STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1354

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: S.B. No. 31

S.D. 2

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 S.B. No. 31, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PROPERTY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize a person who discovers a recorded discriminatory restrictive covenant on real property to take certain actions, without liability, to invalidate the covenant.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Uniform Law Commission.

Your Committee finds that discriminatory restrictive covenants, which limit housing opportunities based on race, sex, sexual orientation, and other protected characteristics, perpetuate inequality and hinder fair access to housing. This measure seeks to rectify past injustices by invalidating these covenants, providing a clear process for their identification, and ensuring that real property records reflect the values of justice and equal protection under the law.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; 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 Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 31, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 31, S.D. 2, 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