STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1252

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.B. No. 1731

H.D. 2

S.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Water, Land, and Agriculture, to which was referred H.B. No. 1731, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the identification and development of public lands suitable for housing and to allocate twenty per cent of housing units developed thereon for purchase by qualified Hawaiians.

The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii (HCDCH), Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), and an individual testified in support of this measure. The Senior Policy Advisor to the Governor and Life of the Land presented comments.

This measure requires HCDCH to consult with the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) to identify and prioritize public lands suitable for housing development and to arrange for the transfer of these lands for development. The Corporation would be required to replace transferred lands with assets of equal value once resolution of the public land trust issue resulted in a transfer of assets by the State to OHA. Additionally, the measure requires HCDCH to set aside twenty per cent of all housing units developed on the public lands for purchase by qualified Hawaiians.

Your Committees find that this measure provides a vehicle to address important issues relating to the use of ceded lands by the State and establishes a foundation for greater cooperation and collaboration between the State and OHA on the use and administration of ceded lands.

Your Committees have amended this measure:

(1) To require HCDCH to consult with OHA, as well as with DLNR, when identifying and prioritizing public lands suitable for housing development;

(2) To clarify that the preference for the purchase of housing units applies to qualified native Hawaiians, rather than qualified Hawaiians, and shall be in effect for a period up to sixty days from the acceptance of the completion of a housing project, not to exceed one hundred twenty days; and

(3) To require HCDCH and OHA to collaboratively determine the number of units that should be allocated for sales to native Hawaiians.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Water, Land, and Agriculture that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1731, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1731, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs and Water, Land, and Agriculture,

____________________________ COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair		____________________________ RON MENOR, Chair
		____________________________ RUSSELL S. KOKUBUN, Chair