HB2122

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that approximately ten per cent of the State's teachers switch schools, relocate, or leave the profession each year. Only fifty to sixty per cent of current teachers have been at their school for five years or more. Chronic teacher turnover forces the department of education to rely on emergency hires and substitute teachers to fill vacancies. The legislature further finds that teacher recruitment and retention are especially difficult at hard-to-staff schools.

The legislature additionally finds that Hawaii's high cost of living is a significant contributing factor in the department of education's teacher recruitment and retention efforts. According to a WalletHub study, Hawaii ranked fifty-first out of fifty states and the District of Columbia for starting teacher salary and median teacher salary, adjusted for cost of living.

The purpose of this Act is to alleviate the financial burden on teachers and improve teacher recruitment and retention by establishing a teacher housing assistance program to provide housing vouchers to qualified full-time teachers who are employed by the department of education or a charter school and teach at a hard to staff school, as determined by the department, including public charter schools.

SECTION 2. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to subpart E, part III to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§302A- Teacher housing assistance program. (a) There is established a teacher housing assistance program to be administered by the department to provide housing vouchers to eligible teachers. If the number of applications exceeds the number of available housing vouchers, housing vouchers shall be provided to eligible teachers through a lottery process.

(b) A housing voucher provided under this section shall be used for:

(1) Rent for the eligible teacher's primary residence;

(2) Mortgage payments for the eligible teacher's primary residence; or

(3) Down payment on residential real property; provided that the property shall be the eligible teacher's primary residence.

(c) A housing voucher shall not exceed $700 per month or the eligible teacher's monthly rent or mortgage payment, whichever is less. A housing voucher granted pursuant to this section shall be applicable for one year. The voucher shall be renewable for one additional year.

(d) Upon the establishment of the teacher housing assistance program, the department shall develop an application procedure and processes, procedures, and forms necessary to implement and maintain the program. The department shall work with the state public charter school commission to develop a process to verify that an eligible charter school teacher satisfies the criteria listed in subsection (j).

(e) Applications for housing vouchers shall be made to the department and contain the information required by rules adopted by the department. At a minimum, the applicant shall:

(1) Be an eligible teacher;

(2) Agree to use state funds exclusively for the purposes of this section;

(3) Indicate capability to properly use the voucher for the purposes of this section;

(4) Comply with other requirements as the department may require;

(5) Comply with all applicable federal, state, and county laws, rules, and ordinances;

(6) Agree to indemnify and save harmless the State and its officers, agents, and employees from and against any and all claims arising out of or resulting from the use of vouchers pursuant to this section, and procure sufficient insurance to provide this indemnification if requested to do so by the department; and

(7) Agree to make available to the department all records the applicant may have relating to the voucher, to allow state agencies to monitor the applicant's compliance with this section.

(f) If a voucher recipient fails to satisfy the work requirements in accordance with subsection (j)(4), the recipient shall repay the total amount of voucher funds received as a loan repayable to the department. The repayment shall be subject to the terms and conditions set by the department, including circumstances under which recipients may be eligible for deferment or forgiveness due to hardship or inability to secure employment and potential fees relating to the collection of delinquent repayment.

(g) Voucher funds repaid by the voucher recipient pursuant to subsection (f) shall be deposited into the teachers' housing revolving fund established pursuant to section 302A-833.

(h) In accordance with chapter 103D, the department may enter into written contracts with collection agencies to collect delinquent repayment of vouchers owed to the department pursuant to subsection (f). A collection agency that enters into a written contract with the department to collect delinquent voucher repayments pursuant to this section may collect a fee from the debtor in accordance with the terms of, and up to the amounts authorized in, the written contract.

(i) The department may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to effectuate the purpose of this section.

(j) For the purposes of this section, "eligible teacher" means a person who:

(1) Is a full-time teacher;

(2) Has taught at a public school or public charter school in the State for at least one year before the application date;

(3) Is employed by the department or a public charter school;

(4) Commits to teach at a hard-to-staff school, as determined by the department, or a public charter school for no less than five consecutive years;

(5) Resides in the State;

(6) Does not own, operate, rent, or control any residential real property in addition to the eligible teacher's primary residence for which the housing voucher is sought; and

(7) Has a household income below eighty per cent of the area median income."

SECTION 3. Section 302A-833, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The revolving fund may be used by the department of education for any and all of the purposes of teachers' housing, including the [~~planning,~~]:

(1) Planning, construction, maintenance, and operation of teachers' housing[~~, as well as for the salaries~~];

(2) Teacher housing assistance program pursuant to section 302A- ; and

(3) Salaries of the necessary personnel in charge thereof."

SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the teachers' housing revolving fund the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the provision of housing vouchers through the teacher housing assistance program established by this Act.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	2122
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII