STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 760
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: H.B. No. 826
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. 826 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"
begs leave to report as follows:
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; Land Use Commission; one member of the Hawai‘i County Council; one member of the Maui County Council; one member of the Kauaʻi County Council; Grassroot Institute of Hawaii; and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from LIMBY Hawaiʻi and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development and Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi.
Your Committee finds that Hawaii faces a severe housing shortage, particularly in long-term rentals and workforce fee simple housing. Existing land use and development processes present significant barriers, contributing to delays in much-needed housing projects. This measure allows county planning commissions to approve affordable housing projects on lands already designated for residential use, which will eliminate unnecessary state-level hurdles while maintaining environmental protections and local control over land use decisions.
Your Committee notes its intent to have the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation define "affordable", "long-term rental", and "agricultural workforce housing" through their rulemaking authority, rather than statutorily defining those terms.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Expanding the land uses that may be permitted by a county planning commission under this measure to include agricultural workforce housing;
(2) Clarifying that project areas needed to have been identified in a county's comprehensive general plan adopted no earlier than 2005, rather than within twenty years of the application filing;
(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. 826, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 826, 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,
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____________________________ LUKE A. EVSLIN, Chair |
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