STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1694

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1311

H.D. 2

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary, to which was referred H.B. No. 1311, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to repeal the deadline for the completion of the Leialii affordable housing project.

More specifically, this measure:

(1) Amends Act 98, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, to repeal the 2022 deadline for the completion of the Leialii affordable housing project and the April 30, 2020, deadline for the project to obtain necessary land use entitlements; and

(2) Clarifies that the developer of the Keawe Street apartments housing project is responsible for all costs associated with the archaeological inventory survey for the footprint of the housing project, but not responsible for the cost of the archaeological inventory survey for the entire Villages of Leialii master planned community.

Your Committees received written comments in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Maui County Mayor's Office, a member of the Maui County Council, and Neighborhood Place of Puna.

Your Committees find that Act 98, Session Laws of Hawaii 2019, requires that the Leialii affordable housing project be completed by 2022. However, your Committees also find that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation was recently made aware that a new archaeological inventory survey is required for the entire Villages of the Leialii Master Planned Community, thus delaying the completion of the Leialii affordable housing project beyond 2022. Accordingly, your Committees believe that this measure is necessary to ensure the eventual completion of the Leialii affordable housing project.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting a reference in the purpose section to a provision that would specifically allow the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to address Chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, relating to historic preservation, to reflect that this substantive provision was deleted from the measure by a prior committee;

(2) Changing the appropriation from $37,000,000 to an unspecified amount to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1311, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1311, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Ways and Means and Judiciary,

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair