Gov. Josh Green signed several bills into law Wednesday in an effort to address housing and homelessness in the state.
Among those laws was Act 97, introduced by Sen. Stanley Chang of Oʻahu as SB865, which establishes appropriations for a 99-year leasehold program to build low-income condos on state or county-owned land. Lawmakers hope that this will increase the availability of affordable housing in the state.
"The state for the first time will take direct responsibility for reversing the housing shortage by providing income-blind, revenue-neutral, 99-year leasehold homes for all of Hawaiʻi’s people,” said Chang in a press release.
Also introduced by Chang was Act 96, formerly SB764, which broadens how banks invest in affordable residential properties and qualifies certain projects for low-income tax credits.
Green also signed Act 98 which temporarily adjusts the State Rent Supplement Program to help homeless kupuna who are 62 years or older.
“This was a monumental year in making significant progress toward addressing the affordable housing crisis in Hawaiʻi," House Committee on Housing Chair Troy Hashimoto said in a press release.
Chief Housing Officer Nani Medeiros and her staff identified more than 44,000 housing units at different planning stages that were never built because of various roadblocks.
“Each of these bills provides some added financial opportunity to do all of the programs that Nani has isolated that can be used to build housing,” Green said at the signing event.
Hawaiʻi needs an estimated 50,000 new housing units by 2025 to meet housing demands.
The four measures Green signed could allow these projects to move forward.
“This is a systemic approach to housing and homelessness,” Green said about the bills.
