Proposed tax increase to fund homeless services not likely to advance in legislature

A bill that would have raised a tax to support affordable housing and homeless services isn't likely to be heard this session.

Senate Bill 678 would have raised the state conveyance tax on homes selling for more than $2 million. The proposal would increase the tax from 2% to 6%. Expected revenues from the tax would go to the state for land conservation, the state's rental housing revolving fund, and to expand support to homeless services.

The measure was scheduled to be heard on Feb. 7 by two Senate committees. But it has since been deferred, with the likelihood that it won't be heard this session.

“We need a hearing on this bill,” said Kenna StormoGipson, housing policy director at the advocacy group Hawaiʻi Appleseed. “There's really no reason not to hear the bill, considering the amount of public testimony and support that it received.”

SB678 received nearly 100 pages of written testimony, with only two testifiers opposing it. According to Hawaiʻi Appleseed, more than a dozen houseless individuals on Kauaʻi were waiting to testify during the hearing. A majority of supporters cited the benefit of having a sustainable funding source for state homelessness efforts.