STAND. COM. REP. NO. 470

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 152

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 152 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to utilize funds in the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund as collateral when the Department is an eligible borrower of a loan guaranteed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to the Housing and Community Development Act, as amended, subject to approval of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; and

(2) Appropriate funds.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Hoomana Pono, LLC; and two individuals.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committees find that the federal Native Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee Program provides access to sources of private financing on Hawaiian home lands. As an eligible borrower under the program, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands utilizes the funds to develop rental housing or single-family residences. However, a loan guaranteed under the Native Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee Program requires collateral authorized under, and not prohibited by, federal or state law, and determined by the lender and approved by the United States Housing and Urban Development as sufficient to cover the amount of the loan. As the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act limits what can be utilized as collateral to secure loans, alternative sources of funding are needed to fulfill the requirements of the Native Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee Program. Therefore, this measure provides an alternative source of funding that allows the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to fulfill its constitutional mandate.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 152, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 152, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Hawaiian Affairs,

________________________________ HERBERT RICHARDS, Chair

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair