HONOLULU — Taking a cue from Boston, where the wait for public housing can be up to five years, the Honolulu City Council advanced a bill on Monday that would require all city housing programs and initiatives to give preference to Oahu residents.

What You Need To Know

  • Bill 19 (2024), introduced by Council members Radiant Cordero and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, addresses ongoing population decline driven by high cost of living and a lack of affordable housing

  • More than 67,000 residents left the state between 2021 and 2022 and, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a majority of Native Hawaiians — 55% — now live outside the state
  • Bill 19 is modeled after a section of the City of Boston Municipal Code

  • Bill 19 extends its requirement of preference for Honolulu County residents to every city program or initiative that 'promotes or is intended to promote the provision of housing.' This includes housing funded by Honolulu taxpayer dollars, or developed, purchased or managed by the city

Bill 19 (2024), introduced by Council members Radiant Cordero and Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, addresses the ongoing population decline driven by the high cost of living and a lack of affordable housing. 

As the lawmakers noted, more than 67,000 residents left the state between 2021 and 2022, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a majority of Native Hawaiians — 55% — now live outside the state. According to a 2019 Kamehameha Schools Strategy and Transformation Group report, another 40% of Native Hawaiian residents thought about or were planning to leave.

“For decades, our residents have been calling for relief from high housing costs and for the creation of more affordable housing,” Cordero said in a release issued on Monday. “This measure seeks to ensure that our residents come first and that any housing created by the city or with city funds will first be offered to those who live and work here on Oahu.”

Bill 19 is modeled after a section of the Boston Municipal Code, which states, “It is the policy of the city of Boston to ensure that every program and/or initiative which targets or intends to target housing and was/is created, developed, implemented, administered, required, supervised, managed, and/or guided by the City of Boston shall, to the greatest extent allowable under law, include a preference for Boston residents. Since this policy instills only a preference for Boston residents, it does not, and it is not the intention of this policy to, exclude non-residents of the city of Boston from such programs and/or initiatives. This policy shall be construed broadly to effect the intended purpose of installing the aforementioned preference.”

Bill 19 extends its preference requirement for Honolulu County residents to every city program or initiative that “promotes or is intended to promote the provision of housing.” 

This includes housing funded by Honolulu taxpayer dollars or developed, purchased, or managed by the city.

“We lose dozens of local people every day,” Dos Santos-Tam said. “If you’ve lived here long enough, you’ve undoubtedly seen it. You’ve had to say goodbye to your uncles and aunties, your siblings, your cousins, and your children or grandchildren. This can’t continue. Prioritizing Oahu residents in our city-funded affordable housing programs is just common sense. Oahu residents deserve to be first in line for city-funded housing, plain and simple.”

To qualify, housing applicants must be full-time residents of the city (as defined under Hawaii Revised Statutes 235-1), including anyone domiciled in the city or residing there for at least 200 days. 

The definition also includes the qualifications outlined in HRS 11-13, which defines a city resident as someone for whom Oahu is the place of their residence, where that person’s habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person intends to return.

The measure passed the first reading by the full council and is expected to be heard in committee on April 3.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.