Governor Green’s Housing Emergency Proclamation

On July 17, Governor Green signed an emergency order to "address" Hawaiʻi’s housing crisis, by exempting developers and agencies from major land use, planning, environmental review, historic protection, government transparency and fiscal accountability, and civil service laws.

The proclamation has since been amended to address our biggest concerns but it is worth noting that the original proclamation including troublesome and unconstitutional measures including: authorizing the aforementioned exemptions for any housing or housing-related project, regardless of affordability or lack thereof, that is “certified” by an arbitrarily selected “Build Beyond Barriers Working Group”; a Lead Housing Officer can also single-handedly authorize misleadingly-labeled “state or county projects” (including any private development that receives a single state or county waiver or exemption) to “proceed under the proclamation,” without even the Working Group’s approval.

The Build Beyond Barries Working Group continues to meet regularly even after amendments to the proclamation and we continue to express our concerns about the administration’s ideas to address Hawaiʻi’s housing crisis.

Please continue to stand with us by taking this pledge and signing up for housing proclamation email updates.

Below you will find more about our concerns regarding the proclamation, our recent work, and updates from our director regarding the Build Beyond Barriers Working Group.