House Housing Committee advances suite of housing measures, from conveyance-tax rewrite to bond authorization

The House Housing Committee spent its March 18 session hearing and then moving forward a broad package of housing-related bills, advancing reforms intended to expand housing production and the tools available to local governments while asking departments to tighten technical language.

The committee heard hours of testimony from state agencies, nonprofits and industry groups before reconvening for decision-making later in the day. Members generally voted to pass bills with amendments or to defer measures for further work. Several members registered reservations or no votes on specific items.

The most prominent items the committee advanced include: a reworked conveyance-tax proposal (SB 3028 SD2) that would change how sales of property are taxed and create a mechanism to dedicate future revenue — including a carve-out for trails funding — and a constitutional amendment package and implementing language (SB 3219 / SP 3218) to allow counties to issue “housing infrastructure growth bonds” that are repaid from future real-property-tax revenue generated within designated districts.

Witnesses and committee exchanges highlighted several recurring themes. The Tax Foundation urged caution about proposed tax brackets and raised a procedural objection to bills that leave rate tables blank; the Department of the Attorney General repeatedly urged clearer statutory procedures for any new bonding authority; and DLNR representatives and Na Ala Hele staff asked that conveyance-tax funds be structured so they could support trail acquisition and maintenance. DLNR acting staff said they currently rely on a mix of a $2 million recent general fund allocation plus federal grants, but that they have “about $50 million of backlog projects” for trails and access work, a figure witnesses used to press for a dedicated fund.

On water availability and privacy: the Board of Water Supply and county water directors supported publicly available, generalized maps of water availability but stressed that parcel-level asset mapping is a security risk for critical infrastructure. Committee members sought language that would provide a useful, public-facing resource for homeowners (especially those seeking to build ADUs) without exposing sensitive utility asset details.

On septic sizing, Department of Health staff explained that current administrative rules use an industry standard of 100 gallons per person per day and a 1,000-gallon maximum design capacity — the latter accounting for the familiar five-bedroom cap on many individual wastewater systems — and told the committee that changing the statutory bedroom allowance (from five to six) would require administrative rule adjustments or further technical study. The committee voted to move forward with an amendment that would replace the statutory “five” with “six,” while asking for additional technical work through a stakeholder advisory group.

Committee deliberations often focused on implementation language. The Attorney General’s office flagged that some introduced measures would create new financing authorities without clear statutory procedures for issuing bonds. Committee members directed bill authors to work with bond counsel and the AG’s office to add the needed implementation steps before the measures reach final floor votes.

Votes at a glance - SB 2190 SD2 (inclusionary zoning) — committee moved HD1 with amendments; recommendation adopted (committee proceeded to decision-making). (motion/vote recorded in House decision-making) - SP 2338 SD1 (HHFDC/HPHA personnel/contracts) — moved with amendments; recommendation adopted - SP 2424 SD1 (HHFDC program/qualified resident definition) — moved with amendments; recommendation adopted - SB 2356 SD1 (parking) — deferred for incorporation into other language - SP 2981 (land use / parking minimums) — moved with amendments; recommendation adopted - SB 3028 SD2 (property conveyance tax / trails funding) — replaced content with House companion and advanced to HD1; recommendation adopted - SB 3187 SD2 (off-site construction / modular standards) — moved with amendments; recommendation adopted - SP 2398 SD2 (residential housing utilities / water availability) — committee adopted language modeled on House version and advanced it; recommendation adopted - SB 2155 SD1 (wastewater systems / bedroom capacity) — committee moved amendment replacing 5 with 6 bedrooms and advanced; recommendation adopted - SB 3219 / SP 3218 / SB 3218 (housing infrastructure growth bonds / conam and implementation) — committee advanced a constitutional amendment concept and added statutory implementation language; recommendation adopted

Representative and witness highlights - “We would recommend clarifying the scope of that autonomy including how it interacts with civil service provisions of chapter 76,” said Deputy Attorney General Clemen Orbank while urging clearer language around personnel provisions in SP 2338 SD1. - David Penn, Department of Land and Natural Resources, said DLNR has a long list of trail projects and estimated “about $50 million of backlog projects” that supplemental conveyance-tax revenue could help address. - Janice Marsters of the American Council of Engineering Companies warned that terms producing “uninsurable” liability could discourage participation by small local firms in expedited-permitting programs. - Department of Health staff explained the technical basis for the current septic-design rule: 100 gallons per person per day and a 1,000-gallon cap that yields a practical five-bedroom limit under existing rules; committee asked for a technical advisory group to study reductions to that per-person figure before wider statutory change.

What’s next Most advanced bills were sent forward with HD1 edits or were replaced by companion language the committee preferred; committee chairs and staff instructed bill authors to work with the Attorney General and bond counsel on precise statutory implementation for any new financing authority. Several members recorded reservations or no votes on specific items; additional drafting and stakeholder work is expected before many measures reach final floor votes.

Correction note: vote tallies were not reported in the transcript; the committee minutes record which members voiced reservations or opposition in several roll-call entries but do not provide numeric tallies for every motion. The committee routinely instructed technical fixes and adopted amendments before advancing measures.

Ending The committee recessed and then reconvened for decision-making, advancing a broad set of housing measures with instructions for clarifying statutory mechanics and technical definitions before final floor consideration.