Maui News

House committee recommends passage of Kamaʻāina Homes Program

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County of Maui aerial photo of Central Maui housing.

The House Committee on Housing, vice chaired by Central Maui Rep. Tyson Miyake, recommended passage Wednesday of House Bill 739, which would establish a Kamaʻāina Homes Program.

Modeled after the Vail InDEED program in tourist-Mecca Vail, Colo., the program would provide funding to the counties to purchase voluntary deed restrictions from eligible homeowners or homebuyers. The program would be established within the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp. at a time when the median single-family home sells for nearly $1.4 million in Maui County.

Albert Perez, executive director of the Maui Tomorrow Foundation, submitted written testimony in support of the measure.

“Although ‘increasing supply’ sounds like a simple solution, we can not build our way out of the affordable housing problem,” Perez said. “There are now 56 million millionaires in the world, and Hawaiʻiʻs people cannot compete with them economically. Even if Hawaiʻi were to be completely covered with new homes, it would not solve the problem because local residents cannot afford them at market prices. Voluntarily deed restricted housing will actually house Hawaiʻiʻs people, and can be used to purchase both existing homes and new construction.”

Hilo resident Douglass Adams said the proposed program would create a dedicated housing stock for local working families. The counties would be allowed to purchase deed restrictions that would come with a requirement that both owner-occupants and renters of record work locally.

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“This prevents homes from being lost to non-resident buyers or short-term vacation rentals,” he said.

“This program is an investment in our future,” Adams said. “By keeping local families here, we create stronger communities, reduce out-migration, and build a more sustainable economy. It’s an opportunity to ensure that our islands remain vibrant, diverse and truly home to those who cherish it most — our people.”

Dean Minakami, HHFDC executive director, submitted written testimony in favor of the bill, saying the state housing agency is “in full support of the program’s goal of creating an inventory of homes for local residents.”

He had some technical questions about the bill and asked that properties held in a revocable trust be included in the definition of “eligible homeowner or homebuyer.”

The Department of the Attorney General submitted testimony that provisions of the bill that have “duration residency requirements” may be challenged as violating the right to travel protected by the US Constitution. The department asked to have those provisions removed from the bill.

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Miyake said Thursday afternoon that the committee amended the bill to include proposed language changes from the Attorney General and the HHFDC. He said he’s happy to see the bill is gaining traction toward possible passage as law.

The Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice submitted testimony in strong support of the bill.

“To make this program most impactful, it would be wise that the preservation of current housing stock is prioritized for counties which have significant infrastructure limitations preventing new construction as well as low wages in comparison to housing costs,” said Arjuna Heim, director of the center’s housing policy.

Hawai‘i REALTORS® expressed support for the creation of more workforce housing for Hawaiʻi residents.

But, “we do however have concerns that the deed restrictions contained in this measure are in perpetuity. Having deed restrictions on a property in perpetuity can be problematic especially in land use planning, as communities can change and uses for a property may need to change as well over time.”

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The Realtors suggested that the committee consider that the deed restriction be amortized over 10 years.

The state Department of Taxation asked for changing the effective date of the bill to Jan. 1, 2026, to allow the department time to adopt form and instruction changes necessary to implement the bill’s new conveyance tax exemption.

According to the bill, Vail implemented in 2018 a voluntary program to allow the town to buy and place deed restrictions in perpetuity on local homes from willing buyers that limited occupancy to owner-occupants or resident tenants who live and work in the town of Vail. Since it began, the program has set aside more than 1,000 deed-restricted residences for local working residents and helped provide more attainable housing for residents.

The bill was also introduced by Kaua’i Rep. Luke Evslin, chair of the Housing Committee.

Voting in favor of the bill, with amendments, in committee were Reps. Miyake and Evslin; and O’ahu Reps. Tina Nakada Grandinetti, Darius Kila, Lisa Kitagawa, Trish La Chica and Elijah Pierick. The sole dissenting vote came from Rep. Christopher Muraoka of East O’ahu. West Maui Rep. Elle Cochran was excused.

A companion bill, Senate Bill 490, introduced by Senate Housing Committee Chair Stanley Chang of O’ahu, is scheduled for a public hearing at 1:10 p.m. Thursday. The agenda is available by clicking here. Public testimony may be submitted here, and a link for livestream viewing on YouTube is here.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from its original posting to include amendments to the bill.

Brian Perry
Brian Perry worked as a staff writer and editor at The Maui News from 1990 to 2018. Before that, he was a reporter at the Pacific Daily News in Agana, Guam. From 2019 to 2022, he was director of communications in the Office of the Mayor.
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