Joint conference committees approve several housing and finance measures, including $10M appropriation and $300M bond authority

Joint House and Senate conference committees met April 23, 2025, in Conference Room 224 and adopted conference drafts on a slate of housing and finance measures after brief procedural discussion and roll-call votes.

The committees approved conference drafts for several measures affecting housing finance and programs. Notable outcomes included a $10,000,000 general‑fund appropriation for public housing rehabilitation (SB 65, CD1), an amendment authorizing the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation (HHFDC) to “utilize revenue bonds” when obtaining a line of credit or other instrument up to $300,000,000 (HB 529, HD1, SD1, CD1), an extension of the Kupuna (elder) rent supplement sunset to June 30, 2028 (HB 703, HD1, SD1, CD1), and amendments affecting public housing reporting and the public housing special fund (SB 576, CD1) and affordable‑homeownership financing for CDFIs (SB 572, CD1).

Why it matters: the actions move multiple conference drafts toward final enactment and allocate or authorize funding mechanisms that state housing agencies use to finance repairs, rehabilitation and lending. The $10 million appropriation in SB 65 is a direct general‑fund appropriation for rehabilitation, while HB 529’s change and the $300 million figure would expand HHFDC’s ability to use revenue…