The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs on Feb. 24, 2026.
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Feb. 24, 2026, 2 p.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 325 and Videoconference
To: House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs
Rep. David A. Tarnas, Chair
Rep. Mahina Poepoe, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF HB1844 HD1 — RELATING TO THE LAND USE COMMISSION
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair and other Committee members,
The Grassroot Institute supports HB1844 HD1, which would require the state Land Use Commission to redistrict lands to the urban district if those lands are designated for urban growth under certain county plans. It would specify that this mechanism would only trigger if the county applied to the LUC for the redistricting.
This bill correctly identifies and addresses one of the major causes for the slow growth of housing in this state: the delays caused by multiple layers of bureaucratic approvals.
The Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawai‘i has found that Hawaii’s average permit approval delay is more than three times the national average. The UHERO report notes that “Extreme delays in permitting will generate significant costs and uncertainty for developers, creating a disincentive for
new projects.”[1]
The LUC is a major contributor to permitting delays. Established over 60 years ago, the LUC was intended to protect and manage Hawaii’s four land-use designations — urban, rural, agricultural and conservation. Today, less than five percent of land in Hawaii is designated for urban use under the LUC’s maps.[2]
In 2020, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii produced a report, “Reform the Hawaii LUC to encourage more housing,” that focused heavily on ways to reduce the scope of the LUC, which would free it up to focus on statewide environmental issues and district boundary amendments of conservation lands, as well as operate more efficiently in general.[3]
This bill would also maintain protections for Hawaii’s rural and agricultural areas by specifying that this process would only apply to lands that counties have already identified for future urban development.
For anyone who wants to see more homes built for Hawaii residents, enacting this bill would be an important and very welcome step forward. We urge the committee to pass this bill.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Rachel Inafuku, Justin Tyndall and Carl Bonham, “Measuring the Burden of Housing Regulation in Hawaii,” Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawai‘i, April 14, 2022, p.7.
[2] Jonathan Helton, “How to facilitate more homebuilding in Hawaii,” Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, December 2023, p. 5.
[3] Jackson Grubbe, “Reform the Hawaii LUC to encourage more housing,” Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, September 2020.
