HONOLULU– Hawaii lawmakers on Friday wrapped up a legislative session heavily focused on meeting Maui’s needs following last year’s deadly fire in Lahaina. They also faced Hawaii’s housing shortage, tax cuts and measures to support distinct Hawaiian agricultural products such as coffee and macadamia nuts. In a more joyful move, they adopted the “shaka” as an official gesture of the State.
Here’s a look at some of the major legislation passed during the 60-day session that began Jan. 17:
Lawmakers have allocated $1 billion to cover various costs arising from the Lahaina disaster, including $500 million for emergency housing for displaced residents and $124 million in rental assistance for those who are not eligible for aid from the Federal Housing Agency. Emergency Management.
Recognition of how global warming has increased wildfire risks across the state has led lawmakers to allocate funds for more firefighting equipment, a state fire department and forest restoration.
Lawmakers have tackled Hawaii’s severe housing shortage with bills to reform zoning and increase vacation rental regulations.
The zoning measure requires counties to allow two additional dwellings on each residentially zoned lot with the goal of promoting higher density development.
House Speaker Scott Saiki, a Democrat, told reporters Wednesday that this differs from recent past attempts to address the state’s housing shortage. These mainly involved subsidies for the construction of affordable housing.
“We are seeing in other states, and even in other countries, that governments are looking at zoning as one of the barriers to housing development,” Saiki said. “And it was time for Hawaii to take a look at this too.”
The August 8 wildfire put a spotlight on vacation rentals, exposing the large portion of homes on Maui that are being rented to tourists on a short-term basis. That led lawmakers to pass a bill that gives counties the authority to phase out vacation rentals and make them available to residents. Gov. Josh Green signed the measure into law on Friday.
Maui’s mayor immediately acted on this bill, announcing city legislation that would phase out vacation rentals in areas zoned for apartments. The project would affect 2,200 West Maui units in and around Lahaina and nearly 5,000 others in other parts of the county.
Lawmakers approved measures creating standards for coffee and macadamia nuts, two of Hawaii’s highest-value crops.
The coffee law requires that coffee grown and processed in Hawaii contain at least 51% coffee of Hawaiian origin starting in July 2027. The legislation states that existing law allows coffee blends identified as coming from the coffee growing regions of Kona , Kau and Kauai contain only small amounts of beans from these locations. This misleads consumers and harms coffee growers, he said.
Regarding macadamia nuts, lawmakers approved legislation that would force processors of macadamia nuts from iconic brands like Mauna Loa to disclose whether their products contain beans grown outside of Hawaii. Currently, some well-known Hawaiian macadamia nut processors sell imported nuts in island-themed packaging without indicating where the nuts come from.
Lawmakers approved tax cuts worth $5 billion over the next six years, said Rep. Kyle Yamashita, chairman of the House Finance Committee and a Democrat. The cuts take the form of a higher earned income tax credit, increases to the standard tax deduction, and adjustments to income tax brackets.
Lawmakers also removed the general excise tax on medical bills for patients with Medicaid, Medicare and Tricare health insurance.
Yamashita said the changes are just the first step in needed tax reform and he intends to work further on the issue.
“Because at the end of the day, our biggest problem in our state is the high cost of living. Our tax structure is at the root of this,” he told reporters.
Representative Lauren Matsumoto, the House minority leader, said her Republican caucus has long pushed for tax measures.
“Our best bills that we passed this year were when we passed them in a bipartisan way, when we worked collaboratively and got input from everyone,” she said.
Lawmakers decided to make the “shaka” the state’s gesture and recognize Hawaii as their birthplace. The hand symbol is sometimes known outside the islands as the “stay loose” sign associated with surfing culture. People in Hawaii display the shaka to say hi and goodbye, as well as to say thanks and aloha.
