Senate Housing Committee advances suite of housing bills, approves transit‑oriented partnership in joint session

Senate Committee on Housing Chair Senator Stanley Chang presided over a Feb. 4, 2025 hearing and decision session that advanced a package of housing bills aimed at expanding affordable‑housing tools, protecting long‑term affordability and streamlining review for transit‑oriented projects. In a separate earlier joint session with transportation and Hawaiian affairs committees the Legislature advanced Senate Bill 1669 to create a transit‑oriented community improvement partnership and an improvement involving fund housed at DOT.

Why it matters: the bills would create new financing tools for community land trusts and revolving funds, a regulatory sandbox for workforce housing, changes to the low‑income housing tax credit transfer rules, and expedited historic‑preservation review for some transit‑oriented development (TOD). Committee members cited looming expirations of affordable‑housing use restrictions and the need to speed permitting and preserve affordability for local residents.

The committee passed a number of measures with amendments. Key decisions included:

- Community land trust pilot (SB 1169). The committee voted to pass with amendments adopting HHFDC’s definition limiting qualifying households and to authorize a five‑year community land trust equity pilot providing lines of credit for acquisition, rehabilitation or construction; funds were to be appropriated from DERF. Chair Chang announced the recommendation and the committee recorded aye votes from him, Vice Chair Hashimoto, Senator Kanuha and Senator Fevella; Senator Aquino was excused.

- Workforce housing regulatory sandbox (SB 1200). The committee voted to pass with amendments that add one full‑time position to administer the program, require county and specified agency representation on an advisory council, limit the corporation’s ability to modify projects to changes “necessary to address minimum health and safety standards,” and impose processing timelines (applications accepted within 30 days and processed within 120 days). The committee report will note HHFDC’s limited authority over county permitting and the existing HRS 201H‑38 program.

- Rent‑to‑build‑equity concept converted to study (SB 612). Because of concerns about implementation and the large number of expiring affordability restrictions, the chair recommended converting the bill to a study to explore rent‑to‑build‑equity for state‑financed housing, potential conveyance or other taxes when affordability periods expire, and tenant assistance requirements. The committee passed that recommendation with amendments.

- Low‑income housing tax credit transfer rules (SB 944). The committee approved amendments requested by the Department of Taxation requiring transferees to have received the credits before claiming them on returns, to notify DOTAX at least 30 days before claiming, and delaying effective dates to taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2025.

- Historic‑preservation review for TOD (SB 1263). The committee voted to pass with substantial technical and substantive amendments. Notable changes: (1) a 90‑calendar‑day limit for SHPD to concur or not concur on a complete submittal (30 days when no historic properties are expected); (2) a process mirroring the notification and mitigation approach under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act when previously unidentified historic resources are found; (3) clarified programmatic agreements that identify project scope, phases, timelines and mitigation; (4) a deemed‑concurrence pathway (and a longer deemed‑approved duration of 180 days) if SHPD does not act within the specified timelines; (5) expansion of “residential” to include mixed‑use projects where residential is the majority; and (6) application of the timelines to HCDA community development districts and state or county housing developments. The committee report will also note SHPD staffing needs, as described in testimony.

- Taxation and housing‑market measures (SB 1033 / deferral of SB 1131). The committee favored vehicle SB 1033 (excise tax on excess single‑family residences) and applied DOTAX amendments shifting effective dates and noting implementation concerns; a companion measure (SB 1131) was deferred in favor of SB 1033.

- Other actions. The committee passed or advanced several additional bills (HPHA property disposition and powers, emergency home‑loan revolving fund, clarifications to HRS 201H approvals) either with technical amendments or as unamended recommendations. The committee noted developer, agency and nonprofit testimony across hearings emphasizing both speed and protection of cultural and public‑resource concerns.

Discussion highlights and testimony

Witnesses and agency representatives who testified included David Oye, housing finance manager at the Hawaii Housing Finance & Development Corporation (HHFDC); Jessica Poff, administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD, DLNR); Tom Yamachika of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii; Tommy Levin of Sugar Creek Capital; Carrie DeMott, interim executive director of Nihalia Maui; and developer Peter Savio, who urged structural changes to preserve long‑term local affordability.

Peter Savio, an affordable‑housing developer, told the panel: “Our only hope is this type of bill will pass and we will structure a market where we can put in the controls that are needed for local buyers to buy and affordable housing will stay affordable forever.” HHFDC’s David Oye told the committee HHFDC is still checking on counts of HRS 201H‑36/‑38 projects by tenure but said “the vast majority” of exemption projects in recent years were rentals. SHPD administrator Jessica Poff described the department’s preferred notification and mitigation approach when previously unidentified historic properties are discovered during project implementation and said the bill would reduce ambiguity across different preservation review processes.

Votes at a glance

(Committee recorded votes and outcomes during the Feb. 4, 2025 decision session; where the transcript listed individual roll calls those names and votes are shown; where only the chair’s vote was read the record states that others voted aye or were excused.)

- SB 1669 — Transit‑Oriented Community Improvement Partnership (joint committees: Transportation, Culture & Arts, Housing). Motion: pass with amendments (chair’s recommendation). Outcome: adopted. Recorded: Chair (joint session) recommendation adopted; committee amendments adopted (removal of HCDA reference, changes to board composition, added administrative assistant, technical fixes). (Transcript topic intro: hearing opening; topic finish: joint committee vote sequence.)

- SB 1169 — Community Land Trust Equity Pilot. Motion: pass with amendments (HHFDC amendment to define qualifying income at or below 40% AMI). Outcome: passed with amendments. Vote record (explicit in transcript): Senator Stanley Chang (chair) — aye; Vice Chair Hashimoto — aye; Senator Kanuha — aye; Senator Fevella — aye; Senator Aquino — excused.

- SB 1200 — Workforce Housing Regulatory Sandbox. Motion: pass with amendments (add admin position; county/agency representatives on advisory council; processing timelines; limit modifications to address health/safety). Outcome: passed with amendments. Vote: chair aye; committee adopted recommendation (others recorded as voting aye).

- SB 511 — Clarify county vs. HHFDC approval for certain exemption projects. Motion: pass with amendments. Outcome: passed with amendments. Vote: chair aye; recommendation adopted.

- SB 1283 — Emergency Home Loan Assistance Revolving Fund. Motion: pass unamended. Outcome: passed unamended. Vote: chair aye; recommendation adopted.

- SB 612 — Rent to Build Equity (state‑financed housing). Motion: convert to a study and pass with amendments (explore conveyance taxes, tenant assistance, implementation). Outcome: passed as amended for study. Vote: chair aye; recommendation adopted.

- SB 944 — LIHTC transferability and sunset extension. Motion: pass with DOTAX technical amendments (notification timing, effective date). Outcome: passed with amendments. Vote: chair aye; recommendation adopted.

- SB 1413 / SB 1412 — HPHA property disposition and powers. Motion: pass with non‑substantive technical amendments. Outcome: both bills passed with amendments. Vote: chair aye; recommendations adopted.

- SB 1632 — Comprehensive action plan for a local housing market. Motion: pass with amendments (place plan under YIMBY working group). Outcome: passed with amendments. Vote: chair aye; recommendation adopted.

- SB 1033 — Excise tax on excess single‑family residences (vehicle chosen over SB 1131). Motion: pass with DOTAX amendments (effective date shift, technical fixes). Outcome: passed with amendments; SB 1131 deferred. Vote: chair aye; recommendation adopted.

- SB 1263 — Historic‑preservation review for TOD (expedited review). Motion: pass with extensive amendments (90‑day/30‑day timelines, Section 106 notification/mitigation process, programmatic agreement requirements, phased/programmatic review, staffing needs noted). Outcome: passed with amendments. Vote: chair aye; recommendation adopted.

Implementation notes and next steps

The committee frequently adopted amendments suggested by agencies (HHFDC, DOTAX, DLNR/SHPD) and noted that some provisions require further legal review (for example, HHFDC asked the attorney general about preemption questions). Several measures defer to or incorporate existing statutes (HRS chapter references) and the committee report will document agency concerns (DOTAX implementation challenges, SHPD staffing needs). Where bills were converted to studies the committee directed staff to return findings to the Legislature.

Ending: The committee adjourned after finishing its agenda and noted a deferred decision session would reconvene at a subsequent joint meeting with the Hawaiian Affairs Committee in Room 224.