The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism on March 11, 2025.
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March 11, 2025, 1 p.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 229 and Videoconference
To: Senate Committee on Economic Development and Tourism
Sen. Lynn DeCoite, Chair
Sen. Glenn Wakai, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: HB1405 HD1 — RELATING TO PERMITS
Aloha Chair DeCoite, Vice-Chair Wakai and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports HB1405 HD1, which would impose deadlines for the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism to act on permits submitted through the state’s facilitated application process.
It would also require the department to create a digital portal for processing these permits and a fast-track process for low-impact projects, which the department would be tasked with defining.
As the bill notes, the facilitated application process can be “cumbersome and subject applicants to lengthy waiting periods,” and “a backlog in applications can lead to delays in housing, industrial and commercial projects, stifling economic development in the state.”
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
