SB 35 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO THE RENTAL HOUSING REVOLVING FUND.

Summary

Establishes the Housing Efficiency and Innovation Subaccount within the Rental Housing Revolving Fund. Specifies permissible uses of funding and priorities. Authorizes the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to transfer moneys between the Housing Efficiency and Innovation Subaccount and the RHRF without legislative approval. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 8, 2025 Last action Jan 29, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB35 → SB35_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill amends the Rental Housing Revolving Fund statute to establish a new Housing Efficiency and Innovation Subaccount that can transfer money between accounts without legislative approval. It reorganizes loan priority rules to favor projects with perpetual affordability commitments and state-owned land, adds reporting requirements for low-income housing efforts, and sets loan-to-value and debt-coverage ratio limits to reduce financial risk.

Scope change

The bill expands the fund's operational flexibility by creating a new subaccount and modifies priority rules for loan allocation, while adding new reporting and underwriting requirements.

FISCAL

Created a new Housing Efficiency and Innovation Subaccount that can transfer funds to the main revolving fund without needing legislative approval.

ELIGIBILITY

Reordered loan priority to give first priority to projects with perpetual affordability commitments and second priority to projects on state or county land.

REQUIREMENT

Requires the corporation to submit an annual report to the legislature within 20 days before each regular session describing funded projects and efforts to develop housing for families earning 30% or less of median income.

Mandates loan-to-value ratios not to exceed 100% and requires a minimum debt-coverage ratio of 1.0 to 1 to protect the fund from financial risk.

DEFINITION

Clarifies that median family income is determined by HUD standards for the county or metropolitan area where the project is located.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 29, 2025

Committee

Reported from HOU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HOU were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Chang, Hashimoto, Kanuha, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Aquino.

upper

Jan 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU has scheduled a public hearing on 01-23-25 1:30PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 16, 2025

Committee

Referred to HOU, WAM.

upper

Jan 15, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 8, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

2 primary · 2 co-sponsors