STAND. COM. REP. NO. 439

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1805

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1805 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the convening of a committee to develop legislation to bifurcate the public housing administration and housing finance and development functions of the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii (HCDCH), and to establish the functions in two separate agencies.

The Hawaii Association of Realtors, Pacific Housing Assistance Corporation, and Hawaii Community Reinvestment Corporation testified in support of this measure. The Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii submitted comments on the measure.

One of the recommendations made by the Affordable Housing Task Force created pursuant to Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 135, Senate Draft 1 (2004) was to separate HCDCH into two agencies, one whose function was to administer public housing in the State, and another responsible for housing finance and development. One of the Task Force's working groups found that only Alaska and Hawaii have a combined housing finance and public housing agency and concluded that the operations of a combined agency are cumbersome, inefficient, and slow the allocation of resources for the production of new housing units.

This measure establishes a committee of representatives from government, housing developers, financial institutions, the real estate industry, affordable housing advocacy groups, and other stakeholders in the State's affordable housing situation to develop legislation to effectuate the Task Force's recommendation of separating HCDCH into two separate entities. The committee is required to make recommendations on organizational structure and functions, staffing and budgetary needs, and develop an implementation timeline that targets a January 2007 operational date for the two agencies. This measure further requires a report to the 2006 Legislature and appropriates funds for the committee's operations.

Your Committee has amended this measure:

(1) To include HCDCH on the committee's membership;

(2) To identify the Department of Human Services, rather than HCDCH, as the expending agency for the appropriation; and

(3) By making technical, stylistic changes.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1805, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1805, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing,

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair