Rep. McKelvey Co-Introduced Bills Addressing Affordable Housing, Environment Protection & Special Ed Scholarships for Senate Consideration

Rep. Angus McKelvey, who serves the West Maui district, has co-introduced several of the 310 bills that the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives recently has transmitted to the Senate for consideration.

“The 2021 Legislative session has been one of collaboration and teamwork,” Rep. Angus McKelvey said in a statement. “The pandemic has shown us that now, more than ever, working together to provide solutions for our people is imperative. The measures that we have passed on third reading will help to develop affordable housing, increase protections for our precious environment, fund scholarships for special education students, and much more.”

Measures that Rep. McKelvey co-introduced:

AGRICULTURE: Produce Contracts for Local Produce. Requires each state department to ensure that a percentage of the produce purchased by that department is local. HB817 HD2

HOUSING: Establishes an affordable homeownership revolving fund within the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance & Development Corporation to provide loans to nonprofit community development financial institutions and nonprofit housing development organizations for the development of affordable homeownership housing projects. HB79 HD1

Leialiʻi Affordable Housing Project: Removes the construction completion deadline for the Leialiʻi affordable housing project, allowing for a new archaeological inventory survey required by the State Historic Preservation Division and ensuring the previously secured funding is not re-appropriated. HB1311 HD2

UTILITY LINES: Eliminates the requirement for a public utility to seek approval from the public utilities commission for the underground construction of high-voltage electric transmission lines if certain conditions are met. HB78 HD1

HISTORIC PRESERVATION: Authorizes the State Historic Preservation Division, in consultation with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, to delegate the responsibility of historic preservation project reviews to the impacted county and establish a program for third-party individuals and organizations to conduct document reviews on proposed projects. HB821 HD2

EDUCATION: Allows students who graduated from a Hawaiʻi State public high school with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 and received at least two years of special education to be eligible for the Hawaiʻi State Scholars Program and the Hawaiʻi Community College Promise Program. HB1291 HD1

WILDLIFE: Requires all habitat conservation plans to include an agreement for plan participants to enter into an annual service contract with a stand-by and response facility available to provide emergency medical and rehabilitation services to native wildlife affected by activities undertaken within the plan area. HB46 HD1

POLYNESIAN VOYAGING SOCIETY: Authorizes the issuance of special number motor vehicle license plates to commemorate the Polynesian Voyaging Society. HB627 HD1