RELATING TO TEACHER HOUSING.

Budget Education Housing

Active

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

Sponsor: POEPOE, BELATTI, EVSLIN, GARRETT, GRANDINETTI, HOLT, IWAMOTO, KILA, KITAGAWA, LA CHICA, LAMOSAO, LOWEN, MARTEN, MATAYOSHI, PERRUSO, QUINLAN, SOUZA, TAM, TARNAS
Last action: 2025-12-08
Official status: Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The exact amount of funding for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 is not specified.

Teacher Home Assistance Program

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

What This Bill Does

Establishes the Teacher Home Assistance Program to provide housing vouchers to certain eligible full-time teachers.
Limits the amount of each voucher to $500 per month or the teacher's monthly rent/mortgage payment, whichever is less.
Requires that teachers commit to teaching at a hard-to-fill school for five years to qualify for the program.
Funds the program through the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund.

Who It Names or Affects

Full-time teachers who work in public schools or charter schools in Hawaii and teach at hard-to-fill schools.
The Department of Education, which will manage the program.

Terms To Know

Housing Voucher: A certificate that allows a teacher to receive financial help with housing costs like rent or mortgage payments.
Hard-to-Fill School: A school where it is difficult to find and keep teachers, often due to location or other challenges.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify the exact amount of funding for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.
It is unclear how many teachers will be able to receive housing vouchers due to limited funds.

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 to provide housing vouchers to eligible full-time teachers working at hard-to-fill schools, aiming to improve teacher recruitment and retention in Hawaii.

Adds a new section to Chapter 302A of the Hawaii Revised Statutes to establish a teacher housing assistance program that provides housing vouchers for rent or mortgage payments up to $500 per month.
Amends Section 302A-833(b) to include the teacher housing assistance program as one of the purposes of the teachers' housing revolving fund.
Appropriates funds from the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to support the provision of housing vouchers through the new teacher housing assistance program.

The exact amount appropriated from the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund is not specified.
The amendment text includes placeholders such as '302A-' and '$ or so much thereof,' which need to be filled in for clarity.

HD2

Hawaii published version HD2

Plain English: The amendment establishes a teacher housing assistance program to provide financial support in the form of housing vouchers to qualified teachers working at hard-to-staff schools.

Adds a new section to Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 302A to establish a teacher housing assistance program that provides housing vouchers for eligible full-time teachers who work at hard-to-staff schools.
Specifies the conditions under which housing vouchers can be used, including rent and mortgage payments or down payments on residential real property.
Sets limits on voucher amounts ($500 per month) and duration (one year renewable).
Establishes requirements for applying for and using housing vouchers, including agreements to use funds exclusively for the program's purposes.

The exact amount of funding appropriated from the teachers' housing revolving fund is not specified.
Some details about eligibility criteria (such as household income limits) are incomplete in the provided text.

HD3

Hawaii published version HD3

Plain English: The amendment establishes a teacher housing assistance program to provide 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 to establish a teacher housing assistance program.
Amends Section 302A-833 to include funding for the teacher housing assistance program within the teachers' housing revolving fund.

The exact dollar amount and details on how applications will be processed are not specified in the provided text.

Bill History

2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-03-06 S
Referred to HOU/EDU, WAM.
2025-03-06 S
Passed First Reading.
2025-03-06 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 185).
2025-03-04 H
Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 3 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Pierick, Ward excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.
2025-02-28 H
Forty-eight (48) hours notice Tuesday, 03-04-25.
2025-02-28 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1035) as amended in HD 3, recommending passage on Third Reading.
2025-02-25 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Kitagawa, Ward.
2025-02-21 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Tuesday, 02-25-25 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-02-14 H
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Matayoshi, Poepoe, Ward excused (4).
2025-02-14 H
Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 754) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.
2025-02-13 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, Sayama, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Muraoka.
2025-02-11 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by EDN on Thursday, 02-13-25 2:00PM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-02-06 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on EDN with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Pierick voting no (1) and Representative(s) Ward excused (1).
2025-02-06 H
Reported from HSG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 217) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to EDN.
2025-02-05 H
The committee on HSG recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Evslin, Miyake, Grandinetti, Kila, Kitagawa, Muraoka; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 3 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, La Chica, Pierick.
2025-01-31 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by HSG on Wednesday, 02-05-25 9:00AM in House conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-01-21 H
Referred to HSG, EDN, FIN, referral sheet 1
2025-01-16 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2025-01-13 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO TEACHER HOUSING.
Teacher Home Assistance Program; Teacher Recruitment and Retention; Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund; Appropriation ($)
Establishes the Teacher Home Assistance Program to provide housing vouchers to certain eligible teachers. Appropriates funds out of the Teachers' Housing Revolving Fund. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD3)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB89

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

89

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

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‑fill
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.

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

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

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

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

����
(c)
�
A housing voucher shall not exceed $500 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 teacher satisfies the criteria listed in subsection (f).

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

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

����
(1)
�
Is a full-time
teacher;

����
(2)
�
Has taught at a
school in the State for at least one year prior to the application date;

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

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

����
(5)
�
Resides in the
State;

����
(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 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."

����
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 2025-2026 and the same sum 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.

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

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

����
SECTION 6.
�
This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

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

Description:

Establishes
the Teacher Home 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.