STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1192-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 1844

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 1844, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE LAND USE COMMISSION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Land Use Commission, at the request of a county, to reclassify lands that are designated for urban growth under a county general plan or county development plan, except for Important Agricultural Lands, as being in the urban district.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; Avalon Development; Housing Hawaiʻi's Future; NAIOP Hawaii; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one member of the Maui County Council; Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi; Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition; Climate Protectors Hawaii; Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi; Kupuna for the Moʻopuna; Shimanchu Mamuyaa; Hawaiʻi Alliance for Progressive Action; Kauai Climate Action Coalition; Green Party of Hawaiʻi; Hanalei Watershed Hui; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General; Land Use Commission; and Hawaiʻi Farm Bureau.

Your Committee finds that affordable housing development faces long delays and increasing costs because of the dual framework created by the separate systems of land use regulations by the State and counties. Your Committee finds that this measure will accelerate the development of housing infrastructure by providing a means to align lands designated for urban growth by the counties with the urban district classification designated by the Land Use Commission.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that a request for a boundary amendment shall be processed in a manner that includes procedural due process and public participation;

(2) Explicitly exempting lands designated as important agricultural lands from the reclassification of lands that are designated for urban growth under a county general plan or county development plan; and

(3) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1844, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1844, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair