THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3247
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that in 2019, about 28,500 native Hawaiian adults were on the waitlist for residential, farming, or ranching homesteads. The homeless crisis in Hawaii is already poor, ranking third in the country for the state with the most homeless people per 10,000 residents in 2020. The waitlist backlog only exacerbates this statistic that already disproportionately affects native Hawaiians.

The legislature finds that even at the end of 2021, the number of native Hawaiians on the waitlist has not significantly decreased despite plans to build more lots on Hawaiian homelands. To date, more than two thousand native Hawaiian beneficiaries have died while on the waitlist. Furthermore, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, those waiting who are not homeless are struggling to pay rent to the point where a federal government stimulus package offered relief specifically for those native Hawaiians on the waitlist. The department of Hawaiian home lands must ameliorate this situation.

The purpose of this Act is to require the department of Hawaiian home lands to address the housing requirements of those on the waitlist who have been waiting for promised housing.

SECTION 2. The department of Hawaiian home lands shall build sufficient apartment units to satisfy the housing needs of those native Hawaiians currently on the waitlist.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Apartments; Housing Waitlist

Description:

Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to build apartments to address the housing needs of native Hawaiians on the waitlist.

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