HB2122 • 2026

RELATING TO TEACHER HOUSING.

Budget Education Housing

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: KAPELA, AMATO, GARRETT, ILAGAN, KAHALOA, KUSCH, LEE, M., LOWEN, MIYAKE, OLDS, PERRUSO, POEPOE, REYES ODA, SOUZA, TAM, TARNAS, TEMPLO
Last action: 2026-03-30
Official status: Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details on the application process or repayment terms, leaving some aspects open to interpretation.

Teacher Housing Assistance Program

This bill establishes a program to provide housing vouchers to eligible full-time teachers working at hard-to-staff schools in Hawaii, funded from the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund.

What This Bill Does

Establishes the Teacher Housing Assistance Program run by the Department of Education (DOE) to give housing vouchers to certain eligible full-time teachers.
Limits voucher funds to $700 per month or the teacher's monthly rent/mortgage payment, whichever is less.
Requires teachers to use vouchers for their primary residence and agree to teach at a hard-to-staff school for five years.
Establishes rules for applying for and using housing vouchers, including repayment if requirements are not met.
Appropriates money from the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund to support this program.

Who It Names or Affects

Full-time teachers who work at public or charter schools in Hawaii.
The Department of Education (DOE) and state agencies involved in managing the program.
Collection agencies that may be hired to collect delinquent repayments from voucher recipients.

Terms To Know

Housing Voucher: A certificate or document issued by a government agency allowing someone to receive financial assistance for housing expenses such as rent or mortgage payments.
Hard-to-Staff School: A school that has difficulty hiring and retaining teachers, often due to its location or other challenges.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify the exact amount of funding appropriated for fiscal year 2026-2027.
It is unclear how many applications will exceed available housing vouchers and what criteria will be used in a lottery process if needed.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: This amendment establishes a teacher housing assistance program that provides housing vouchers to qualified full-time teachers working at hard-to-staff schools in Hawaii.

Adds a new section to Chapter 302A of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, establishing a teacher housing assistance program.
Amends Section 302A-833 by adding provisions for the use of funds related to the teacher housing assistance program.
Appropriates funding from the teachers' housing revolving fund for fiscal year 2026-2027 to support the new program.

The exact amount of funding appropriated is not specified in the provided text.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: This amendment establishes a teacher housing assistance program that provides housing vouchers to qualified full-time teachers working at hard-to-staff schools in Hawaii.

Adds a new section to the Hawaii Revised Statutes to create a teacher housing assistance program, which will provide housing vouchers for rent, mortgage payments, or down payments on primary residences of eligible teachers.
Amends an existing statute to include funding and planning for the teacher housing assistance program within the teachers' housing revolving fund.
Appropriates funds from the teachers' housing revolving fund for fiscal year 2026-2027 to support the new housing voucher program.

The exact amount of funding appropriated is not specified in the amendment text provided.

Bill History

2026-03-30 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
2026-03-30 S
Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3268) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
2026-03-20 S
The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Hashimoto, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Kidani, Fukunaga.
2026-03-17 S
The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
2026-03-10 S
Referred to EDU, WAM.
2026-03-10 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-03-10 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 187).
2026-03-06 H
Passed Third Reading with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Sayama excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.
2026-03-06 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 950-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2026-03-04 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2026-03-02 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Wednesday, 03-04-26 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-19 H
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and none excused (0).
2026-02-19 H
Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 561-26), recommending referral to FIN.
2026-02-18 H
The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Cochran, Grandinetti, Kila, Kitagawa, La Chica, Muraoka, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2026-02-12 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by HSG on Wednesday, 02-18-26 10:00AM in House conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-11 H
This measure has been deleted from the meeting scheduled on Friday 02-13-26 9:00AM in conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-10 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by HSG on Friday, 02-13-26 9:00AM in House conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-05 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on HSG with Representative(s) Garcia voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Woodson excused (1).
2026-02-05 H
Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 24-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to HSG.
2026-02-03 H
The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Garrett, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2026-01-30 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by EDN on Tuesday, 02-03-26 2:00PM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-01-28 H
Referred to EDN, HSG, FIN, referral sheet 4
2026-01-26 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2026-01-23 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO TEACHER HOUSING.
DOE; Teacher Housing Assistance Program; Teacher Recruitment and Retention; Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund; Appropriation ($)
Establishes the Teacher Housing Assistance Program to be administered by the Department of Education to provide housing vouchers to certain eligible teachers. Appropriates funds out of the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund. Effective 7/31/2055. (SD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB2122

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2122

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to teacher housing
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that approximately ten
per cent of the State's teachers switch schools, relocate, or leave the
profession each year.
�
Only fifty to
sixty per cent of current teachers have been at their school for five years or
more.
�
Chronic teacher turnover forces
the department of education to rely on emergency hires and substitute teachers
to fill vacancies.
�
The legislature
further finds that teacher recruitment and retention are especially difficult
at hard-to-staff schools.

����
The legislature additionally finds
that Hawaii's high cost of living is a significant contributing factor in the
department of education's teacher recruitment and retention efforts.
�
According to a WalletHub study, Hawaii ranked
fifty-first out of fifty states and the District of Columbia for starting
teacher salary and median teacher salary, adjusted for cost of living.

����
The purpose of this Act is to
alleviate the financial burden on teachers and improve teacher recruitment and
retention by establishing a teacher housing assistance program to provide
housing vouchers to qualified full-time teachers who are employed by the
department of education or a charter school and teach at a hard to staff
school, as determined by the department, including public charter schools.

����
SECTION 2.
�
Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to subpart E, part III to be appropriately
designated and to read as follows:

����
"
�302A-
�
Teacher
housing assistance program.
�
(a)
�
There
is established a teacher housing assistance program to be administered by the
department to provide housing vouchers to eligible teachers.
�
If the number of applications exceeds the
number of available housing vouchers, housing vouchers shall be provided to
eligible teachers through a lottery process.

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(b)
�
A housing voucher provided under this section
shall be used for:

����
(1)
�
Rent for the
eligible teacher's primary residence;

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(2)
�
Mortgage
payments for the eligible teacher's primary residence; or

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(3)
�
Down payment on
residential real property; provided that the property shall be the eligible
teacher's primary residence.

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(c)
�
A housing voucher shall not exceed $700 per
month or the eligible teacher's monthly rent or mortgage payment, whichever is
less.
�
A housing voucher granted pursuant
to this section shall be applicable for one year.
�
The voucher shall be renewable for one
additional year.

����
(d)
�
Upon the establishment of the teacher housing
assistance program, the department shall develop an application procedure and
processes, procedures, and forms necessary to implement and maintain the
program.
�
The department shall work with
the state public charter school commission to develop a process to verify that
an eligible charter school teacher satisfies the criteria listed in subsection
(j).

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(e)
�
Applications for housing vouchers shall be
made to the department and contain the information required by rules adopted by
the department.
�
At a minimum, the
applicant shall:

����
(1)
�
Be an eligible
teacher;

����
(2)
�
Agree to use
state funds exclusively for the purposes of this section;

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(3)
�
Indicate
capability to properly use the voucher for the purposes of this section;

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(4)
�
Comply with
other requirements as the department may require;

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(5)
�
Comply with all
applicable federal, state, and county laws, rules, and ordinances;

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(6)
�
Agree to
indemnify and save harmless the State and its officers, agents, and employees
from and against any and all claims arising out of or resulting from the use of
vouchers pursuant to this section, and procure sufficient insurance to provide
this indemnification if requested to do so by the department; and

����
(7)
�
Agree to make
available to the department all records the applicant may have relating to the
voucher, to allow state agencies to monitor the applicant's compliance with
this section.

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(f)
�
If a voucher recipient fails to satisfy the
work requirements in accordance with subsection (j)(4), the recipient shall
repay the total amount of voucher funds received as a loan repayable to the
department.
�
The repayment shall be
subject to the terms and conditions set by the department, including
circumstances under which recipients may be eligible for deferment or
forgiveness due to hardship or inability to secure employment and potential
fees relating to the collection of delinquent repayment.

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(g)
�
Voucher funds repaid by the voucher recipient
pursuant to subsection (f) shall be deposited into the teachers' housing
revolving fund established pursuant to section 302A-833.

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(h)
�
In accordance with chapter 103D, the
department may enter into written contracts with collection agencies to collect
delinquent repayment of vouchers owed to the department pursuant to subsection
(f).
�
A collection agency that enters
into a written contract with the department to collect delinquent voucher
repayments pursuant to this section may collect a fee from the debtor in
accordance with the terms of, and up to the amounts authorized in, the written
contract.

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(i)
�
The department may adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 91 to effectuate the purpose of this section.

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(j)
�
For the purposes of this section,
"eligible teacher" means a person who:

����
(1)
�
Is a full-time
teacher;

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(2)
�
Has taught at a
public school or public charter school in the State for at least one year
before the application date;

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(3)
�
Is employed by
the department or a public charter school;

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(4)
�
Commits to
teach at a hard-to-staff school, as determined by the department, or a public
charter school for no less than five consecutive years;

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(5)
�
Resides in the
State;

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(6)
�
Does not own,
operate, rent, or control any residential real property in addition to the
eligible teacher's primary residence for which the housing voucher is sought;
and

����
(7)
�
Has a household
income below eighty per cent of the area median income.
"

����
SECTION
3
.
�
Section
302A-833, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to
read as follows:

����
"(b)
�
The revolving fund may be used by the
department of education for any and all of the purposes of teachers' housing,
including the [
planning,
]
:

����
(1)
�
Planning,

construction, maintenance, and operation of teachers' housing[
, as well as
for the salaries
]
;

����
(2)
�
Teacher housing
assistance program pursuant to section 302A- ; and

����
(3)
�
Salaries
of
the necessary personnel in charge thereof."

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SECTION 4.
�
There is appropriated out of the teachers'
housing revolving fund the sum of
$ or so much
thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the provision of
housing vouchers through the teacher housing assistance program established by
this Act.

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The sum appropriated shall be
expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

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SECTION 5.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

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SECTION 6.
�
This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Teacher
Housing Assistance Program; Teacher Recruitment and Retention; Teachers'
Housing Revolving Fund; Appropriation

Description:

Establishes
the Teacher Housing Assistance Program to provide housing vouchers to certain
eligible teachers.
�
Appropriates funds
out of the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.