Lingle’s housing measures collapse

Governor hits Legislature for killing shelter bills

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Gov. Linda Lingle lost a series of important housing bills when the state Legislature ended last week.

Plans to increase the number of homeless shelters, add more funds and programs to homeless programs and also add to the inventory of low-income housing were killed or received reduced funding during the 2008 Legislature.

Lingle criticized the Legislature, saying that "when it had a chance to step up, it did not do it."

The rental housing trust fund, for instance, received $15 million in funding, far short of Lingle's request of $25 million.

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Housing programs sponsored by Gov. Linda Lingle to help the homeless, low-income renters and even first-time buyers were scrapped or received only partial funding by the Legislature this year.

Shelter bills killed Here are some of the housing and homeless bills offered by the Lingle administration that were not passed by the Legislature: House Bill 1277: Would have set up tax credits for developers to build affordable rental housing and training facilities on the Leeward Coast. It was strongly supported by the state Business and Economic Development, Tax and Planning departments. HB 3057: Would have made permanent the 50 percent allocation of conveyance tax money into the rental housing trust fund, which is set to expire June 30. HB 3059: Would have increased the low-income housing tax credit. Senate Bill 2982: Would have allowed the Hawaii Community Development Authority to sell reserved housing and required the units to remain affordable forever.

Gov. Lingle criticized the legislative leaders yesterday, saying, "There is a lot of talk and very little action. People in the community say helping the homeless is good, but you need to have low-cost rental housing. That's the way we see it."

She added, "And yet, when it came time to step up, they didn't do it. There are a whole list of bills that died in committee."

Lingle said that while some bills were dropped along the way, others fell victim to the last-minute budget cuts made by legislators.

For instance, a portion of the state conveyance tax paid when homes are bought and sold was supposed to go for the rental housing trust fund -- to help build low-income rentals.

"We asked for $25 million, they put in $15 million. We asked for $25 million for the dwelling unit revolving fund, they put in $10 million.

"When they cut the money for the homeless programs, it was really devastating to me," Lingle said.

Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland, Human Services and Public Housing Committee chairwoman, said programs to help the homeless were a legislative priority but that in the end, budget cuts took precedence.

Chun Oakland (D, Kalihi-Liliha) said the Legislature originally planned to give the conveyance tax money to the housing fund for another five years, which would have given the program $18 million.

"But we did put $15 million into the budget for rental housing," Chun Oakland said.

Chun Oakland said the housing bills did not suffer neglect in comparison with other areas that also were cut.

"If she were to view the whole scheme of things, we did better than most committee areas," Chun Oakland said of Lingle. "I think health and human services did the best."

The bills included HB 3059, which cleared both legislative chambers but was killed in a conference committee at the last minute. The bill would have shortened the time for investors to use tax credits to build low-income housing, which supporters said would have made them more competitive.

"The lack of housing inventory and supply for a wide range of housing needs plagues the industry," Bruce Barrett, executive vice president of residential operations for Castle & Cooke, said in testimony supporting the bill.

"This credit offers a significant boost in helping to finance the development of lower-rent affordable rental projects," Barrett said.

Lingle also said her administration had asked for funds to build a permanent homeless shelter in Honolulu and was given no funding.

"They gave us zero. They said we did not give them enough details. It is not that we didn't want to. We said we are still working on the details, but they want us to have it completely finished before we can get their OK," Lingle said.

"They just assume the public is not watching what they say at the beginning of the session and what actually comes out of the Legislature," Lingle said.

CORRECTION Friday, May 9, 2008 The contents of a housing bill sponsored by Gov. Linda Lingle, House Bill 3058, which proposed raising the bond ceiling for the state’s Hula Mae mortgage program, were put in another bill, SB 3174, which eventually passed the Legislature. Originally, this story incorrectly said the proposal had been killed.