STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3296

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1718

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1718, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal the sunset date of Act 45, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024, thereby making permanent the authority of the counties to share in facilitating the development, construction, financing, refinancing, or other provision of mixed-use developments, including low- and moderate-income housing projects, and issue county bonds for this purpose.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Department of Housing and Land Management of the City and County of Honolulu, one member of the Maui County Council, Housing Hawaiʻi's Future, AARP Hawaii, and LeadingAge Pacific West.

Your Committees find that financing for mixed-use housing development is critical to the State's housing goals. Prior to Act 45, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024 (Act 45), only the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation was authorized to issue bonds for mixed-use housing developments, leaving counties with a limited role in mixed-use housing development. To facilitate greater county involvement, the Legislature passed Act 45, which authorized counties to issue bonds for mixed-use housing and is currently scheduled to repeal on June 30, 2028. Given the ongoing importance of county involvement in mixed-use housing development, your Committees find it necessary to repeal the sunset date of Act 45, thereby making it permanent to continue efforts to increase the State's housing supply.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Limiting county-supported mixed-use housing developments to transit-oriented developments that include housing along a locally preferred alternative for a mass transit system;

(2) Inserting language clarifying that the county authority shall apply to any mixed-use development project for which the county has obtained county council approval or entered into a binding agreement before July 1, 2033, and that any such mixed-use development project may proceed to completion notwithstanding any subsequent repeal or modifications to county authority to provide mixed-use housing;

(3) Clarifying that county mixed-use development authority shall only apply to bonds originally issued before July 1, 2033;

(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 records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1718, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1718, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair