Maui court upholds governor’s Emergency Proclamation on affordable housing

Second Circuit Court Judge Peter T. Cahill issued judgment in favor of Gov. Josh Green, M.D., and the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation, in a lawsuit that sought to, among other things, invalidate the governor’s emergency proclamation on affordable housing. With this decision, the current proclamation—the Sixth Proclamation Relating to Affordable Housing—remains in full effect.

“The emergency proclamations issued by my office are always intended to help people and are fully reviewed and analyzed by the Department of the Attorney General. The court ruling substantiates the thorough and careful work undertaken by the AG’s team in service to the people of Hawai‘i,” said Green in a news release update.

As stated in the Sixth Proclamation Relating to Affordable Housing, “the need for an immediate and profound solution to Hawai‘i’s affordable housing shortage necessitates the advancement of affordable housing projects in a way that will ensure the production of affordable housing units immediately and going forward,” and that one of the purposes of the proclamation is to “promote and protect the public health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state of Hawaiʻi.”

In an amended complaint, several individuals, among other things, requested that the proclamation be declared void, alleging that “[l]ack of affordable housing… cannot constitute an emergency” under applicable law. The state defendants—represented by Deputy Attorneys General Linda L.W. Chow, Klemen Urbanc, and Jordan A.K. Ching—filed a motion to dismiss.

Judge Cahill entered an order dismissing the amended complaint and entered judgment in favor of Green and HHFDC.

“Affordable housing is a critical issue for the people of Hawaiʻi,” said Deputy Attorney General Klemen Urbanc. “We are pleased that the affordable housing proclamation has been upheld in its entirety.”

The case is Nakoa, et al. v. Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi, SP No. 2CSP-23-0000046. The order granting the motion to dismiss can be found here. The final judgment can be found here.