STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2192

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2544

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2544 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a five-year Hawaii Builds Pilot Program within the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation;

(2) Authorize the Corporation to deploy moneys from the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund for predevelopment activities or as active construction equity;

(3) Require fifty percent of housing units under pilot program projects to be made available for households having incomes between sixty and one hundred forty percent of the area median income;

(4) Mandate interagency coordination and expedited review for projects to facilitate timely delivery of projects;

(5) Require annual reports to the Legislature; and

(6) Appropriate funds for the Hawaii Builds Pilot Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; State Council on Developmental Disabilities; Hawaiʻi Association of REALTORS; Maui Chamber of Commerce; Centre Urban Real Estate Hawaii, LLC; and one individual.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the State Procurement Office.

Your Committee finds that the BC Builds Program, a successful housing program implemented in British Columbia, has experienced remarkable success in delivering housing units to renters at a wide range of income levels. The program relies on its "rocket fuel" strategy, which is a novel approach to project implementation that shortens traditional timelines of thirty-six to sixty months to only twelve to eighteen months. These drastically reduced timelines are possible because of the BC Builds Program's streamlined development processes and collaborative approach to working with landowners, municipalities, and residential developers.

Your Committee further finds that this measure establishes a Hawaii Builds Pilot Program that is modeled on the BC Builds Program. Under the Hawaii Builds Pilot Program, the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation would be authorized to use moneys from the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund for certain development activities. Additionally, the pilot program would require interagency coordination and expedited project review to ensure rapid project development and timely delivery of housing statewide.

Your Committee notes the testimony of the State Procurement Office, which expresses concern that the Hawaii Builds Pilot Program lacks justification for an exemption to the Public Procurement Code established by Chapter 103D, Hawaii Revised Statutes. However, your Committee also notes that the Governor's Seventeenth Proclamation Relating To Affordable Housing already exempts housing agencies from the Public Procurement Code. Consequently, the Hawaii Builds Pilot Program would codify existing exemptions to the Public Procurement Code instead of establishing new exemptions.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the requirement that fifty percent of housing units under pilot program projects be made available for households having incomes between sixty and one hundred forty percent of the area median income to instead require that a majority of units made available under the pilot program comply with requirements established by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation under section 201H-38, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(2) Clarifying that authorized uses of Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund moneys include but are not limited to construction financing or equity investment and shall be structured to ensure a reasonable return to the Fund;

(3) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose and inserting additional findings on the structure and successes of the BC Builds program on which this measure is modeled;

(4) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2544, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2544, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

________________________________

STANLEY CHANG, Chair