SB 38 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Summary

Requires the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to provide counties with an opportunity to comment on certain housing development projects. Prohibits the legislative body of a county from imposing stricter conditions than the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, stricter area median income requirements, or a reduction in fee waivers to housing development proposals that would increase the cost of the project. (CD1)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Apr 2025

Signed into Law

Jul 2025

Introduced Jan 8, 2025 Signed Jul 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 5 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB38_SD1 → SB38_SD2 · 3 edits

MINOR

This bill revision changes the effective date from immediate approval to April 23, 2057, and reorganizes the housing exemption conditions into a clearer two-part structure. The substantive policy requirements for housing projects remain largely the same, but the formatting and organization have been updated for clarity.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; it still exempts qualifying housing projects from certain state and local regulations.

TIMELINE

The effective date was changed from 'upon approval' to 'April 23, 2057', significantly delaying when the law takes effect.

REQUIREMENT

The conditions for housing project exemptions were reorganized into a clearer two-part structure, separating general project conditions from specific unit requirements.

TECHNICAL

Formatting and markup changes were made to improve readability and organization of the statutory text.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jun 6, 2025

Vetoed

Notice of intent to veto (Gov. Msg. No. 1301)

lower

Jun 6, 2025

Vetoed

Notice of Intent to veto dated 06/06/2025 (Gov. Msg. No. 1301)

upper

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with Representative(s) Perruso, Souza voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Amato, Belatti, Grandinetti, Hussey, Iwamoto, Olds, Poepoe voting no (7) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 23; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Elefante, Fevella, Kim, McKelvey, Moriwaki. Noes, 2 (Senator(s) Awa, Ihara). Excused, 0 (none).

upper

Apr 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 77) as amended in (CD 1).

lower

Apr 24, 2025

Introduced

48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 04-30-25.

upper

Apr 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 77).

upper

Apr 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Tarnas, La Chica, Miyake; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Muraoka.

lower

Apr 24, 2025

Upper · Passed

The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Chang, Rhoads, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Apr 23, 2025

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-24-25 10:30AM; Conference Room 224.

upper

Apr 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-23-25 10:31AM; Conference Room 224.

upper

Apr 10, 2025

Amended

Senate disagrees with House amendments.

upper

Apr 10, 2025

Introduced

Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 626).

upper

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Belatti, Grandinetti voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Alcos, Amato, Garcia, Iwamoto, Kong, Marten, Muraoka, Olds, Perruso, Poepoe voting no (10) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Todd, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Belatti; 3 Noes: Representative(s) Poepoe, Perruso, Garcia; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran.

lower

Mar 18, 2025

Committee

Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1361) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.

lower

Mar 14, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 7 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Kila, Kitagawa, La Chica, Muraoka; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Grandinetti; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick.

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Committee

Referred to HSG, JHA, referral sheet 19

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Introduced

Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 70) in amended form (SD 2).

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 23; Aye(s) with reservations: Senator(s) Elefante, Fevella, McKelvey, Moriwaki, Richards. Noes, 2 (Senator(s) Awa, DeCorte). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.

upper

Feb 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 1 No(es): Senator(s) Awa; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Gabbard.

upper

Feb 18, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 02-20-25 10:01AM; CR 016 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Committee

Reported from HOU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 6) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to JDC.

upper

Jan 28, 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, Aquino, Kanuha; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Fevella.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

Re-Referred to HOU, JDC.

upper

Jan 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU has scheduled a public hearing on 01-28-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 16, 2025

Committee

Referred to HOU/EIG, JDC.

upper

Jan 15, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 8, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

4 primary · 0 co-sponsors