Committees advance HB 1700 with ADA, Fair Housing safeguards and reporting

Senate joint committees on housing, health and human services, and energy advanced HB 1700 on March 19, approving amendments that add civil-rights safeguards and data reporting to an expedited permitting pilot for housing.

The committees adopted two substantive changes: language explicitly stating that any permitting expediting “is not going to come [to] compromise the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Fair Housing Act,” and a reporting requirement to collect numbers, types and geographic distribution of projects so the program can be evaluated, the committees said.

Supporters who testified said the bill targets a pressing need for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Jay Sober testified that he was submitting written testimony on behalf of Daintree Bartoldis and the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities and expressed support for measures that increase housing opportunities. Self-advocate Kai Swan told the committees that permitting delays keep people from securing independent housing and urged lawmakers to pass the bill, saying, “More housing means more independence and more choices for people with disabilities.”

Committee leaders recessed briefly to consider the amendments and then recommended passing HB 1700 as amended; the recommendation was adopted. The chair and vice chair voted aye and other named senators voted in the affirmative; two senators were recorded as excused. The committees did not specify an implementation timeline in today’s proceedings.

The measure will move forward with the added civil-rights language and data-reporting mandate; lawmakers said the reporting requirement is intended to allow evaluation of the pilot’s effect on permitting timelines and housing outcomes.