STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2767

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2594

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2594, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require, beginning January 1, 2019, that construction or renovation of publicly funded residential housing projects, including housing projects developed or financed under the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, incorporate specific housing visitability standards.

The measure also allows, but does not require, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to incorporate the housing visitability standards in residential housing projects that it develops or finances.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority; League of Women Voters of Hawaii; and OCC Legislative Priorities Committee, Democratic Party of Hawaii.

The Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation submitted written comments on the measure.

Your Committee finds that the incorporation of housing visitability standards into construction or renovation of publicly funded residential housing is an important means of providing accessibility and safety for individuals with disabilities when those individuals visit or use residential space, and as such, should be consistently required for housing projects developed or financed under the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, as well as under the Hawaii Public Housing Authority.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring, rather than authorizing, that all construction or renovation of housing projects intended for residential use developed or financed under the Hawaii Public Housing Authority comply with the visitability standards established by this measure, while retaining the qualifying language that limits the extent to which the Hawaii Public Housing Authority must comply with the visitability construction mandate;

(2) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(3) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2594, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2594, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair