STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1099

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 114

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 114 entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers in the State.

Specifically, this measure establishes a teacher home assistance program to provide housing vouchers to full-time teachers employed by the Department of Education who teach at a hard-to-fill school and whose household income does not exceed eighty percent of the area median income.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Democratic Party of Hawaii Education Caucus, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, and one individual.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation.

Your Committee finds that housing subsidy vouchers have the potential to increase the number of teachers retained by the Department of Education, especially in hard-to-fill geographic areas, by assisting with teachers' financial burdens and encouraging qualified teachers to remain in Hawaii.

Your Committee notes that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation has requested 22.5 full-time equivalent positions, at a cost of $1,004,464.13, to administer the program proposed in this measure. However, because the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, which already administers a housing voucher program, has offered its assistance to the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, the full 22.5 positions may not be necessary.

In addition, your Committee notes that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation based its staffing estimate on the number of vouchers currently administered by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority rather than the number of vouchers that would be administered under a teacher home assistance program. Consequently, the cost to administer the program may be lower than the figure estimated by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Providing that a person requesting renewal of a housing voucher for an additional year shall submit proof of continued employment as a teacher;

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

(3) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity 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. 114, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 114, S.D. 1.

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

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair