HB2504

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii continues to face a severe shortage of affordable housing, with publicly supported and deeply affordable housing disproportionately concentrated in certain communities. While the office of the governor maintains an affordable housing pipeline dashboard to track affordable housing projects in the development pipeline, and the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation maintains a beta version of a housing dashboard, the current dashboards do not provide sufficient neighborhood-level data to assess housing equity, poverty concentration, displacement risk, or the alignment of infrastructure investment with housing development.

The legislature further finds that transparent, publicly accessible, and standardized data is essential to:

(1) Promote equitable distribution of affordable housing statewide;

(2) Identify communities experiencing high or increasing concentrations of poverty;

(3) Prevent displacement of existing residents;

(4) Ensure that public infrastructure and services keep pace with housing development; and

(5) Support evidence-based policymaking and public accountability.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to expand the information and data currently collected by the existing affordable housing dashboards by requiring the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation to develop and maintain a comprehensive housing equity dashboard on the corporation's website that provides annual public reporting on affordable housing production, affordability levels, poverty concentration, displacement indicators, and infrastructure investment by geography.

SECTION 2. Chapter 201H, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§201H- Housing equity dashboard; establishment; public access. (a) The corporation shall develop and maintain on the corporation's website a housing equity dashboard, in coordination with the office of the governor's housing team; department of business, economic development, and tourism; Hawaii public housing authority; and counties.

(b) The housing equity dashboard shall include at a minimum the following data elements, disaggregated by county, community planning area, and neighborhood, where practicable:

(1) Affordable housing production, including the:

(A) Number of affordable housing units that are planned, under construction, and completed;

(B) Duration of affordability restrictions;

(D) Number of public housing replacement units, if applicable;

(2) Affordable housing units categorized by area median income, including for:

(A) Extremely low-income households at or below thirty per cent of the area median income;

(B) Very low-income households at or below fifty per cent of the area median income; and

(3) Poverty concentration indicators that identify areas with high or increasing concentrations of poverty, which may include:

(A) Percentage of households below two hundred per cent of the federal poverty level;

(B) Percentage of cost-burdened and severely cost-burdened households;

(D) Unemployment or underemployment rates;

(E) School mobility rates; and

(F) Other socioeconomic indicators as determined by the corporation, in consultation with relevant agencies;

(4) Displacement and housing stability indicators, including, to the extent data is available:

(A) Residential eviction filings;

(B) Significant rent increases;

(D) Other indicators relevant to housing instability and displacement risk;

(5) Public infrastructure and service investment, including state and county capital improvement projects related to:

(A) Transportation;

(B) Parks and open space;

(D) Water, sewer, and drainage infrastructure;

(E) Public safety and lighting; and

(F) Infrastructure investments associated with publicly supported housing developments.

(1) Present the data required pursuant to subsection (b) in a manner that is transparent, user-friendly, and suitable for public review, policymaking, and planning purposes; and

(2) Be updated annually.

(d) Data reported pursuant to this section shall be used solely for planning, policy evaluation, and resource alignment purposes. Personally identifiable information shall not be included in the housing equity dashboard.

(e) State and county departments and agencies shall provide relevant data to the corporation for the purposes of implementing the housing equity dashboard pursuant to this section, subject to applicable privacy and confidentiality laws.

(f) The corporation shall submit an annual report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session that summarizes:

(1) Trends in affordable housing production and geographic distribution;

(2) Affordability levels by area median income;

(3) Communities experiencing high or increasing concentrations of poverty;

(4) Displacement and housing stability trends;

(5) Alignment of infrastructure investment with housing development; and

(6) Policy recommendations, including proposed legislation, to promote housing equity statewide.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to discourage affordable housing development in high-need communities.

(h) The corporation may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement the purposes of this section."

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the development and implementation of the housing equity dashboard.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.

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

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2504
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII