The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Senate Committee on Housing on Feb. 4, 2025.
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Feb. 4, 2025, 1 p.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 225 and Videoconference
To: Senate Committee on Housing
Sen. Stanley Chang, Chair
Sen. Troy Hashimoto, Vice-Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: SB1200 — RELATING TO WORKFORCE HOUSING
Aloha Chair Chang, Vice-Chair Hashimoto and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports SB1200, which would establish a “regulatory sandbox” in the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. to approve innovative affordable housing projects.
The bill would establish an advisory council to oversee the sandbox. This council would have the authority to approve or deny any housing projects that apply, and to grant waivers from infrastructure capacity fees, land-use rules and permitting processes.
Regulatory sandboxes have been used across the world. They waive laws and rules for innovative business models, giving entrepreneurs the ability to test certain products or ways of doing business in an environment that attempts to balance regulatory oversight with creativity.
Such a sandbox for workforce housing in Hawaii would make sense, especially because Hawaii has the strictest land-use rules in the country.[1]
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas,
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Rachel Inafuku, Justin Tyndall and Carl Bonham, “Measuring the Burden of Housing Regulation in Hawaii,” Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawai‘i, April 14, 2022, p. 6.
