A handful of bills that passed through the Legislature this year focus on reforming Hawaiʻi's permitting processes to speed up housing construction, including shoring up a shortage of permitting staff.
Long permitting times and construction delays have hindered the state's ability to address its housing crisis, which the measures try to address.
One contributor to the delays is a shortage of qualified staff to review permits.
Lawmakers this year passed a bill allowing county mayors to recruit permitting staff at higher salaries and provide other incentives.
Rep. Greg Ilagan chairs the Simplifying Permitting for Enhanced Economic Development Task Force, a Legislature-formed group meant to study and recommend solutions to facilitate building permits.
At a meeting this week, he said the staffing shortage is a common problem at the state and county levels.
"Even though a single legislation here does not fix everything that's a problem in our system, it is a good couple steps forward in what we're trying to do,” Ilagan said.
Another bill that passed through the state Capitol clarifies insurance requirements in a 2025 law that offers expedited permitting for single-family and multifamily housing projects. Lawmakers also passed a measure to streamline historic preservation reviews in construction projects.
They also moved a bill that standardizes building and civil engineering permit data between counties, which proponents say will improve transparency and department collaboration.
A December report from the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation said nearly 65,500 housing units are needed statewide by the end of 2027 to meet demand.
