, and tourism;

(3) The department of land and natural resources;

(4) The Hawaii housing finance and development corporation;

(5) The Hawaii community development authority;

(6) The Hawaii public housing authority;

(7) The land use commission;

(8) The school facilities authority;

(9) The office of enterprise technology services of the department of accounting and general services;

(10) The county planning departments, county housing agencies, and other county agencies with information on housing and infrastructure needs and projects; and

(11) For data and models related to public finance and fiscal impacts:

(A) The department of budget and finance;

(B) The department of taxation;

(D) The county departments responsible for budget and finance and taxation.

(e) The office of planning and sustainable development shall submit a report on the status of the project, including any recommendations or proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2028.

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $150,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for consulting services pursuant to section 2(b) of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the office of planning and sustainable development for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $150,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for other costs, including one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) temporary planner (planner V equivalent), who shall be exempt from chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the office of planning and sustainable development for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1726
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII