HONOLULU– Hawaii lawmakers will meet this week for the first time since the burning of historic Lahaina woke the state to the deadly and costly threat posed by wildfires in an era of climate change.
The tragedy once again focused the attention of legislators. Now, fighting and preventing wildfires and helping the island of Maui recover from the flames top the agenda when the Hawaii Legislature returns for a new session this week.
“It really pushed us to move forward in a different way,” said state Rep. Nadine Nakamura, House Majority Leader and a Democrat.
The August 8 fire killed 100 people, destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and displaced 12,000 people. Experts estimate it will cost $5.5 billion to replace structures exposed to the fire.
Investigators are still studying how the fire started. Strong winds whipped up by a powerful hurricane that passed south of Hawaii helped the flames spread quickly, as did drought and fire-prone non-native grasses.
Another fire in early August burned about 20 homes in Kula, a town on the slopes of the Haleakala volcano.
House Democrats will look at wildfire prevention needs across the state and develop an understanding of what the state Department of Land and Natural Resources needs to do a better job, Nakamura said.
A House wildfire prevention task force was formed after the fire and recommended a series of new measures, including a public awareness campaign to prevent fires from starting and tax or insurance incentives for fireproofing structures. of forest fires. The task force recommended that the state maintain firefighting aircraft and other equipment specifically for fighting wildfires.
The Senate majority said in a news release that it was committed to forming a fire risk task force and seeking permanent funding for the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, which is a center for wildfire prevention and mitigation. .
Democrats have overwhelming majorities in both chambers, controlling 44 of 50 seats in the House (one seat is vacant) and 23 of 25 seats in the Senate.
Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, in December asked lawmakers to allocate $425 million for Maui cleanup and emergency housing, and millions more to reduce the risk of wildfires across the state.
Colin Moore, a political science professor at the University of Hawaii, said it was clear after Lahaina that state agencies need more money to manage forests and other natural resources. That could help revive a proposal considered last year to charge visitors for a one-year pass to visit state parks and trails.
The bill would be popular during an election year, Moore said.
“That’s the kind of thing lawmakers will want to announce in their re-election campaigns,” he said.
Nakamura said the Maui fires exacerbated a problem that existed long before: the proliferation of vacation rentals across the state.
Thousands of Lahaina residents who lost their homes in the fire are still living in hotels five months after the fire because there is not enough housing for them, even though tourists rent condos to each other. Many wildfire evacuees have left Maui because they can’t find a place to live.
Lawmakers could revisit legislation that failed before that would give counties the authority to phase out short-term rentals, Nakamura said.
An analysis by the University of Hawaii estimates that vacation rentals represent 15% of Maui’s housing stock. In Lahaina, the ratio is 40%.
Moore hopes lawmakers will continue to try to address one of Hawaii’s most persistent challenges: a statewide housing shortage and high housing costs that are fueling an exodus of Native Hawaiians and other local residents from the state. But any measures would likely be “marginal reforms” rather than dramatic reforms, he said.
“I think we’re going to see more of what we’ve seen in the past, which is trying to figure out what the right mix of regulatory reforms, subsidies and rental assistance is,” Moore said.
He said the people who most need affordable housing are a large, disorganized group that has little influence in the Legislature. Groups that care passionately about regulations that restrict or delay housing construction (for example, rules governing historic preservation or environmental regulation) are better able to mobilize and advocate, she said.
Nakamura said zoning will be pushed to allow more housing on individual lots and to put money into funds that subsidize affordable housing development.
There is a widespread understanding that Hawaii needs more shelter for residents, Nakamura said, recounting how he has spoken to business leaders and people in the tourism and health care industries who say their workers need housing.
“If they can’t find an affordable rental and use their skills in Hawaii, then we will all lose,” he said.