STAND. COM. REP. NO.  619

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   H.B. No. 1188

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Housing and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources, to which was referred H.B. No. 1188 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to increase the number of eligible households for which the counties may provide flexibility in land use density provisions and public facility requirements, and to which the Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) may lease land for $1 per year per parcel to nonprofit organizations that provide affordable housing, by lowering threshold income limits from 140 percent to 80 percent of area median incomes.

     The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Habitat for Humanity, and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  HHFDC, Housing Hawaii, and a concerned individual provided comments.

     Upon further consideration, your Committees have amended this bill by changing the threshold income limit from 80 percent to 100 percent. A technical, nonsubstantive amendment has also been made for clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1188, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1188, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,

____________________________ KEN ITO, Chair

____________________________ RIDA CABANILLA, Chair