STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1227-18

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2018

RE: S.B. No. 2472

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2472, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish a Home Ownership Housing Revolving Fund to be administered by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation for the purpose of providing loans or grants for the development of affordable home ownership housing projects in accordance with a specified housing project priority list.

NAIOP Hawaii, Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and two individuals supported this measure. The Department of Budget and Finance, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Hawaii Habitat for Humanity Association, Habitat for Humanity Hawai‘i Island, and Hawaiian Community Assets offered comments for this measure.

Your Committee notes that Hawaii Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that provides first-time homeownership opportunities to low-income families, testified that it currently has 46 new homes under construction across the State. Hawaii Habitat for Humanity estimates that additional resources from the Revolving Fund would allow the organization to increase the number of new homes under construction by 20 percent over the next five years.

Your Committee respectfully requests, if this measure advances through the Legislature and becomes law, that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, in accordance with its rule-making procedures under Chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, address the priorities of rental and for-sale projects and possible administrative remedies to address the difficulty faced by low-income applicants in meeting the loan-to-value ratio required by this measure.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that projects or units in projects that are either allocated low-income housing credits or are funded by certain federal programs and agencies will be given priority for loans or grants from the Home Ownership Housing Revolving Fund; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

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. 2472, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2472, 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,

____________________________

TOM BROWER, Chair