>> McKinley has Fington, Moana, Maui, Mulan. They're in there. >> Yeah. Right. I know. A lot of people take advantage of that. >> Yeah. Especially the GED for Fington. That's really a strong program. >> Right. So, um what what changed at the federal level that requires this measure? >> Oh, the language. It's outdated and it doesn't include workforce or workplace uh literacy. So we it's really important that we change the language to be in sync with what the federal government is requiring us to do. >> Okay. >> And is there any cost to this? >> No cost. >> Okay. Well, thank you. We appreciate having no cost. Okay. >> Question. I'll come back. >> Helen, hold on. >> So Helen, if we update these standards, are we going to be able to access more federal funds or what's what's the upside other than it's old?
I think what'll happen is they'll continue um providing us with the necessary funds to continue our programs. >> So that potentially is in jeopardy if we don't update. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. >> But there's no more new funds that you could access. >> I wish. [laughter] >> Would be nice. Thank you. >> Talk to your congressman. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Okay. No other questions. We're moving on to House Bill 2122. House draft one. uh establishes the teacher housing assistance program to provide housing vouchers to certain eligible [clears throat] teachers appropriate funds out of the teachers housing revolving fund. Uh we have [clears throat] again Keith Hayashi from DOE Sean Chair Kim Senator Dort and Senator Hashimoto Shan Bacon speaking on behalf of the Department of Education. We stand on our written testimony providing comments. And just to expand a little bit, the department really supports the intent which um aims to address our teacher recruitment and retention um issues by establishing this teacher housing voucher.
We recognize really the high cost of living here within this the state of Hawaii. Um and this could be one of the barriers um to to help. I think um we do highlight in our testimony though that this does would require some additional administrative resources I think to run this program. Um trying to determine eligibility, monitoring the um it would require them to um work in a hard to staff location for up to 5 years and monitoring that and any failure to do that would require a repayment. So there would be additional monitoring that would need to happen during this time.
But we definitely support the intent and are available for any questions. >> Okay. Thank you. Edno charter schools not here. Um Jan Mau uh Joy Bolan comments. Aloha chair and senator Sarah Milan on behalf of HSCA. So, I've been teaching public title one schools for 21 years. I have a degree and a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. Um, I also got my certification through Teach for America because I believe in public service. Um, I'm one of your state's few computer science teachers and I make $55,000 a year. And I say that to say for my rent in Wii, I stay right below the comp. I pay 3,000 a month for my rent and I have two children under three. So, that that daycare is about another $3,000. So, my teacher salary does not even pay housing and childare. [laughter] I mean, here's the thing.
You offer I know I know, but I love what I do and [laughter] >> but I think about that. But I mean, that happens. I've had other people offer me to be like, "Hey, Millie, here's your card." Just being in this building as a teacher lobbyist being like, "I would pay you way much more to do other things. I love what I do and I'm good at what I do and I want to keep doing it." And I'm I'm mid-career educator. So, how do I coach these new teachers? I mean, so I'm also the Leeward chapter president. So 3,000 teachers from Macaha to Pearl City, like I kind of help them with an HSTA and they're living five to a to a two-bedroom as new teachers. Um they're taking Zoom meetings from their cars because they can't go ahead and have residency and how do I encourage the next generation of teachers if they don't have housing.
So please support. >> Okay. Um Sher Manor chamber. >> Hi. Good afternoon chair, members of the committee, chamber stand on testimony and support. >> Okay. We have Luke Noa G in support on Zoom. Hi Luke. >> Hi. Aloha. Senator Kim, Senator uh Senator Court, and Senator Hashimoto. Uh my name is Luke Noha Gi. I am a junior or 11th grader at Kala High School on the Big Island of Havi. And um I stand before you today in strong support of HB 2122. And um the main reason why I'm here is because I like to talk to my teachers a lot. And when they tell me like, "Oh, what is it like to be a teacher?" I often hear about the struggles that they have to go through, especially living here in Havi in a place with such high cost of living. And the number one thing that I hear is that housing is the biggest issue for them.
For every single teacher that I have talked to about what makes teaching hard for them, they always tell me that they cannot afford to live here or they cannot afford to live on a teacher salary and afford all the housing that has to do um in our place. A lot of teachers that I know have to live with have to live in multi- um have to live with other roommates who are other teachers who live in studios. And really I think that we should be supporting our teachers because when we support our teachers, we support our students and as students I understand just how much teachers matter every single day and they don't they only support us more than academically but also personally. So I respectfully urge you to support HB2122. Mahalo. >> Look, are you going to be a teacher? >> [laughter] >> Not after he found about the pain.
>> Yeah. No, that's >> I want to I want to, but I'm trying to I'm trying to set myself up for later. >> Okay. Well, we appreciate your your testimony today. Well done. Thank you. Uh Mia Nishiuchi on Zoom. >> Not present on Zoom. Chair, >> thank you. Uh let's see. We have 2 4 6 8 nine others in support. Uh anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure? Okay.
Hearing none, we are open for questions. Members, any questions? Yes, I have a couple questions. Who should I ask this to? Um did we hear from >> They're not here. >> Oh, >> yeah. >> Jay and Mustard. >> Go ahead. This Jesse, maybe you can come up. I know this is not your bill, but hopefully you know this. >> So, how how much is in the U the housing revolving fund right now? The teacher housing revolving fund. Is it substantial? >> You know, I just don't know the answer. >> That's under you, right? >> You administer fund is Yes, it is. Yeah. >> Okay. >> I don't have that information in front of me. I'm sorry. >> Just anecdotally though, you have is there enough to support this kind of thing? vouchers because I think that my concern is we you guys were coming in in your this year's budget for the the fixing up of the cottages, right?
>> That's right. >> And you guys didn't have enough money in the revolving fund to pay for that, right? >> We needed money to help. Yeah. >> But you guys were going to tap into the fund first. >> Um that's part of it. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Maybe you can get that to us. >> I will. Thank you. >> So, why don't you stay there then? Um what kind of what kind of inventory do you think the state has um to be able to because obviously we're not going to be able to build all the housing that teacher housing. So it's if you give vouchers out for for rents, rental assistance, are there enough supply out there for at at what what we can afford to to pay for teachers that need housing in some of these areas? I haven't done an analysis on this particular bill, but um the vouchers can help with rentals.
Uh you know, there are other issues affecting the supply of rentals out in the market. Uh supply is an issue. Um SFA is here. They're working on housing. Uh so that helps increase supply. U the vouchers can help though. >> Okay. Well, again, and you know, this is a particular bill, but I would hope that DOE looking at all all everything, it's like, you know, what are options for teachers? What are option for teacher housing? Is there enough inventory out there? Um that even if we we pass this and and they given them funding, but if they can't go anywhere to rent um for that kind of funds, then where are we, right? And if we have to build, then what's that? So I would hope that you guys are looking at all the aspects. Um there's enough of you folks in in administration that you should have people that are looking at all these things.
>> Yeah, it's part of a larger package. I think what what you're getting at the vouchers is one part. We have the Lahina housing on Maui that's opened up and it's taking um applications and rentals. There's the housing that SFA is working on uh Milani. So there's there's projects that you know we're helping to coordinate. That's not our major mission at DOE to build housing, but that's some of it. Um we do rely on our partners to get housing out there. >> Okay. Well, there's a lot of things that you folks are doing that's not your major mission and you folks are doing it. So we keep accepting all of these added added things and there's many bills which I'm not going to hear because I don't necessarily think that it's the role of DOE should be doing it. But I think you guys got to do a better job in in letting us know what is your role and and you need to focus in on that role and do the best you can because now it's like you're master of everything, right?
We're jack of all trades and master of none. So >> I agree. >> Thank you. >> Oh, okay. Okay. Go ahead. >> So for the for the Lahina um housing, is that under your shop or is that under somebody else? Well, that was started before me in our shop though. Yeah. >> But the maintenance and the ongoing rentals that's that's through you. >> So what is so how is that working? Because is there no issues with collective bargaining on and those or are you teach are you using that as just similar to how you're using the teacher cottages >> because I know I don't know if you if you read through the testimony collective bargaining chief negotiator as concerns with this particular bill but I don't know if how we're getting around that in with Lahina Housing. Well, for for housing projects generally, my understanding um working on past projects is that uh there aren't, you know, there aren't union jobs involved in housing projects necessarily.
Um for this particular project, the Lina housing that there's um there's a a development and operation agreement for a period of time and then we'll need to figure out what we do after that. No, I mean what? So, are you giving this I guess the question is if you give it for free to a a teacher that works for the DOE that's probably a fringe benefit, right? >> Well, the for the Lahina housing is not free. It's a >> Is it discounted? >> Yeah, it's like affordable rent. Yeah. >> Okay. So, but you guys aren't considering that a fringe benefit then. It's just >> No, we're not treating that. >> We're paying the full amount, but you got you just happen to have to be a teacher, >> right? It's developed to be affordable. >> Okay. So is that is that the way that the DOE is trying to figure out that's the best way to move forward with other developments or >> in that particular project it was to meet a particular need after the Lahina wildfires.
Um >> I'm not sure that's a programmatic thing we're going to be doing moving forward building housing workforce >> housing probably you're going to rely on SFA then >> that's their in their wheelhouse. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you chair questions for [clears throat] >> Yeah. Thank you. Uh in your testimony, you had shared that the passing of this measure would require additional staff um resources, uh process application, verify ele eligibility, administer program, that kind of stuff. Um any idea how much you folks will need or how much something like that is going to cost? >> I have to defer to Shauna on that. >> Thank you for the question. I think it's something we're going to really have to look at, but I think it may involve several areas of the department between Office of Human Resources where we're actually going to be needing to evaluate the criteria, uh, working with our payroll department to ensure that the vouchers go out on a, uh, monthly basis.
Going to have to evaluate on a monthly basis, too, to make sure that they continue to meet the criterion eligibility. Also, it talks about that in in the event that they did didn't receive the voucher and then didn't meet the criteria um that there's a repayment process and we may have to be working with uh loan recovery um experts too. So, I think that there it would require several additional staff staff members to be able to run and operate this appropriately. >> Yeah, cuz the vouchers it just seems to me like the incentive it's kind of like lowhanging fruit, right, for the teachers. um is to be able to have those vouchers to help subsidize their housing costs. Um and so um >> because it talks about that you could use it for rent or for a mortgage or other types of things. >> I think that we need you know we want to make sure we want to make sure it's not going to impact the department's current budget.
I mean there is it's blanked out at this point right now how much money would actually be appropriated for this. We'd have to then determine an appropriate voucher amount and and work through that. But it would be an additional administrative burden on the department to run this program. Okay. But we but we support the intent because we you know it helps to support our mission of recruitment and retention of our educators here in our schools. >> Yeah. But supporting the intent is good, but then to backdoor that with now we need more money and more staff. Like that's the the scary part is and I understand that these things do take manpower. I understand that. Um, but uh we've got to find incentives for these teachers somewhere. Um, and I don't know if tweaking your guys' budget or or something, but we need to really come to the table to figure out how we're going to incentivize the teachers to continue to be teachers.
And for the ones that want to be teachers, but maybe they can't afford to be teachers, uh, there has to be something a little bit more um, beneficial for them. So, thank you. Thank you for that. Thank you, >> Chair. Okay. So, [clears throat] why aren't we looking at why why is the DOE looking at the bigger picture? And I think that's why we're in the situation we're in now because you know what? That's not supposed to be in your wheelhouse. You shouldn't even be saying, "Oh, we're going to work on this. Yeah, we support this, but you know what? This belongs in the housing department. We we're not there to determine what the subsidies are going to be, who's going to elig." That's what housing does. They do it for affordable. They do it for all of that. So DOE needs to start looking and saying, you know what, this we support this as teacher housing, but the implementation of this program belongs in the housing department.
So our your your testimony should be saying and you should be telling legislators that they need to put it in the proper place because why are we going to create a little mini housing um group in in DOE? Again, that's just one more thing that you guys got to do, right? And that's not in your wheelhouse. So, let's get with the program and say, you know what, legislators get it right. We got we got to put it in the right place because they have the personnel, they understand the market, they all of that, right? So >> you guys got to focus in on some of this stuff so that it's not keep accepting all of these things because it's so easy for legislators to want to throw everything into DOE and you folks are sitting there accepting it passively or passively saying oh no you know we don't think it but we'll we'll take it if you give us more money.
No, that shouldn't even be in your wheelhouse at this point. >> Understand? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you, Senator. Um, SFA Ricky, can you call up? >> Sure. >> County School Facilities Authority. >> So, Ricky, do we have do we have inventory to support a voucher system for teacher rentals or teacher um housing? >> So, these remote areas has 55 units that are really should be torn down and rebuilt. Um, >> what what should be torn down and rebuilt? >> The cottages. Oh, you're talking about the >> Unfortunately, I used to run this. There are 55 units. Half of them should be torn down. The balance of the fund is about $300,000. That's all there is in there. So, so yeah, there these are remote areas. >> Yeah. So, why are we in that sit this situation? >> I think it was um it was under public housing.