Taxes paid on real estate sales in Hawaii could become a lot higher for multimillion-dollar properties to fund development of Hawaiian homesteads and housing infrastructure near transit hubs.

Two competing bills pending at the state Legislature propose restructuring Hawaii’s conveyance tax, which gets applied when real estate, including homes, is sold.

Of the two measures, a bill
originating in the House of Representatives aimed to generate much more additional revenue — $167 million a year initially on top of about $100 million in current annual proceeds — compared with a Senate bill proposing smaller tax rate increases for higher­-value properties.

Recent drafts of both bills would leave the tax rate unchanged on homes sold for less than $600,000 and reduce the rate on homes sold for between $600,000 and a little over $1 million when buyers intend to occupy the property.

The bills also would adjust tax brackets with inflation so that lower-value homes would not get pushed into higher brackets as housing prices rise over time.

Rep. Luke Evslin, who chairs the House Committee on Housing and led the introduction of House Bill 2049 with 16 other colleagues, said his goal is to reduce conveyance taxes on homes that sell for around the median price or less while also collecting more taxes on higher-end homes often bought by investors or vacationers who drive up the cost of housing in Hawaii for everyone.

“At its heart, it’s shifting our current conveyance tax structure to a marginal structure, which is just a more fair structure,” Evslin (D, Wailua-Lihue) told colleagues
in a March 10 speech on the
House chamber floor before the 51-­member House voted 43-7 with one absence to send the bill to the Senate for consideration.

HB 2049 proposed channeling up to $60 million annually from additional tax revenue to the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to develop homesteads for beneficiaries.

Also, up to $40 million a year
of projected new revenue under the bill’s original intent would
help finance state-backed, affordable­-housing development projects, including costs for infrastructure supporting projects in
transit-­oriented development areas under the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp.

Two other state programs currently receiving portions of conveyance tax proceeds, a land conservation fund and a fund financing affordable rental housing, likely would see relatively little change in their share of proceeds under the proposed restructuring.

Seven tax brackets exist for real estate sales in Hawaii, and the top five would see higher rates under a recent version of HB 2049 and result in often dramatically higher tax bills, which get paid by property sellers.

For instance, the existing rate for a home bought by an owner-occupant at a price between $1 million and
$2 million is 30 cents per $100, which amounts to a $6,000 tax on a $2 million home sale.

HB 2049 proposed changing the rate to $2,000 plus 60 cents per $100 in value over $1 million, which would more than double the tax to $14,000 on a $2 million home sale.

The top current rate for a home bought by an owner­-occupant is $1 per $100 in value for sales at or over
$10 million, which amounts to taxes of $100,000 on a $10 million home, $150,000 on a
$15 million home and $200,000 on a $20 million home.

HB 2049 proposed a new rate of $378,000 plus $6.25 per $100 in value over
$10 million capped at no more than 4% of total value. That would make the tax $378,000 on a $10 million home, $600,000 on a $15 million home and $800,000 on a $20 million home.

Rates also would change for homes sold to buyers who aren’t eligible for the owner-occupant class, and for commercial properties.

Evslin said 75% of homes sold in Hawaii would have a reduced or unchanged conveyance tax bill under the version of HB 2049 sent to the Senate.

HB 2049 has drawn a mix of public support and
opposition at multiple committee hearings in February and March.

Will Caron, an affordable-­housing advocate, said in written testimony that conveyance tax rates in Hawaii representing 0.5% to 1.25% of a purchase price are much lower than some other markets where real
estate prices are high, such as 2% to 7% in Seattle and San Francisco.

The shift in rates under HB 2049, Caron said, would result in savings for middle-­class households selling their homes while having sellers of high-end homes pay more.

“It is a targeted ask for those who have profited most from our islands’ scarcity,” he said.

Kali Watson, director of DHHL, told the committee led by Evslin during a Feb. 6 hearing, “This is the most important bill for us at the Legislature.”

DHHL received a historic $600 million appropriation from the Legislature in 2022 largely to produce more homestead lots for roughly 30,000 Native Hawaiian beneficiaries on a waitlist. The funding is expected to help produce around 2,500 lots, and DHHL has unsuccessfully tried to obtain more funding from lawmakers since 2022.

Evan Oue, representing the Hawaii chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, told the committee that the organization appreciates the intent of HB 2049 but
opposes the bill.

“We have always held that the conveyance tax was never supposed to be a revenue generating (tax),” he said. “It’s supposed to be an administrative fee to cover the cost of the transactions for the (state Bureau of
Conveyances).”

The Hawaii Association of Realtors also opposed the bill.

The nonprofit Tax Foundation of Hawaii said in
written testimony that the conveyance tax shouldn’t become an expanded tool to fund state agencies even if they have needs tied to housing.

“If the Legislature deems the programs and purposes funded by this fund to be a high priority, then it should maintain the accountability for these funds by appropriating the funds as it does with other programs,” the foundation said. “Earmarking revenues merely absolves elected officials from setting priorities.”

Restructuring of the conveyance tax by the Legislature may take significant compromise between House and Senate leaders.

Sen. Chris Lee (D, Kailua-­Waimanalo-Hawaii Kai) introduced Senate Bill 3028 with some similar aims to HB 2049 along with differences that include unspecified shares of proceeds going to a land conservation fund, an affordable rental housing development fund, a land acquisition fund and an affordable-housing development fund that could be used for infrastructure supporting projects in transit-oriented development
areas.

SB 3028, as initially drafted and passed unanimously by the 25-member Senate on March 10, would not provide funding for DHHL. It also raises tax rates on higher-value properties less than the competing House bill.

On March 18, the House Committee on Housing led by Evslin amended SB 3028 to include a mix of elements from both bills but without new rates specified.

Then on March 25,
two Senate committees amended HB 2049 to make rate changes unspecified and to incorporate a mix of elements from both bills that include providing up to $40 million for DHHL, up to $15 million for an agricultural development fund and up to $15 million for a land development fund.

The Senate Committee on Ways and Means is slated to take action on HB 2049 on Monday, and the House
Finance Committee is slated to take action on SB 3028 on Tuesday.

Evslin is promoting revised rates somewhat lower than what were in HB 2049 earlier in an effort to reach agreement with members of the Senate and pass one of the bills in a compromise draft.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green on Thursday announced he has nominated Vladimir Devens to serve as chief justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court.

The chief justice is responsible for administering the statewide court system, including oversight of court operations, judicial assignments, and efforts to improve efficiency and access to justice.

Devens, who has served as an associate justice since 2024, brings more than three decades of legal experience to the role, including extensive work in civil litigation and public service.

Green said Devens “brings something that is essential in this moment — real-world experience, a deep understanding of working people and a grounded, salt-of-the-earth perspective that reflects the values of our communities. At a time when families are focused on affordability, housing and stability, we need continuity and steady leadership in our courts. Justice Devens is the right person to lead with fairness, independence and a clear understanding of how decisions impact everyday people.”

If confirmed by the Hawaii State Senate, Devens will serve as the state’s highest-ranking judicial officer, overseeing the administration of the judiciary and guiding the work of the Supreme Court.

He would succeed Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, who retired last September after reaching the state’s mandatory retirement age of 70.

“I am deeply honored by Governor Green’s nomination and grateful for the opportunity to continue serving the people of Hawaii,” Devens said. “Throughout my career, I have worked alongside individuals and families navigating real challenges and I carry those experiences with me. If confirmed, I will focus on ensuring our courts remain fair, accessible and responsive to the needs of all communities, while upholding the rule of law and maintaining public trust.”

Devens received a bachelor’s degree in economics, graduating magna cum laude and earning Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (formerly Boalt Hall), where he served as an Associate Editor of the Industrial Relations Law Journal.

Prior to his appointment, Devens worked in private practice for more than 30 years, where he concentrated on civil litigation across multiple practice areas. He also served on the Hawaii State Bar Association board of directors and on various HSBA committees.

Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

As detections of the highly destructive coconut rhinoceros beetle in West Hawaii continue to climb, two bills making their way through the state Legislature aim to slow the bugs’ spread in markedly different ways.

Senate Bill 2925 establishes a tax income credit for property owners growing coconut palms for food who choose to control CRB through “natural management practices” — language which has drawn opposition from some Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (DAB) officials because it omits the use of certain pesticides.

The tax credit is meant to offset some of the costs of eradication and management efforts, and beneficiaries would have to certify that no “systemic or prohibited” pesticides have been used. The legislation appropriates funds for two full-time environmental health specialist positions tasked with conducting inspections.

The House Committee on Economic Development and Technology voted unanimously to pass the bill on March 25. From there it was referred to the Finance Committee.

In tandem with the Senate tax bill, House Bill 2207 requires DAB to establish a “Biosecurity Government-Industry Working Group” where education, training, supplies, equipment and pest management programs are provided to private industries, which will in-turn supply labor, surveillance, some treatment equipment and response readiness.

HB 2207 includes legal protections for government workers entering private property to do pest eradication work. It also allows for the sale and distribution in the state of fine mesh nets — currently restricted due to their illegal use in fishing — as an effective CRB control measure. The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment passed the measure on March 24 and referred it to the Ways and Means Committee.

Franny Brewer is the program manager at the Big Island Invasive Species Committee, a University of Hawaii partnership working to protect the island from harmful invasive plants and animals. Brewer supports HB 2207’s loosening of restrictions on mesh nets because they offer a poison-free CRB control for homeowners and small-scale farmers.

“They are a good deterrent,” she said. “You can put them in the palm trees, and they’ll provide a barrier to prevent the beetle from actually burrowing in. That’s a great use for people who don’t want to use pesticides. It’s one of the important tools, and I think just being able to have that be legally available to use without running afoul of the rules about fishing nets is very helpful.”

For large-scale CRB eradication, though, she admits that pesticide application — often using drones — called “crown sprays” are still the most cost-effective and least labor-intensive solution.

“Certainly for us in the case of a response, you know if something pops up in a new area, that’s what we’d recommend, that a drone is used,” she said. “If you’re managing a large amount of land, and you need to hit a lot of different trees, I think that’s probably the relatively cheapest way to go. Now, if you’re just a resident, and you have a backyard with a couple of palm trees, you might want to go in a different direction.”

A large armored insect native to South Asia, the beetle has killed or damaged more than a thousand coconut palms across Oahu in the past decade, and also threatens bananas, sugarcane, papayas, sisal and pineapple plants. It was first found on Hawaii Island in the Waikoloa area in October 2023 and — after almost two years of little to no detection — the number of adult and larval beetles tallied in north and central Kailua-Kona began to tick up significantly starting in mid-2025.

An on-site inspection of Keahole Agricultural Park by several different agencies last July uncovered two active breeding sites at a landscape nursery, discovering 110 late-state larvae and three adult beetles. Since then, officials have been steadily finding an average of roughly 30 adult beetles per month along with varying numbers of larvae.

Rep. Kirstin Kahaloa represents Kailua-Kona, Honaunau and Keauhou — areas of the island including or near to CRB hotspots. Kahaloa co-introduced HB 2207 at the beginning of this year.

“I want Hawaii Island to have all the tools in the toolbox,” she told the Tribune-Herald. “And this particular mesh net opportunity was not a tool that Oahu has had as one of the methods for CRB mitigation, and we just want to have all options available.”

She fears that if CRB populations are not contained and eradicated before they spread, areas of Hawaii Island could begin to show the same devastation seen on the first island they infested.

“I’ve been to parts of Oahu where a whole bay area that was lined with coconut trees, there’s only like half of them left, and there’s just dead sticks,” she said. “No fronds. It changes the whole landscape, and it’s really sad.”

Stopping this from happening, she said, is one of the most important efforts of her tenure at the state capitol.

“It took about 10 years for Oahu to kind of be overridden across different parts of the entire island,” she said. “So, I’m trying to make it my calling that that doesn’t happen and that we protect biosecurity, because pretty much any biosecurity threat that has come to Hawaii Island usually has turned into something that is now a part of our community … it tends to not stay regional. It tends to migrate islandwide.”

Kahaloa feels that it will take a “collective effort” by state, county and private entities to get a handle on the problem, which HB 2207 strives to do by establishing the Government-Industry Working Group — something she admits is imperfect.

“It takes a village, and it takes a team,” she said. “There are a lot of different entities doing different things. Everybody is sort of working within the silos and the scope of what they do, and what happens is some things get slowed down. We just need to find a better way.”

Other state bills trying to combat the beetles have either stalled or been deferred.

Senate Bill 2885, which would create mandatory handling and storage rules for CRB host material and establish penalties for breaking them, was deferred by the House Agriculture and Food Systems Committee last month.

House Bill 643, which would establish short-term management initiatives for CRB response by training tree trimmers, arborists and landscapers in “best practices” stalled last April.

Senate Bill 746 sought to establish a pilot program offering bounties on captured CRB specimens, but stalled last year and was carried over to the 2026 legislative session but hasn’t moved since.

Email Stefan Verbano at stefan.verbano@hawaiitribune-herald.com