The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the House Committee on Labor on Feb. 19, 2026.
_____________
Feb. 19, 2026, 9:30 a.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 309 and Videoconference
To: House Committee on Labor
Rep. Jackson D. Sayama, Chair
Rep. Mike Lee, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF HB2325 HD1 — RELATING TO CIVIL SERVICE EXEMPT POSITIONS WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair and other Committee members,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports HB2325 HD1, which would exempt certain positions in the State Historic Preservation Division and the Commission on Water Resource Management from the state civil service law.
This measure would help SHPD and CWRM attract and retain staff who could help reduce the permitting review delays that currently plague both agencies.
Both agencies suffer from significant vacancies. SHPD had 54 budgeted positions in fiscal year 2025 but only 34 filled positions,[1] while CWRM had 33 budgeted positions and just 19 filled positions.[2]
Permit review agencies such as SHPD and CWRM need either more employees or less regulations to enforce. In reality, they probably need both.
A 2025 Grassroot white paper, “Preserving the past or preventing progress?”, analyzed SHPD data and found that more than 90% of the projects the agency reviewed from 2021 to 2024 were determined to have no impact on historic properties.
The average review time during that period was 94 days; however, the division reviewed less than half of the applications it had received during that period.
Meanwhile, according to CWRM’s variance report, the agency met its target review times for only one-third of the 86 permits it processed in fiscal 2025.[3]
All of these delays contribute to Hawaii’s housing crisis. Indeed, the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawai‘i has found that Hawaii’s housing regulations are the strictest in the country, and “approval delays” for housing developments are three times longer than the national average among communities surveyed.[4]
The exemptions from civil service requirements proposed in this bill would give both agencies the flexibility to increase pay scales for certain jobs, which in turn could make it easier to attract applicants.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
_____________
[1] “Culture and Recreation Variance Report,” Hawaii Department of Budget and Finance, Dec. 2, 2025, p. 10.
[2] “Environmental Protection Variance Report,” Hawaii Department of Budget and Finance, Dec. 2, 2025, p. 18.
[3] Ibid, p. 18.
[4] Rachel Inafuku, Justin Tyndall and Carl Bonham, “Measuring the Burden of Housing Regulation in Hawaii,” The Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawai‘i, April 14, 2022, p. 6.
