Rep. Miyake highlights priority bills as legislative deadline nears

Central Maui Rep. Tyson Miyake is tracking several key measures moving through the State Capitol, including expanded medical benefits for firefighters and new incentives to bolster affordable housing production statewide.

As the Legislature moves past the crossover deadline, bills are now transitioning to their final committees in the opposite chamber for review.

Among the high-priority items is House Bill 2387, which would expand workers’ compensation medical benefits for firefighters to cover additional types of cancer. The Senate Labor and Technology Committee passed the measure unamended on March 18.

On the housing front, Miyake highlighted House Bill 1715, which authorizes the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corp. to designate certain for-sale units as permanently affordable.

The bill’s legislative finding says the state must take proactive steps to preserve the long-term affordability of government-assisted for-sale housing units.

The measure points out that, currently, affordability restrictions for these housing units expire after 10 years. Thereafter, the units may be sold at market rates.

“This undermines the state’s investment in housing subsidies and exacerbates the housing shortage,” the bill says, advocating the establishment of a framework for the designation and regulation of permanently affordable for-sale housing, including price indexing that allows homeowners to build equity while preserving affordability across generations.

The bill received broad support in submitted written public testimony, including a letter from Wailuku resident Christine Andrews, who said Maui’s working families are being locked out of a housing market dominated by outside investors in vacation homes.

Andrews, a resident since 2002, said she was able to purchase a home then, nearly 25 years ago, but that home would be “out of reach” for her today. She said her daughter returned to Maui after college, but “she sees the limited opportunities for young people to have families and raise their children here because of the lack of affordable housing.”

Meanwhile, “Maui lost 2,000 homes in the 2023 wildfires,” Andrews wrote, noting that the disaster intensified an already dire housing shortage.

Andrews said she supports the bill because it “provides a responsible and sustainable solution to preserve affordable housing while making it possible for homebuyers to gain equity and move up the housing ladder.”

House Bill 1715 would authorize the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation to designate certain units as “permanently affordable.”

“This measure will create a stock of housing units that are permanently affordable for local households,” Andrews said.

Another housing measure, House Bill 1713, would exempt residential developments of fewer than 100 units from school impact fees through 2029. Proponents said the move is intended to lower development costs and encourage building in existing communities.

Miyake also noted progress on House Bill 1732, which establishes the Kamaʻāina Homes Pilot Program. The initiative would help counties purchase voluntary deed restrictions from eligible homebuyers, effectively lowering the price of a home for local residents.

Public safety and health measures remain in the mix, including:

• House Bill 1886: Sets standards for state and federal law enforcement, requiring officers to display identification and establishing guidelines for facial coverings.
• House Bill 1969: Establishes a state-funded program for colorectal cancer screenings with no out-of-pocket costs for patients.
• House Bill 2021: Creates safety regulations for electric bicycles, including helmet requirements for riders under 18. A hearing is scheduled before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 1.

For Maui veterans, House Bill 2343 seeks to expedite the transfer of the Maui State Veterans Home to a state agency with a Maui affiliation. The bill removes a specific deadline, requiring the transfer to occur “as soon as practicable.”

One measure that will not move forward this session is House Bill 1577, which proposed a statewide Emergency Safety Profile System Pilot Program for 911 services. Senate committees recommended the bill be deferred.