STAND. COM. REP. NO 440

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 1202

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1202 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the homeownership revolving fund to assist households whose income does not exceed eighty percent of the area median income by paying the debt service on the purchase of a dwelling for the first sixty months.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from four individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation.

     Your Committee finds that there is a growing shortage of housing units in Hawaii resulting in low vacancy rates and rising rents, causing many families to struggle to achieve homeownership.  Therefore, your Committee finds that certain families and individuals seeking homeownership are in need of assistance.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1202, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1202, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services and Housing,

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair