Hawaii 2022 Regular Session

Hawaii House Bill HCR20 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 20 THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 STATE OF HAWAII HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Requesting the department of business, economic development, and tourism to SUBMIT A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON the BARRIERS TO CREATING AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE STATE.
2	2
3	3	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.C.R. NO. 20
4	4	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
5	5	STATE OF HAWAII
6	6
7	7	HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8	8
9	9	H.C.R. NO.
10	10
11	11	20
12	12
13	13	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
14	14
15	15
16	16
17	17	STATE OF HAWAII
18	18
19	19
20	20
21	21
22	22
23	23
24	24
25	25
26	26
27	27
28	28
29	29	HOUSE CONCURRENT
30	30
31	31	RESOLUTION
32	32
33	33
34	34
35	35
36	36
37	37	Requesting the department of business, economic development, and tourism to SUBMIT A REPORT TO THE LEGISLATURE ON the BARRIERS TO CREATING AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE STATE.
38	38
39	39
40	40
41	41
42	42
43	43
44	44
45	45	WHEREAS, there is a severe shortage of affordable housing in the State which hampers the ability of residents to afford such housing on prevailing wages; and WHEREAS, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach 2021 report, a minimum wage employee must work one hundred fourteen hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent in the State; and WHEREAS, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development considers "affordable housing" to be housing for which the occupant is paying no more than thirty percent of income for gross housing costs, including utilities; and WHEREAS, gross income in relation to housing affordability is generally expressed as a percentage of the area median income; and WHEREAS, the area median income is defined as the midpoint of a region's income distribution, where half of the families earn more than the median and half earn less than the median; and WHEREAS, housing affordability in the State is most often expressed as the housing price-to-income ratio where the price of an "affordable" home is expressed on a scale where one hundred forty percent of the area median income or lower is considered a "below market" rate; and WHEREAS, the existing formula used to set the sales price of "affordable" for-sale homes are outdated and do not take into consideration other factors such as the high cost of living and high market prices of housing in the State; and WHEREAS, the housing price guidelines set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development are not applicable to developments that do not use federal subsidies; and WHEREAS, the outdated "affordable" sales price formulas are based heavily on mortgage interest rates and, given the current low-interest rate environment, may not be affordable to local area residents or may exceed market prices; and WHEREAS, for example, a two-bedroom home in the City and County of Honolulu with a sale price of over one million dollars could potentially qualify as "affordable" under existing guidelines; and WHEREAS, if the State and counties want to provide housing that residents can afford on typical wages earned in the State, the definition of "affordable" sales prices must more accurately reflect what households in Hawaii can realistically afford, taking into consideration homeowners association fees, insurance, utilities, transportation, cost of living, access to low interest rates, and other factors; and WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized the financial security of thousands of working families who required rental and housing relief to sustain their access to shelter; and WHEREAS, according to the Hawaii Budget & Policy Center, the provision of affordable homes and rental units requires the State to treat housing as a basic necessity and human right, rather than primarily as a means for investment and wealth-building; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to submit a report to the Legislature on the barriers to creating affordable housing in the State; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in the preparation of the report, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to consult with other government agencies and advocacy organizations, including the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, and Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report is requested to include information about methodologies for determining what qualifies as "affordable" in Hawaii in comparison to other states and municipalities with similar high costs of living; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to submit the report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; Executive Director of Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; and Executive Director of the Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development. OFFERED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: DBEDT; Affordable Housing Barriers; Report
46	46
47	47	WHEREAS, there is a severe shortage of affordable housing in the State which hampers the ability of residents to afford such housing on prevailing wages; and
48	48
49	49
50	50
51	51	WHEREAS, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach 2021 report, a minimum wage employee must work one hundred fourteen hours per week to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent in the State; and
52	52
53	53
54	54
55	55	WHEREAS, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development considers "affordable housing" to be housing for which the occupant is paying no more than thirty percent of income for gross housing costs, including utilities; and
56	56
57	57
58	58
59	59	WHEREAS, gross income in relation to housing affordability is generally expressed as a percentage of the area median income; and
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	WHEREAS, the area median income is defined as the midpoint of a region's income distribution, where half of the families earn more than the median and half earn less than the median; and
64	64
65	65
66	66
67	67	WHEREAS, housing affordability in the State is most often expressed as the housing price-to-income ratio where the price of an "affordable" home is expressed on a scale where one hundred forty percent of the area median income or lower is considered a "below market" rate; and
68	68
69	69
70	70
71	71	WHEREAS, the existing formula used to set the sales price of "affordable" for-sale homes are outdated and do not take into consideration other factors such as the high cost of living and high market prices of housing in the State; and
72	72
73	73
74	74
75	75	WHEREAS, the housing price guidelines set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development are not applicable to developments that do not use federal subsidies; and
76	76
77	77
78	78
79	79	WHEREAS, the outdated "affordable" sales price formulas are based heavily on mortgage interest rates and, given the current low-interest rate environment, may not be affordable to local area residents or may exceed market prices; and
80	80
81	81
82	82
83	83	WHEREAS, for example, a two-bedroom home in the City and County of Honolulu with a sale price of over one million dollars could potentially qualify as "affordable" under existing guidelines; and
84	84
85	85
86	86
87	87	WHEREAS, if the State and counties want to provide housing that residents can afford on typical wages earned in the State, the definition of "affordable" sales prices must more accurately reflect what households in Hawaii can realistically afford, taking into consideration homeowners association fees, insurance, utilities, transportation, cost of living, access to low interest rates, and other factors; and
88	88
89	89
90	90
91	91	WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized the financial security of thousands of working families who required rental and housing relief to sustain their access to shelter; and
92	92
93	93
94	94
95	95	WHEREAS, according to the Hawaii Budget & Policy Center, the provision of affordable homes and rental units requires the State to treat housing as a basic necessity and human right, rather than primarily as a means for investment and wealth-building; now, therefore,
96	96
97	97
98	98
99	99	BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to submit a report to the Legislature on the barriers to creating affordable housing in the State; and
100	100
101	101
102	102
103	103	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in the preparation of the report, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to consult with other government agencies and advocacy organizations, including the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, and Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development; and
104	104
105	105
106	106
107	107	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report is requested to include information about methodologies for determining what qualifies as "affordable" in Hawaii in comparison to other states and municipalities with similar high costs of living; and
108	108
109	109
110	110
111	111	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to submit the report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and
112	112
113	113
114	114
115	115	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Executive Director of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; Executive Director of Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice; and Executive Director of the Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development.
116	116
117	117
118	118
119	119
120	120
121	121
122	122
123	123	OFFERED BY: _____________________________
124	124
125	125
126	126
127	127	OFFERED BY:
128	128
129	129	_____________________________
130	130
131	131
132	132
133	133
134	134
135	135	Report Title:
136	136
137	137	DBEDT; Affordable Housing Barriers; Report