SB 1235 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Summary

Establishes within the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation the Government Employee Housing Program. Establishes the Government Employee Housing Revolving Fund. Clarifies eligibility for the Government Housing Revolving Fund and Government Employee Housing Program. Appropriates funds. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 21, 2025 Last action Dec 8, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB1235 → SB1235_SD1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill was updated from a House version to a Senate version, primarily expanding the scope of the housing program to include 'for-sale' units in addition to rental and leasehold options. The changes clarify that the revolving fund can support the creation and purchase of units for government employees to buy, not just rent. Additionally, the report title and description were updated to reflect these new capabilities and the inclusion of for-sale units.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a program focused solely on rental and leasehold housing to explicitly include 'for-sale' residential condominium units for government employees.

SCOPE

The affordable housing program now explicitly includes 'for-sale' units alongside rental and leasehold options, allowing government employees to purchase homes rather than just renting them.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible projects were updated to include 'for-sale projects,' broadening the types of developments the revolving fund can support.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'Owner-occupied residential use' was slightly rephrased for clarity, though the prohibition on renting or subleasing remains unchanged.

REQUIREMENT

The rules for the housing program were updated to ensure that for-sale projects developed under the part are eligible for funding from the government employee housing revolving fund.

TECHNICAL

The bill header was changed from 'HB' to 'SMA' and the version number was updated to reflect the Senate amendment stage.

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

Feb 14, 2025

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Reported from HOU/LBT (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 563) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HOU were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Chang, Hashimoto, Aquino, Kanuha, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

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

upper

Feb 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HOU/LBT has scheduled a public hearing on 02-06-25 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 27, 2025

Committee

Referred to HOU/LBT, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2025

Introduced

Introduced and passed First Reading.

upper

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced

Pending Introduction.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors