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Senate housing committee passes Kamaʻāina Homes bill with amendments aimed at preserving local ownership
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Summary
The Committee on Housing advanced HB 17-32 HD2 (Kamaʻāina Homes) with amendments changing funding source, tightening buyer requirements, capping pilot funding and requiring annual reporting; supporters urged preservation of homes for locals while opponents warned the bill lacks safeguards to prevent benefits accruing to higher-income buyers.
The Senate Committee on Housing passed HB 17-32 HD2, the Kamaʻāina Homes program bill, on March 24 after adopting a slate of amendments intended to focus state support on preserving deed-restricted residences for long-term local residents.
Chair Chang told the committee the bill would establish a program within the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to provide funds to counties to purchase voluntary deed restrictions from eligible homebuyers, with a sunset date of June 30, 2032. "This bill establishes the Kamaʻāina Homes program within the HHFDC to provide funding to the counties to purchase voluntary deed restrictions from eligible homebuyers," the chair said in her introduction.
Supporters from counties, nonprofit groups and business organizations told the committee the program could help keep homes in local hands while the state continues to build new housing. Adam Reversi, director of the Kauai County Housing Agency, said his agency filed written testimony and proposed specific amendments. Audrey Suga Nakara of AARP Hawaii said the bill is an "innovative initiative" to address the state's housing shortage and urged support to help kupuna and working families.
Opponents told the committee the bill lacks adequate safeguards. A Limby Hawaii representative testified the measure "lacks adequate safeguards to achieve that" and argued the bill follows the Vail model too closely and could benefit higher-income buyers rather than those most in need.
After testimony, Chair Chang outlined and the committee adopted multiple amendments: shifting the funding source from the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund (DIRF) to the Rental Housing Revolving Fund; changing the county match to three county dollars for every one state dollar; setting a maximum allocation of $2,000,000 and making the program a pilot limited to one county; requiring annual reporting to the Legislature; accepting Kauai County’s proposed expansion of approved trigger events to include acquiring deed restrictions on already-occupied homes; and applying initial homebuyer eligibility requirements to subsequent buyers (including U.S. citizenship or resident-alien status, state domicile of at least 18 years, annual reporting and restrictions against owning other deed-restricted property under the program).
Chair Chang also inserted program context into the bill language, noting that the Vail Indeed program had "permanently secured 178 deed restricted residences" and that, together with other programs, it has secured "over 1,000 deed restricted residences for local working residents." The chair cautioned the committee that deed-restriction purchases may preserve existing units rather than create new housing and that costs would be substantial if applied at scale.
The committee voted to pass HB 17-32 with the chair’s amendments. The committee did not specify implementing rules, county selection for the pilot, or the detailed administrative process for acquisition and resale; those operational details were left to HHFDC and participating counties.
The committee’s action advances the bill to the next stage; specific program operations, funding requests and program rules will be decided later.
