STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1196-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2016

RE:   S.B. No. 2561

      S.D. 2

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2561, S.D. 2, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a rental housing strategy for the State.  Specifically, this measure:

     (1)  Establishes a goal of developing or committing to the development of at least 22,500 affordable rental housing units for occupancy by the end of 2026;

     (2)  Establishes a temporary special action team on affordable rental housing, within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor for administrative purposes, to make recommendations to achieve the affordable rental housing goal; and

     (3)  Appropriates funds for the special action team on affordable rental housing.

The FACE Housing Task Force, Housing Now Coalition, Catholic Charities Hawaii, Building Industry Association of Hawaii, Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, and a concerned individual supported this measure.  The Office of Planning, Hawaii Public Housing Authority, and Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation supported the intent of this measure.  The Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness provided comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Placing the special action team within the Office of Planning, rather than in the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, for administrative purposes;

     (2)  Changing the composition of the special action team to include:

          (A)  The Director of the Office of Planning, who shall serve as the chair;

          (B)  The Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation;

          (C)  A member of the House of Representatives, to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

          (D)  A member of the Senate, to be appointed by the President of the Senate;

          (E)  A representative from each county, to be appointed by the mayor of the respective county; and

          (F)  A member of the public, such as from an advocacy group, to be appointed by the Governor;

     (3)  Requiring the special action team to develop a ten-year plan that identifies state, county, and private parcels of land that are suitable for affordable housing units, and in so doing, consider the following:

          (A)  The estimated number of affordable housing units the parcel of land can sustain;

          (B)  What infrastructure challenges there are in developing affordable housing units on the parcel of land; and

          (C)  The estimated cost to develop affordable housing units and address the infrastructure challenges on the parcel of land;

     (4)  Requiring the special action team to regularly hold public meetings without regard to chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     (5)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2561, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2561, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

MARK J. HASHEM, Chair