STAND. COM. REP. NO. 97

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 941

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 941 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE SCHOOL FACILITIES AUTHORITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the School Facilities Authority for the construction of teacher and educator housing.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the School Facilities Authority and Executive Office on Early Learning.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii continues to suffer from a shortage of licensed teachers as Hawaii's teacher salaries continue to trail the nation when adjusted for cost of living. Providing financial incentives and affordable options for teacher housing are key strategies for the recruitment and retention of teachers. Teacher housing is also a well-established solution to teacher recruitment and retention for educators serving in hard-to-fill and rural and remote areas. As housing represents a significant portion of each teacher's paycheck, construction of, at minimum, three sites should be developed to provide affordable housing options to teacher to address the ongoing teacher shortage.

Your Committee notes that the intent of this measure is to provide affordable housing for teacher and educators employed by the Department of Education. However, if there are surplus units left vacant, the School Facilities Authority should be empowered to offer those units to educators regardless of their employer.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language authorizing the School Facilities Authority to partner with public and private development agencies to more expeditiously develop housing at the initial teacher and educator workforce housing sites;

(2) Authorizing the School Facilities Authority to transfer any appropriations made in this measure and delegate implementation of projects to state partners to effectuate the purposes of this measure;

(3) Specifying that the initial teacher and educator workforce housing pilot locations shall be located at Nanakuli High and Intermediate School, Waipahu High School, and Mililani High School;

(4) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 941, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 941, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair