News Release from House Republican Caucus

Wednesday morning at 11:30 a.m., House Finance will hear three state-owned bank bills, including a task force and two new proposals to establish state banks. House Bill 1033 would establish the Clean Economy Bank of the State of Hawaii to provide financing support and risk management for qualifying clean economy projects to aid in the development of Hawaii’s clean energy economy and to lessen the State’s dependence on imported energy.

The new proposed draft of House Bill 2103 would gut the existing state-owned bank bill that would buy toxic mortgages and replaces it with a directive that DCCA conduct a comprehensive review of relevant state laws to develop legislation to establish a state-owned bank. In keeping with its original purpose, the bill also directs the Hawaii housing finance and development corporation to establish and operate an interim purchase program for distressed residential properties encumbered by problematic mortgages until the bank of the State of Hawaii is operational. The proposal includes a section that would deem the bank of the State of Hawaii licensed to engage in business on January 1, 2016. It requires that $500 million of state funds currently held in private institutions be transferred into the bank on January 1, 2016 with 75% of all state funds required to be held in depositories be held deposited into the bank by 2018.

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