Hawaii-2024-SR44-Amended

WHEREAS, Hawaii has had an affordable housing shortage for decades, being one of the most expensive states in the nation regarding housing, with median housing costs almost three times higher than the national average; and

WHEREAS, a 2015 report by the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism titled "Measuring Housing Demand in Hawaii, 2015—2025" projected that housing demand will exceed sixty thousand units, with nearly seventy percent needed for households earning eighty percent or less of the Area Median Income; and

WHEREAS, while there have been various legislative efforts made regarding the housing shortage including Act 127, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016, which established the Special Action Team on Affordable Rental Housing to catalog and prioritize publicly owned parcels based on their access to infrastructure, the housing shortage has only worsened since the conclusion of the Special Action Team's investigation; and

WHEREAS, the Affordable Rental Housing Report and Ten-Year Plan, published in 2018 by the Special Action Team on Affordable Rental Housing, identified parcels of land within each county suitable for much needed affordable housing development; and

WHEREAS, statewide, unless the planning, funding, and delivery of affordable rental housing becomes an overarching priority for the Legislature, Governor, mayors, housing agencies, developers, and public and private funding sources, seventy percent of Hawaii's families will soon be excluded from affordable, safe, and sanitary housing; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that the Hawaii Community Development Authority is urged to establish a multiagency working group to update the maps, tier tables, and inventories of state lands suitable and available for affordable housing development; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to:

(1) Update the maps, tier tables, and inventories of state lands suitable and available for affordable housing development in the Affordable Rental Housing Report and Ten-Year Plan that was generated pursuant to Act 127, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016;

(2) Focus on existing urban lands to minimize the need for major regional infrastructure improvements;

(3) Examine mixed-use development opportunities to redevelop underutilized existing state-owned lands with one government tenant or use; and

(4) Identify lands to accommodate one hundred thousand new housing units and designate these as important housing lands; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group's membership is requested to consist of the following members or their designees:

(1) The Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, who is requested to serve as the chairperson;

(2) The Comptroller of the Department of Accounting and General Services;

(3) The Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation;

(4) The Executive Director of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority;

(5) The Executive Director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority;

(6) The Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources;

(7) The Executive Officer of the Land Use Commission; and

(8) A representative from each county, appointed by the mayor of the respective county, who is qualified to assess infrastructure availability for each parcel suitable for potential affordable housing development; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group may recommend additional members with appropriate special expertise to the working group, including representatives from organizations with experience in development or redevelopment for approval by the chairperson; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Community Development Authority is requested to provide administrative and clerical support to the working group; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2025; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Office of Planning and Sustainable Development, Comptroller of the Department of Accounting and General Services, Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Executive Director of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Executive Director of the Hawaii Community Development Authority, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Executive Officer of the Land Use Commission, and mayors of each county.

Report Title:

Hawaii Community Development Authority ; Affordable Housing Development; Working Group; State Lands; Report

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	44
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII