STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 590-18
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2018
RE: H.B. No. 2473
H.D. 1
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Ninth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2018
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Housing and Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2473 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS,"
beg leave to report as follows:
(1) Authorizing
the construction and use of micro housing units on Hawaiian home lands managed
by DHHL;
(2) Authorizing
the use of the Hawaiian Home Loan Fund and Hawaiian Home General Loan Fund for
assistance in purchasing or renting micro housing units for use on Hawaiian
home lands managed by DHHL and leased to native Hawaiian beneficiaries; and
(3) Appropriating
funds to the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to:
(A) Construct
micro housing units, subject to certain conditions; and
The Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Hawaiian Community Assets, Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu, Young Progressives Demanding Action-Hawaii, Life of the Land, Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Ho‘omanopono Political Action Committee, and numerous concerned individuals testified in support of this measure. The Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies testified in opposition to this measure. The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, DHHL, Department of the Attorney General, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs provided comments.
Your Committees note the concerns raised by the Attorney General
that under the Equal Protection clauses of Article 1, Section 5 of the
Constitution of the State of Hawaii and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United
States Constitution, the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation may
not restrict its programs to members of a particular race. Furthermore, your Committees note that under
Hawai‘i law, the
Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation may not engage in racial
discrimination through its affordable housing programs, including the financing
of housing unit construction. As such,
appropriating funds to the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to construct micro housing units for a
program available only to a particular race and to build the general
organizational capacity of native Hawaiian-controlled nonprofit housing
developers may
run afoul of these constitutional and statutory concerns. Your Committees find that this measure must
be amended to address these concerns.
Accordingly, your
Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Deleting language authorizing the use of the
Hawaiian Home Loan Fund and Hawaiian Home General Loan Fund for assistance in
purchasing or renting micro housing units for use on Hawaiian home lands
managed by DHHL and leased to native Hawaiian beneficiaries;
(2) Appropriating the funds to construct micro housing units and
build the general organizational capacity of native Hawaiian-controlled
nonprofit housing developers to DHHL as they may lawfully restrict the use of
its funds to native Hawaiians and native Hawaiian-controlled entities;
(3) Changing its effective date to January 1,
2050, to facilitate further discussion; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2473, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2473, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs,
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____________________________ KANIELA ING, Chair |
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____________________________ TOM BROWER, Chair |
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