SB 2338

THE SENATE
S.B. NO.
2338
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII
H.D. 2
C.D. 1
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO HOUSING.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
���� SECTION 1.� The
legislature finds that the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation and
Hawaii public housing authority both provide critical services to address
Hawaii's affordable housing crisis.� The Hawaii
housing finance and development corporation oversees the financing of
affordable housing and the Hawaii public housing authority manages the State's public
housing programs and housing choice vouchers.�
Through these two entities, the supply of affordable housing in Hawaii
has grown, with billions of dollars financed and more than six thousand public
housing units currently being managed.
���� The legislature further finds that the
executive directors of the two entities face different compensation
limitations, with the executive director of the Hawaii public housing authority
being paid not more than the governor, and the executive director of the Hawaii
housing finance and development corporation being paid a lower salary of not
more than the director of business, economic development, and tourism--a
difference of more than $10,000.� In
addition, the salary of the executive assistant of the Hawaii housing finance
and development corporation is also capped at a percentage of the executive
director's salary.
���� The legislature believes that increasing
certain salary caps will help the State compete with the private sector for
highly skilled individuals and further increase the supply of affordable
housing in Hawaii.� Additionally, the
legislature recognizes that increases in salary caps are necessary, and that
these increases will help expand agencies' development plans.
���� Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
���� (1)� Exempt
Hawaii housing finance and development corporation (HHFDC) employees from the
requirement that their employment actions and job descriptions be subject to
approval by the director of business, economic development, and tourism;
���� (2)� Require the executive director of HHFDC
to be paid a salary recommended by its board of directors and subject to the approval
of the director of business, economic development, and tourism, not to exceed
ninety‑nine percent of the salary of the governor;
���� (3)� Rename
the position of executive assistant to deputy executive director for HHFDC and
increase the salary cap for the deputy executive director;
���� (4)� Establish
conditions for the issuance, renewal, and termination of employment contracts
issued by the HHFDC, Hawaii community development authority (HCDA), and the
Hawaii public housing authority (HPHA);
���� (5)� Exempt the executive director of HCDA, and officers,
agents, and employees appointed by the executive director, from the requirement
that their employment actions and job descriptions be subject to approval by
the director of business, economic development, and tourism; and
���� (6)� Require the executive director of HCDA to be
paid a salary recommended by the authority and subject to the approval of the
director of business, economic development, and tourism, not to exceed ninety‑nine
per cent of the salary of the governor.
���� SECTION 2.�
Section 201H-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending
subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
���� "(a) �There is established the Hawaii housing
finance and development corporation to be placed within the department of
business, economic development, and tourism for administrative purposes only. �The corporation shall be a public body and a
body corporate and politic.� All
employees covered under subsection (b) shall be exempt from section
26-35(a)(4).
���� (b)� The
corporation shall employ, exempt from chapter 76 [[and section 26-35(a)(4)]],
an executive director [[and an executive assistant.]], a deputy
executive director, and a finance manager. �The executive director shall be paid a salary [[not
to exceed the salary of the director of business, economic development, and
tourism.]] recommended by the board; provided that the salary shall be
subject to the approval of the director of business, economic development, and
tourism, and shall not exceed ninety‑nine per cent of the salary of the
governor. �The [[executive
assistant]] deputy executive director shall be paid a salary not to
exceed [[ninety]] ninety-five per cent of the executive director's
salary.� The finance manager shall be
paid a salary set by the board.� Subsequent
salary increases shall be determined by the board; provided that the salary
increases shall be not less than the collective bargaining increases provided
to state employees in comparable professional bargaining units.� The finance manager shall oversee all finance
programs of the corporation and develop new initiatives to deliver housing to a
range of household incomes using minimal state resources and as efficiently as
possible.� The finance manager shall have
knowledge of the following:
���� (1)� State
housing finance agencies;
���� (2)� Public
finance;
���� (3)� Bond
issuance, debt management, and credit underwriting;
���� (4)� Regulatory
compliance;
���� (5)� Portfolio
management; and
���� (6)� Housing
finance planning and legislation.
The
corporation may employ, subject to chapter 76, technical experts and officers,
agents, and employees, permanent and temporary, as required.� The corporation may also employ officers,
agents, and employees, prescribe their duties and qualifications, and fix their
salaries, not subject to chapter 76, when in the determination of the
corporation, the services to be performed are unique and essential to the
execution of the functions of the corporation. �The corporation shall not offer an
employment contract entered into on or after the effective date of this Act
that exceeds a three-year term.� No
employment contract shall contain an automatic renewal provision.� Any renewal or extension of an employment
contract shall be subject to approval by the board.� No employment contract shall contain any
provision for severance pay, liquidated damages, or a financial buyout of the
unexpired term of the contract; provided that nothing in this subsection shall
prohibit the payment of any compensation or benefits earned or accrued before
the date of termination. �The
corporation may call upon the attorney general for legal services as it may
require.� The corporation may delegate to
one or more of its agents or employees its powers and duties as it deems
proper."
���� SECTION 3.� Section
206E-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read
as follows:
���� "(c)�
The authority shall appoint [[the]], exempt from chapter 76 and
section 26-35(a)(4), an executive director who shall be the chief executive
officer[[.� The authority shall set the
salary of the executive director, who shall serve at the pleasure of the
authority and shall be exempt from chapter 76.]]and whose salary
shall be recommended by the authority; provided that the salary shall be
subject to the approval of the director of business, economic development, and
tourism and shall not exceed ninety-nine per cent of the salary of the
governor.� The executive director shall
serve at the pleasure of the authority.
The
authority shall not offer an employment contract entered into on or after the
effective date of this Act that exceeds a three-year term.� No employment contract shall contain an
automatic renewal provision.� Any renewal
or extension of an employment contract shall be subject to approval by the
authority.� No employment contract shall
contain any provision for severance pay, liquidated damages, or a financial
buyout of the unexpired term of the contract; provided that nothing in this
subsection shall prohibit the payment of any compensation or benefits earned or
accrued before the date of termination."
���� SECTION 4.� Section 206E-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:
���� "�206E-4� Powers; generally.� Except as otherwise limited by this chapter,
the authority may:
���� (1)� Sue and be sued;
���� (2)� Have a seal and alter the same at
pleasure;
���� (3)� Make and execute contracts and all
other instruments necessary or convenient for the exercise of its powers and
functions under this chapter;
���� (4)� Make and alter bylaws for its
organization and internal management;
���� (5)� Make rules with respect to its
projects, operations, properties, and facilities, which rules shall be in
conformance with chapter 91;
���� (6)� Through its executive director appoint
officers, agents, and employees, prescribe their duties and qualifications, and
fix their salaries, without regard to chapter 76[[;]] and section
26-35(a)(4);
���� (7)� Prepare or cause to be prepared a
community development plan for all designated community development districts;
���� (8)� Acquire, reacquire, or contract to
acquire or reacquire by grant or purchase real, personal, or mixed property or
any interest therein; to own, hold, clear, improve, and rehabilitate, and to
sell, assign, exchange, transfer, convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of or
encumber the same;
���� (9)� Acquire or reacquire by condemnation
real, personal, or mixed property or any interest therein for public
facilities, including but not limited to streets, sidewalks, parks, schools,
and other public improvements;
��� (10)� By itself, or in partnership with
qualified persons, acquire, reacquire, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate,
improve, alter, or repair or provide for the construction, reconstruction,
improvement, alteration, or repair of any project; own, hold, sell, assign,
transfer, convey, exchange, lease, or otherwise dispose of or encumber any
project, and in the case of the sale of any project, accept a purchase money
mortgage in connection therewith; and repurchase or otherwise acquire any
project that the authority has theretofore sold or otherwise conveyed,
transferred, or disposed of;
��� (11)� Arrange or contract for the planning,
replanning, opening, grading, or closing of streets, roads, roadways, alleys,
or other places, or for the furnishing of facilities or for the acquisition of
property or property rights or for the furnishing of property or services in
connection with a project;
��� (12)� Grant options to purchase any project
or to renew any lease entered into by it in connection with any of its
projects, on terms and conditions as it deems advisable;
��� (13)� Prepare or cause to be prepared plans,
specifications, designs, and estimates of costs for the construction,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, alteration, or repair of any
project, and from time to time to modify the plans, specifications, designs, or
estimates;
��� (14)� Provide advisory, consultative,
training, and educational services, technical assistance, and advice to any
person, partnership, or corporation, either public or private, to carry out the
purposes of this chapter, and engage the services of consultants on a
contractual basis for rendering professional and technical assistance and
advice;
��� (15)� Procure insurance against any loss in connection
with its property and other assets and operations in amounts and from insurers
as it deems desirable;
��� (16)� Contract for and accept gifts or grants
in any form from any public agency or from any other source;
��� (17)� Do any and all things necessary to
carry out its purposes and exercise the powers given and granted in this
chapter; and
��� (18)� Allow satisfaction of any affordable
housing requirements imposed by the authority upon any proposed development
project through the construction of reserved housing, as defined in section
206E-101, by a person on land located outside the geographic boundaries of the
authority's jurisdiction; provided that the authority may
permit cash payments in lieu of providing reserved housing.� The substituted housing shall be
located on the same island as the development project and shall be
substantially equal in value to the required reserved housing units that were
to be developed on site.� The authority
shall establish the following priority in the development of reserved housing:
��������� (A)� Within the community development
district;
��������� (B)� Within areas immediately surrounding
the community development district;
��������� (C)� Areas within the central urban core;
��������� (D)� In outlying areas within the same
island as the development project.
�������������� The
Hawaii
community development authority shall adopt rules relating to the approval of
reserved housing that are developed outside of a community development
district.� The rules shall include, but
are not limited to, the establishment of guidelines to ensure compliance with
the above priorities."
���� SECTION 5.�
Section 356D-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending
subsection (b) to read as follows:
���� "(b)�
The authority shall employ, exempt from chapter 76 and section
26-35(a)(4), an executive director, an executive assistant, a chief financial
management advisor, a property management branch chief, a chief planner, and a
redevelopment officer, whose salaries shall be set by the board established
under section 356D-3; provided that no salary shall exceed the governor's
salary. �The authority may employ,
subject to chapter 76, technical experts and officers, agents, and
employees, permanent or temporary, as required.�
The authority may also employ officers, agents, and employees; prescribe
their duties and qualifications; and fix their salaries, not subject to chapter 76,
when in the determination of the authority, the services to be performed are
unique and essential to the execution of the functions of the authority;
provided that if the authority hires an officer, agent, or employee in a
capacity not subject to chapter 76, the authority shall include in an annual
report to the legislature, to be submitted [[not]] no later than
twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, the position
descriptions and reasons for hiring the personnel in a civil service exempt
capacity.� The authority shall not
offer an employment contract entered into on or after the effective date of
this Act that exceeds a three-year term.�
No employment contract shall contain an automatic renewal
provision.� Any renewal or extension of
an employment contract shall be subject to approval by the board.� No employment contract shall contain any
provision for severance pay, liquidated damages, or a financial buyout of the
unexpired term of the contract; provided that nothing in this subsection shall
prohibit the payment of any compensation or benefits earned or accrued before the
date of termination.� The authority
may call upon the attorney general for legal services as it may require.� The authority may delegate to one or more of
its agents or employees the powers and duties it deems proper."
���� SECTION 6.�
The amendments made to sections 201H-2(b) and 206E-3(c), Hawaii Revised
Statutes, regarding the approval of the salaries of the executive directors of
the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation and Hawaii community
development authority by the director of business, economic development, and
tourism, shall not apply to any employment contract executed before the
effective date of this Act.� The
amendments shall apply to any new employment contract, contract renewal, or
contract extension entered into after the expiration of a contract in effect on
the effective date of this Act.
���� SECTION 7.�
Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.� New statutory material is underscored.
���� SECTION 8.�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Report Title:
HHFDC; HCDA;
HPHA; Executive Director; Deputy Executive Director; Finance Manager; Salary;
Employment Contracts
Description:
Exempts
Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation employees from the
requirement that their employment actions and job descriptions be subject to
approval by the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.� Requires the Executive Director of HHFDC to
be paid a salary recommended by its Board of Directors and subject to the approval
of the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, not to exceed
ninety-nine per cent of the salary of the Governor.� Renames the position of Executive Assistant
to Deputy Executive Director for HHFDC and increases the salary cap for the
Deputy Executive Director.� Establishes
conditions for the issuance, renewal, and termination of employment contracts
issued by the HHFDC, Hawaii Community Development Authority, and the Hawaii
Public Housing Authority.� Exempts the
Executive Director of HCDA, and officers, agents, and employees appointed by
the Executive Director, from the requirement that their employment actions and
job descriptions be subject to approval by the Director of Business, Economic
Development, and Tourism.� Requires the
Executive Director of HCDA to be paid a salary recommended by the Authority and
subject to the approval of the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism,
not to exceed ninety-nine per cent of the salary of the Governor.� (CD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.