STAND. COM. REP. NO. 485

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: H.B. No. 525

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 525, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the Department of Education to construct teacher housing for teachers on public school campuses; provided that any housing units constructed or acquired after June 30, 2021, be rented at no cost or low cost to new public school teachers employed full-time at the school where the teacher housing unit is located.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Hawai‘i Association of REALTORS, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from EAH and ‘Ahahui Siwila ‘o Ke Aloha ‘Āina.

Your Committee finds that some of the factors that have led to the teacher shortage in Hawaii include the high cost of living, teacher salaries, and access to affordable housing. Your Committee also finds that the provision of affordable housing to teachers in Hawaii is a critical component in the recruitment and retention of teachers in Hawaii's public schools. This measure provides a means of addressing the shortage of teachers in the State through an affordable rental housing incentive intended to attract and retain public school teachers.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the teacher housing rent requirements to:

(A) Include public school teachers who teach in a rural or hard-to-staff location; and

(B) Specify that teacher housing rents be at an affordable cost, rather than at no cost or low cost;

(2) Making it a priority, rather than a requirement, for providing teacher housing to public school teachers;

(3) Removing a reference to a teacher's immediate family residing in the housing unit; and

(4) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 525, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 525, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

NADINE K. NAKAMURA, Chair