The kind of playbook Hawaii lawmakers need

by Keli'i Akina, Ph.D., President / CEO, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii

It’s that time of year again — the Sunday in February when many of us gather with family and friends to eat delicious food and tune in to watch the Super Bowl. This year, the Patriots and Seahawks will take the field, each having made it to the championship game by following their winning playbooks.

Coincidentally, the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii has just unveiled its own playbook of sorts for addressing the state’s housing needs. And as Grassroot president, I’m going to do something most coaches would never do: make it available to everyone.

Grassroot’s new “Hawaii housing policy playbook” outlines 10 policies that research has shown could encourage more homebuilding, which would make housing in our state more abundant and affordable. 

As I note in the playbook’s preface, we are past the time for tinkering at the margins. State and county lawmakers have started taking small steps to lift some of the many regulations that have stifled homebuilding in Hawaii, but bold action is needed to pare back decades of bad policy.

Grassroot’s state-level recommendations include implementing a single statewide building code, reforming the state Land Use Commission and making it easier to build manufactured and small-scale multiunit housing.

At the county level, we recommend removing parking mandates, decreasing minimum lot sizes and repealing inclusionary zoning rules that actually limit affordable housing construction.

I am happy to report that Hawaii lawmakers seem to understand the value of our approach to housing reform. Nearly all of the suggestions in our playbook were introduced as bills in the 2026 legislative session, and several of those bills made it through their initial committee hearing earlier this week. They include: 

>> SB2190 and HB1741, both of which would scale back inclusionary zoning requirements.

>> HB1919, which would eliminate minimum parking mandates for certain developments.

>> HB1734, which proposes reforming several county regulations, such as minimum lot-size requirements, parking mandates, setback rules and height limitations.

>> HB1742 and HB1719, which would allow self-contained relocatable housing and manufactured housing.

>> HB1725, which proposes streamlining Hawaii’s process of adopting building codes.

>> HB1738, which would increase the land acreage cap on LUC district boundary amendments.

Having all of these housing bills move forward is a great way to start the session, and we’ve only just begun.

But success ultimately depends on how we come together as a team, and we are counting on your help. You can visit Grassroot’s “Take action” page to learn more about these and other bills, and even submit your own testimony.

With your support — and this new playbook as our guide — I believe we can have a winning season.

E hana kākou! (Lets work together!)