OPPOSE HB1: Profit Over People Building Codes
/And here we go again! HB1, a bad building code bill, has a hearing on Friday, January 31 at 9:15am in the House Committee on Housing (room 430). Please take a moment to submit testimony in opposition to this dangerous measure!
This bill is the companion to SB120, a bill that was deferred in the Senate Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee last week, thanks to the numerous testimonies and concerns that were submitted to the Committee members. Like SB120, HB1 would compromise the safety of local families, first responders, and entire neighborhoods, as well as the economic and environmental interests of our communities at large, by removing the State Building Code Council’s authority to update state building codes, and eliminating the automatic code updates that have kept our codes up-to-date with minimum international standards even while Governor Green’s emergency proclamation(s) have prohibited the Council from conducting its business.
Your testimony helped defeat SB120 (and SB48, another profit over people building code bill) last week! Please take a moment now to lend your voice one more time to help stop the House counterpart to that short-sighted, profit-driven proposal, and protect local families and our future society from bearing the economic, environmental, and human costs of outdated building standards.
See below for sample testimony and testimony instructions, and be sure to share this with anyone else who may wish to help safeguard our communities from this short-sighted proposal.
Sample testimony for HB1
Aloha Chair Evslin, Vice Chair Miyake, and Members of the Committee on Housing,
My name is [Your Name], and I oppose HB1 and its attempt to uplift developers’ short-term costs above the long-term safety, financial security, and well-being of Hawaiʻi’s residents and communities.
This bill would remove the State Building Code Council’s (SBCC) authority to update the state building code pursuant to international standards, and eliminate the automatic updates that have kept our building standards current notwithstanding the Governor’s emergency proclamations’ ongoing suspension of the SBCC. As recognized by the insurance industry and federal disaster funds, code updates are essential for protecting us from the growing threats of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other climate-related disasters. Without updates, health, safety, and cost improvements for building standards could face indefinite delays, leaving homes, families, and first responders more vulnerable in the years and decades to come.
Our building codes should prioritize safety, resilience, and long-term savings—not the short-term financial concerns of profit-driven corporate interests. Delaying updates will cost us all more in the long run, both in dollars and in our physical, economic, and environmental security.
I urge you to HOLD HB1 and ensure that Hawaiʻi’s building codes remain up to date to protect our homes, people, and communities.
Thank you for considering my testimony.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter "HB1" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!
*Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.
If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)
January 25 update:
Good news! The Senate Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs deferred BOTH SB120 and SB48, so they are essentially defeated for this session! Mahalo nui to everyone that submitted testimony in opposition to these bills, and mahalo nui loa to Committee Chair Elefante and Vice Chair Wakai for their leadership in deferring these measures.
SB48 & SB120 Bill Background
Here we go again! Two sneaky, bad bills that would sell out the safety and financial security of local families and first responders - as well as the economic and environmental interests of the community at large - will be considered TOMORROW, Friday, January 24, at 3pm. Please submit testimony to nip these short-sighted, profit-driven proposals in the bud, and protect local families and our future society from bearing the economic, environmental, and human costs of outdated building standards.
Your home is your safe space. You want it to be strong and protect your loved ones—especially during fires, natural disasters, or other emergencies. One major factor in creating a safe, resilient home is the building codes it adheres to - codes carefully designed and updated after years of study and discussion about safety, health, environmental burdens, and affordability, to ensure that the structures we occupy are safer, stronger, more efficient, and better prepared for the challenges we face today and in the future.
As climate change brings stronger hurricanes, more frequent flooding, drought-fed wildfires, and other extreme weather events, the risks to our homes and brick-and-mortar businesses have never been greater. Yet there is a push on the continent and now, here in Hawai‘i, to ignore building code updates that address these emerging threats, to reduce the up-front costs to developers at the long-term expense of local families, first responders, and taxpayers.
Some developers and builders argue that updating codes adds extra costs that will be passed on to homeowners. But the cost of not updating codes is far greater. New homes built to outdated standards are more vulnerable to damage or destruction during disasters, putting the health and safety of tenants and emergency workers at risk, driving up insurance costs, and forcing our children to inherit buildings that needlessly waste water and drain energy they will need for their society to thrive.
There are two bills scheduled for a hearing that would prioritize developer’s short-term profits over the health, safety, and economic interests of Hawaiʻi’s residents and our islands as a whole. SB48 and SB120 are scheduled to be heard on Friday, January 24 at 3pm in the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs. You can also watch the hearing live here. Take a moment now to submit testimony on these two bills that threaten the resilience of our homes and communities today and for decades to come.
What the bills do
SB48 requires the State Building Code Council to ask the building industry what building code updates would cost them - with no consideration of the long- and short-term economic, health, public safety, and environmental costs to residents and our islands.
SB120 does the same, while also removing the Council’s authority to update state building codes, and eliminating the automatic code updates that have kept our codes up-to-date with minimum international standards, despite Governor Green’s emergency proclamation(s) that have prohibited the council from conducting its business.
Sample testimony for SB48
Aloha Chair Elefante, Vice Chair Wakai, and Members of the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs,
My name is [Your Name], and I oppose SB48 and its attempt to uplift developers’ short-term costs above the long-term safety, financial security, and well-being of Hawaiʻi’s residents and communities.
Like others before it, this bill is once again seeking to focus your attention only on the up-front costs of building code compliance, to undermine the wide ranging benefits and values provided by heavily researched and well-vetted building code updates.
To be clear: delaying or deferring building code updates will come at the expense of local residents and visitors, first responders, and taxpayers, potentially for decades to come. This measure turns a blind eye to the long-term economic, health and safety, and environmental costs that will result from rejecting building code updates that protect building tenants, keep insurance rates stable, mitigate climate disaster impacts on our emergency response and healthcare systems, and make our homes and communities safer, stronger, and more affordable in the long run.
Clearly, we must not allow an assessment of the perceived short-term costs of building code updates to trump the health, safety, and economic interests of Hawaiʻi’s residents and our islands as a whole. This bill, however, would set the stage for decisionmakers to do just that.
I urge you to HOLD SB48.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Sample testimony for SB120
Aloha Chair Elefante, Vice Chair Wakai, and Members of the Committee on Public Safety and Military Affairs,
My name is [Your Name], and I oppose SB120 and its attempt to uplift developers’ short-term costs above the long-term safety, financial security, and well-being of Hawaiʻi’s residents and communities.
This bill would remove the State Building Code Council’s (SBCC) authority to adjust the state building code pursuant to international standards, and eliminate the automatic updates that have kept our building standards current notwithstanding the Governor’s emergency proclamations’ ongoing suspension of the SBCC. As recognized by the insurance industry and federal disaster funds, code updates are essential for protecting us from the growing threats of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other climate-related disasters. Without updates, health, safety, and cost improvements for building standards could face indefinite delays, leaving homes, families, and first responders more vulnerable in the years and decades to come.
Our building codes should prioritize safety, resilience, and long-term savings—not short-term financial concerns. Delaying updates will cost us all more in the long run, both in dollars and in security.
I urge you to HOLD SB120 and ensure that Hawaiʻi’s building codes remain up to date to protect our homes, communities, and future.
Thank you for considering my testimony.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Testimony instructions
Register for a capitol website account if you haven’t yet (youʻll need to confirm your registration by responding to an automated email)
Sign in to capitol.hawaii.gov with your registration information and click the "Submit Testimony" button.
Enter "SB48 or SB120" where it says "Enter Bill or Measure."
Input your information and your written testimony, select your testimony option(s)—in-person + written, remotely + written, written only. Please consider providing verbal testimony (in-person or remotely) if you are able!
*Note: Virtual testimony option may be disabled 24 hours before the hearing.
If you are testifying via Zoom, be sure to review these instructions (page 4)