The Conference Committee reached an agreement on Senate Bill 1268 SD2 HD1 CD1 today.
Honolulu. A bill that permits the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to assign or transfer county affordable housing credits passed conference today with amendments.
“Allowing the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to take part in the counties’ housing credit process will help to provide homes to the department’s 20,000 Native Hawaiian beneficiaries and at the same time help to alleviate the housing crisis during these difficult economic times,” said Rep. Mele Carroll, House Co-Chair of the Conference Committee and Chair of the House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs.
At a previous conference committee meeting, concerns were raised by the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Planning and Permitting over the 60-day approval process of requests for tax credits by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Department of Planning and Permitting Director David Tanoue said in a letter to the Conference Committee: “Under the city’s affordable housing program, a credit is earned if the unit is sold or rented at an affordable price; the occupant – buyer or tenant – qualifies as a household within the affordable housing range; and, more importantly, the unit remains in this affordable housing program for ten years. Thus, for new housing, the City will have no choice but to deny the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands’ request within the mandated 60-day period.”
Today’s conference also resolved a disagreement between the Senate and House conferees over the time period that the bill takes effect, with both sides agreeing to a 6-year period.
The Conference Draft, Senate Bill 1268 SD2 HD1 CD1, removes the 60-day deadline for the approval process. The Conference Draft states that counties shall authorize and issue affordable housing credits to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands upon a request for the transfer or assignment of credits by the department. The credits shall be issued on a one-for one basis and applied within the same county in which the credits were earned to satisfy affordable housing obligations imposed by the county. The bill takes effect on June 1, 2009 and shall be repealed on June 30, 2015.
House Conferees were Co-Chairs Rep. Mele Carroll, Rep. Rida Cabanilla, and Rep. Roland Sagum III and members Rep. Pono Chong, Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, and Rep. Gene Ward.
Senate Conferees were Chair Sen. Clayton Hee, Co-Chairs Sen. Norman Sakamoto and Sen. J. Kalani English, and member Sen. Sam Slom.
