STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1499

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: S.B. No. 866

S.D. 2

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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 866, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to temporarily exempt affordable housing projects by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation from certain state and county fees and exactions related to discretionary approval or ministerial permitting when the housing units are exclusively for certain qualified residents.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; Stanford Carr Development, LLC; Hunt Development Group, LLC; The Michaels Organization; Building Industry Association of Hawaii; NAIOP Hawaii; and Hawaii Habitat for Humanity Association. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Board of Water Supply of the City and County of Honolulu. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii.

Your Committee finds that the affordable housing crisis has been exacerbated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has decimated Hawaii's economy. According to recent data from the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, more than eleven thousand Hawaii tenants have fallen behind on their rent payments and forty percent of rental tenants have lost their jobs. Even as the State's economy slowly recovers, up to seventeen thousand households may face an unsustainable change in their housing cost burden by the second quarter of 2021. This measure will provide fiscal incentives to allow affordable housing projects to be more financially feasible, thereby promoting the development of affordable housing in the State.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the exemption to:

(A) Apply to affordable housing projects, instead of affordable housing units in projects; and

(B) Specify that dwelling units developed as part of the project be exclusively made available to owner- or renter-occupants, instead of owner-occupants or renters; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 866, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 866, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

MARK M. NAKASHIMA, Chair