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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2060 |
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THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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C.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE RENTAL HOUSING REVOLVING FUND.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
""Mixed-income rental project" means a rental housing development that provides units for households at a range of income levels, primarily for households with an income at or below one hundred forty per cent of the area median income."
SECTION 2. Section 201H-202, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§201H-202 Rental housing revolving fund. (a) There is established the rental housing revolving fund to be administered by the corporation.
(b) An amount from the fund, to be set by the corporation and authorized by the legislature, may be used for administrative expenses incurred by the corporation in administering the corporation's housing finance programs; provided that fund moneys shall not be used to finance day-to-day administrative expenses of projects allotted fund moneys.
(c) The following may be deposited into the fund[:]
or into the mixed-income subaccount established under subsection (f):
(1) Appropriations made by the legislature;
(2) Conveyance taxes pursuant to section 247-7;
(3) Private contributions;
(4) Repayment of loans;
(5) Interest;
(6) Other returns; and
(7) Moneys from other sources.
(d) [Except] Notwithstanding any law to
the contrary, and except as provided in subsection (f), the fund shall be
used to provide [loans] any and all forms of financing, including but
not limited to loans, equity investments, credit enhancement, and collateral
for the development, pre-development, construction, acquisition, preservation,
and substantial rehabilitation of rental housing units. The corporation shall not forgive any loan
made from the fund unless the corporation forecloses on the project. Permitted uses of the fund may include but
are not limited to planning, design, land acquisition, costs of options,
agreements of sale, downpayments, equity financing, capacity building of
nonprofit housing developers, credit enhancement, gap financing, or other
housing development services or activities as provided in rules adopted by the
corporation pursuant to chapter 91. The
rules may provide for a means of recapturing loans or grants made from the fund
if a rental housing project financed under the fund is refinanced or sold at a
later date. The rules may also provide
that moneys from the fund shall be leveraged with other financial resources to
the extent possible.
(e) Except as provided in subsection (f), moneys available in the fund shall be used for the purpose of providing, in whole or in part, loans for rental housing projects demonstrating project readiness, efficiency, and feasibility acceptable to the corporation in the following order of priority:
(1) Projects or units in projects that are allocated low‑income housing credits pursuant to the state housing credit ceiling under section 42(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or projects or units in projects that are funded by programs of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development wherein:
(A) At least fifty per cent of the available units are for persons and families with incomes at or below eighty per cent of the median family income of which at least five per cent of the available units are for persons and families with incomes at or below thirty per cent of the median family income; and
(B) The remaining units are for persons and families with incomes at or below one hundred per cent of the median family income;
provided that the corporation may establish rules to ensure full occupancy of fund projects; provided further that for projects that were awarded low-income housing credits pursuant to this paragraph, priority shall be given to projects with a perpetual affordability commitment. For the purposes of this paragraph, "perpetual" means the useful life of the project; and
(2) Mixed-income rental projects or units
in a mixed‑income rental project primarily for persons and
families with incomes at or below one hundred forty per cent of the median
family income[.], as provided by this section.
(f) There is established within the fund a
mixed-income subaccount. Moneys in the
mixed-income subaccount shall be used for any and all forms of
financing, including but not limited to loans, equity investments, [and]
credit enhancement, and collateral, for mixed-income rentals for
qualified residents as defined in section 201H-32. The corporation shall establish an
application process for the allocation of funds in the mixed‑income
subaccount, separate from the fund allocation process pursuant to section
201H-204(c), that gives preference to projects meeting the following criteria:
(1) A diverse range of affordability, prioritizing persons and families with incomes up to one hundred forty per cent of the median family income;
(2) Projects located on [state or county
owned] state- or county-owned land or developed in partnership with
the State or a county;
(3) Projects that efficiently use state funding;
(4) Mixed-income rental projects or units
in a mixed‑income rental project in an area that satisfy transit‑supportive
density requirements, as defined in section 206E-246; [and]
(5) Rental housing projects that price units at the minimum level to be revenue neutral, as determined by rules adopted by the corporation pursuant to chapter 91;
(6) Projects with a perpetual
affordability commitment;
(7) Projects
proposed by applicants with a demonstrated history of early repayment to the
fund; and
[(5)] (8)
Any other criteria as the corporation deems necessary to carry
out the purposes of this subsection.
If the corporation, after applying the process described in this subsection, finds a nonprofit or government project equally ranked with a for-profit project, the corporation shall give preference to the nonprofit or government project in allotting funds from the mixed-income subaccount.
Moneys
derived from the repayment of loans funded by the mixed-income subaccount,
interest thereon, and related fees and returns shall be deposited into the [fund.]
subaccount.
Any moneys allocated to the mixed-income
subaccount not expended or encumbered for specific purposes within three years
after the date on which the moneys were allocated shall be returned to the
fund.
(g) There is established within the fund a bond volume cap recycling program subaccount. The bond volume cap recycling program subaccount shall be maintained as a reserve for the bond volume cap recycling program established pursuant to section 39B-2(f).
(h) The corporation shall submit an annual report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session describing the projects funded and, with respect to rental housing projects targeted for persons and families with incomes at or below thirty per cent of the median family income, its efforts to develop those rental housing projects, a description of proposals submitted for this target group and action taken on the proposals, and any barriers to developing housing units for this target group.
(i) For the purposes of this subpart, the applicable median family income shall be the median family income for the county or standard metropolitan statistical area in which the project is located as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, as adjusted from time to time.
(j) The corporation may provide loans under this
section; provided that the corporation shall establish loan-to-value ratios to
protect the fund from inordinate risk and that under no circumstances shall the
rules permit the loan-to-value ratio to exceed one hundred per cent; provided
further that the underwriting guidelines include a debt-coverage ratio of [no]
not less than 1.0 to 1.
(k) For the period commencing July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2009, the fund may be used to provide grants for rental units set aside for persons and families with incomes at or below thirty per cent of the median family income in any project financed in whole or in part by the fund in proportion of those units to the total number of units in the project. At the conclusion of the period described in this subsection, the corporation shall report to the legislature on the number and use of grants provided and whether the grants were an effective use of the funds for purposes of developing rental housing for families at or below thirty per cent of the median family income.
(l) Notwithstanding the requirements of section
201H-211, the corporation may use moneys in the fund that have been reserved or
awarded by the corporation for specific projects but have not yet been
encumbered to fund other rental housing projects or for other authorized
purposes of the fund; provided that any use of reserved funds under this
subsection shall be subject to the following:
(1) Any loan or use of funds under this
subsection shall be for a term not to exceed two years;
(2) The corporation shall ensure that
the principal amount of any loan is fully repaid or replenished before the
anticipated financial closing date of the project for which the funds were
originally reserved;
(3) The aggregate amount of loans made
by the corporation under this subsection for any fiscal year shall not exceed
$25,000,000; and
(4) The corporation shall submit a
quarterly report to the legislature detailing the amount of reserved funds
currently deployed for other purposes under this subsection and the schedule
for the return of the reserved funds to the fund.
(m)
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, to ensure the timely
availability of funds for projects with reserved awards, the corporation may,
with the approval of the legislature, secure a line of credit or other
instrument of indebtedness of not more than $25,000,000 to be used to meet the
requirements of subsection (l); provided that the term of the authorized line
of credit or other instrument of indebtedness shall correspond to each fiscal
biennium budget period; provided further that the use of a line of credit or
other instrument of indebtedness shall be strictly limited to managing timing
differences between the deployment of reserved funds under subsection (l) and
the funding obligations of reserved projects."
SECTION 3. Section 201H-204, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
"(a) Activities eligible for assistance from the fund shall include but not be limited to:
(1) New construction, rehabilitation, or preservation of low-income rental housing units or mixed-income housing projects that meet the criteria for eligibility described in subsection (c) or section 201H-202(f);
(2) The leveraging of moneys with the use of fund assets;
(3) Pre-development activity grants or loans to nonprofit organizations; and
(4) Acquisition of housing units for the purpose of preservation as low-income or very low-income housing.
(b) Preference shall be given to projects producing units in at least one of the following categories:
(1) Multifamily units;
(2) Attached single-family units;
(3) Apartments;
(4) Townhouses;
(5) Housing units above commercial or industrial space;
(6) Single room occupancy units;
(7) Accessory apartment units;
(8) Employee housing;
(9) United States Department of Housing and Urban Development mixed finance development of public housing units; and
(10) Other types of units meeting the
criteria for eligibility set forth in subsection (c)[.] or section
201H-202(f)."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that sections 2 and 3 of this Act shall be repealed on June 30, 2030, and sections 201H-202 and 201H-204, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which they read on the day before the effective date of Act 159, Session Laws of Hawaii 2025.
Report Title:
HHFDC; RHRF; Mixed-Income Subaccount
Description:
Authorizes
the Rental Housing Revolving Fund to be used to provide any and all forms of
financing for the development, pre‑development, construction,
acquisition, preservation, and substantial rehabilitation of rental housing
units. Requires
the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to give preference to
certain projects with perpetual affordability commitments, that are revenue
neutral, and to applicants with a demonstrated history of early repayment to
the RHRF. Authorizes HHFDC to use moneys
in the RHRF that have been reserved or awarded by HHFDC for specific projects
but have not yet been encumbered to fund other rental housing projects subject
to certain conditions. Authorizes HHFDC
to secure a line of credit or other instrument of indebtedness to provide
liquidity for the RHRF under certain conditions. Repeals 6/30/2030. (CD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.