The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs on March 5, 2026.
_____________
March 5, 2026, 2 p.m.
Hawaii State Capitol
Conference Room 325 and Videoconference
To: House Committee on Judiciary & 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 HB1721 HD1 — RELATING TO HOUSING
Aloha Chair, Vice Chair and other Committee members,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports HB1721 HD1, which would clarify liability rules for professionals participating in the self-certification program established by Act 295 (2025).
This self-certification program has the opportunity to streamline the permitting process for single-family and multifamily homes, because it allows licensed architects and engineers to sign off on their own permits if the county permitting agency does not approve them within a certain time frame.
Streamlining this process is critical because Hawaii suffers from chronic permitting delays, which were reported by the Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawai‘i to have been 188 days for single-family homes and 410 days for multifamily homes, on average, over the last five years.[1]
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
_____________
[1] Daniela Bond-Smith, Trey Gordner and Rachel Inafuku et al., “The Hawaii Housing Factbook 2025,” Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawai‘i, May 14, 2025, p. 27.
