Government Affairs Update
January 25, 2008
SMART GROWTH TASK FORCE
A Task Force was created by the House of Representatives to develop legislation relating to Smart Growth, land use, and development. The Task Force led by Representative Sharon Har was composed of various constituencies including representatives from the Hawaii Association of REALTORS® Government Affairs Committee.
SMART GROWTH ORIENTATION
To really hit the message home about Smart Growth, HAR’s Government Affairs Committee sponsored a forum to discuss these principles with legislators. Representative Sharon Har and Kirk Caldwell opened the event with great news about the outcomes of the Task Force and their Smart Growth plans for the upcoming 2008 session.
In front of a standing-room-only crowd, Ken Chong shared his wisdom and experience through similarities between Smart Growth principles of today and those done when developing Hawaii Kai. The dynamic speaker Katherine Perez discussed transient-oriented development initiatives being conducted in Oakland stressing the importance of this issue since the new transit system is being planned for by the City & County of Honolulu.
OPENING SESSION AND SMART GROWTH
The opening session was kicked off on February 16th with great speeches by Governor Linda Lingle, House Speaker Calvin Say, and Senate President Colleen Hanabusa. To top it off there was great news! One of the House Majority’s main issues this session is Smart Growth--making front page news in the Honolulu Advertiser.
The Government Affairs Committee and Staff are vigilantly keeping an eye on the issues to effectively represent all 10,000 members of the Association. To keep you updated on the issues there will be weekly summaries of the important issues and testimonies as they come up.
TESTIMONIES
H.B. 2251 allows the rescission of a transaction by the equity seller within two years of the date of the recording of the conveyance of the residential real property in foreclosure or default.
HAR supported the intent of the bill. Although the goal of protecting homeowners from unscrupulous business practices was noble the unintended consequences would be a chilling effect on the housing market and on potential buyers of foreclosed properties.
S.B. 2046 requires the resident manager, condo association, owner, or other similar person to survey the residents of the building to establish each resident’s medical or critical person needs.
HAR opposed this bill as it would potentially violate the Fair Housing Act which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all types of housing transactions. Currently it is the applicant who should come forward and identify themselves as having special needs.
The majority of the testifiers expressed concerns and opposed the survey provision. > Go to the list of testimonies submitted for this bill.
For the most current and detailed information on bills, go to http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov for bill status and descriptions.