THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

3247

THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022

S.D. 2

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, approximately 28,500 native Hawaiian adults were on the department of Hawaiian home lands application waitlist for residential, farming, or ranching homesteads.  The homelessness crisis in Hawaii is already serious, ranking third in the country among states with the most homeless people per ten thousand residents in 2020.  The waitlist backlog only exacerbates this crisis 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 develop more Hawaiian home lands lots.  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 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 rental housing, including apartment units and rent-with-option-to-buy housing units, to satisfy the housing needs of those native Hawaiians currently on the waitlist for homestead leases.

     SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

 

 

Report Title:

DHHL; Housing Waitlist

 

Description:

Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to build rental units, apartments, and rent-with-option-to-buy housing units to address the housing needs of Native Hawaiians on the waitlist for homestead leases.  Effective 7/1/2050.  (SD2)

 

 

 

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