STAND. COM. REP. NO. 585

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 416

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 416 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to exempt state-financed housing developments from the requirement to obtain approval from the applicable county council.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; Housing Hawai‘i's Future; Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; and Maui Chamber of Commerce. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Planning and Permitting of the City and County of Honolulu; Lāhainā Strong; LIMBY Hawai‘i; and three individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation and Office of Planning and Sustainable Development.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii's housing regulations are the strictest in the country and the need for streamlining the process to develop affordable housing is at an all-time high. Your Committee further finds that only twenty percent of residents can afford the median home sale price, while over fifty percent of renters are cost-burdened, spending more than thirty percent of their income on housing. State-financed projects undergo rigorous review by the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation and requiring county council approval may create redundancy that results in delays. This measure will remove administrative barriers while preserving essential oversight and ensuring that critical health, safety, and affordability standards are upheld.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that projects that received a financing commitment from the State within the urban land use district are exempt for approval by a county legislative body;

(2) Authorizing a county planning director to reject a permit application within thirty days of receiving the preliminary plans and specifications for reasons related to a lack of infrastructure for a project within a urban land use district that received a financing commitment from the State;

(3) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; 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. 416, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 416, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

LUKE A. EVSLIN, Chair