Latest news with #Bill24
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Honolulu Council to review $11M in general obligation bonds for rail
Mayor Rick Blan giardi's administration has requested more funding to pay the city's required annual subsidy toward the Hono lulu Authority for Rapid Transportation's construction of the over-$10 billion rail line. To that end, the City Council on Wednesday is scheduled to review for adoption Resolution 150. If approved, the resolution will authorize the city Department of Budget and Fiscal Services director to issue and sell $11 million in general obligation bonds for fiscal year 2026, starting July 1. GO bond proceeds will finance capital costs for Skyline. Joey Manahan, HART's director of government relations and public involvement, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser the city subsidy is part of Honolulu's overall $214 million financial plan for rail. 'It's an annual disbursement of city money to HART, ' he added. 'It's in the city budget.' This year the city's disbursement to HART was anticipated to be $10 million. But in a May 15 letter to the Council regarding Resolution 150, BFS Director Andy Kawano asserted that the requested $11 million principal amount of '$10, 000, 000 is the city subsidy for fiscal year 2026 which is included in the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Recovery Plan of 2022 for the HRTP dated June 3, 2022, and approved by the Federal Transit Authority in September 2022.' 'Due to uncertainty of future interest rates in the market, the not to exceed amount of $11, 000, 000 in the draft resolution is set higher than the actual city's subsidy to HART of $10, 000, 000, ' Kawano wrote. 'The excess amount is to cover any costs of issuance or potential discount amounts which is a possibility in the current market conditions.' Meanwhile, this GO bond resolution is connected to Bill 24. That measure, if adopted by the Council on third reading Wednesday, will legally allow the city to pay for capital projects—like rail as well as other transportation and municipal solid-waste sanitation projects—via bond financing. And on Wednesday the Council is expected to take a final vote on Bill 27—HART's capital budget for fiscal 2026—which proposes a $793.6 million capital spending plan, above the current $574 million—a nearly 38.3 % increase. The rail agency's latest capital budget includes future contract awards for Skyline's Pearl Highlands Transit Center as well as an H-2 freeway access ramp. A planned Waipahu Station makai entrance—originally earmarked for $14 million—is now being proposed at $20 million, the CIP indicates. The city's sale of GO bonds in relation to HART has occurred before. In August 2023 the city administration announced it sold $271 million in GO bonds to subsidize its 2024 capital improvement program and ongoing construction of the rail project. That year, the city said it received more than $477 million in total retail and institutional orders from investors, including orders from individual Hawaii residents. 'The GO bond proceeds will fund the administration's and Council's joint capital improvement priorities and replacement of equipment to better serve our communities, ' Blan giardi said at the time in a statement. Previously, Kawano told the Star-Advertiser that GO bonds are not 'specifically designated to a particular part of the rail line '—such as the 5.2-mile segment from the old Aloha Stadium in Ha lawa to Middle Street in Kalihi, which is planned to open for public ridership by Oct. 1—but would instead act as 'bridge financing for the rail construction ' overall. The Council meeting begins at 10 a.m. inside the Council chambers, 530 S. King St.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Amid housing affordability crisis, Texas House votes to take some power from NIMBYs
As Texas faces a housing affordability crunch, state lawmakers sent a signal Monday to residents who try to stop new homes from being built near them: It may get a lot harder to do so. The Texas House voted Monday to advance a bill that defangs an obscure state law that property owners use to stop new homes from going up near them. House members gave preliminary approval to House Bill 24, a key priority of House Speaker Dustin Burrows. The bill, which must clear a final vote, is part of a Republican slate of bills aimed at tackling the state's high housing costs — chiefly by making it easier to build homes. Texas needs about 320,000 more homes than it has, according to one estimate. That shortage of homes, housing advocates and experts say, has played a key role in driving up home prices and rents amid the state's economic boom. Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have made tackling the state's affordability crunch among their top priorities this legislative session. Lawmakers have advanced bills to relax local restrictions on what kinds of homes can be built and where and make it easier for housing developers to obtain city building permits. HB 24 — authored by state Rep. Angelia Orr, R-Angelina — tackles a Jim Crow-era state law that makes it more difficult for cities to allow new development if enough neighbors object. If a builder seeks to rezone a property and 20% of neighboring landowners object, the city council needs a supermajority to approve the zoning change. A group of Austin homeowners used the law a few years ago to convince a judge to kill a citywide zoning plan intended to allow more homes to be built. The law drew renewed ire this year when neighbors near a proposed affordable housing development in San Antonio — a development touted by Gov. Greg Abbott — used the law to help stop the development. The project then failed to get enough votes on the City Council to move forward. Critics of the law have argued the law deters developers from building much needed housing for fear that pushback from neighbors will kill their projects. Opposition to the law has created unlikely alliances with the Texas Municipal League, a lobbying group that represents more than 1,200 cities, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the influential conservative think tank, as each call for the law to be changed. HB 24 would raise the petition threshold for objecting property owners to 60%. Even then, it would only take a simple majority of city council members to approve the rezoning. The bill also prevents property owners from using the law to block citywide zoning changes. For example, if a city council sought to change zoning rules to allow more homes in existing single-family neighborhoods, opponents couldn't use state law to stop the change. State Rep. John Bryant, a Dallas Democrat, argued the bill would eliminate homeowners' ability to stop commercial and industrial uses from going up next door to their homes. 'A simple majority vote could take away the zoning that they relied on when they made their biggest investment in their home,' Bryant said Monday. 'Suddenly, they have an industrial or commercial use right next door.' Orr said she thinks it's highly unlikely that cities will enact citywide zoning plans that put industrial uses next to neighborhoods as a result of the bill — which is intended to allow more affordable housing and multifamily housing development. A city council, she noted, 'already makes a multitude of decisions based on a simple majority.' Monday's vote was a crucial test of how the broader Texas House would approach the housing affordability crisis this session. House members last week approved a bill — House Bill 23, another Burrows priority — that intends to make it easier for developers to secure building permits if cities don't approve them quickly enough. It's unclear how House members will handle a slate of potentially more controversial bills that would relax local zoning rules to allow more homes to be built. The Texas Senate has advanced bills to allow smaller homes on smaller lots, additional dwelling units in the backyards of single-family homes and homes and apartments in places they aren't currently allowed. Those bills haven't come up for a vote on the House floor yet, and similar proposals died in the House two years ago. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
CBC
26-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Houston government softens language in transportation bill
The Houston government has softened language in a bill that would give it sweeping new powers over transit and transportation infrastructure throughout the province, but the advocacy group for Nova Scotia municipalities remains concerned it still isn't enough. The original language in the proposed changes to the Joint Regional Transportation Agency Act suggested the province could unilaterally undertake projects to build or remove infrastructure, or "do anything necessary" to ensure the smooth movement of people and goods. According to Bill 24, the provincial government could simply pass on the cost of the work to a municipality once the project was completed. The Federation of Nova Scotia Municipalities, the organization that speaks for the province's municipal governments, called that original language "tremendously concerning." Amendments introduced Tuesday during debate on the bill noted the province would try to consult and negotiate with municipalities on projects it felt were necessary. "The cost of any work undertaken … shall be apportioned between the municipality and the Crown in right of the Province in the manner agreed upon by them," said one amendment. But the next amendment made it clear the province would keep its power to pass along the costs, if there was no agreement between the parties. Thrust of bill still 'a huge concern' Pam Mood, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, said the thrust of the bill remains "a huge concern." "What it said before is we are going to come in, we're going to tell you this is what needs to be done, we're going to tell you to do it and if you don't do it in a reasonable amount of time, we're going to come in and do it and bill you," said Mood, the mayor of Yarmouth. "But now it … basically says apportioning costs of work in a manner agreed upon. We'll have to sit down and figure out how that [will] work." The proposed legislation now says the municipal affairs minister will "make reasonable efforts" to consult the federation and municipalities "impacted by ministerial action taken pursuant to this Act." Mood wasn't impressed with that change either. "That doesn't equal doing so," she said. "When you say I'll make an effort to do something, you're saying if it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't. That's simply not enough." During an exchange with reporters intended to explain the changes, Public Works Minister Fred Tilley downplayed how upset some municipal leaders had been with the original version of the bill. "Well, it was just discussion that we had around the way the language read," said Tilley. "So we agreed with our partners and adjusted the language accordingly to make the bill more about what we were attempting to do."
CBC
03-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Municipalities push back on transportation bill
Bill 24 would allow the province to build new infrastructure and charge municipalities for the cost. Haley Ryan has the story.
CBC
03-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Municipalities call for changes to 'tremendously concerning' N.S. transportation bill
The advocacy group for Nova Scotia municipalities has asked for changes to a bill that would allow the province to charge towns and regions for new transportation infrastructure, a power that is "tremendously concerning" to their members. The Progressive Conservative government's proposed Bill 24 grants sweeping powers to the public works minister over transportation and transit decisions. It states the minister could order a municipality to build or remove infrastructure, and "do anything necessary" to ensure the smooth movement of people and goods. If that work isn't done in a "reasonable time," the province could complete it — and the cost would become a municipal debt owed to the province. Pam Mood, Yarmouth mayor and president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, said dozens of mayors, wardens and senior municipal staff met last week to talk about the pending legislation. She said there was a "huge fear" that municipalities would receive a bill they couldn't afford, pushing them into bankruptcy because of their inability to run deficits. "There were pieces like that that were tremendously concerning," Mood said last Thursday. NSFM members were also worried about municipal autonomy being removed "without a conversation," Mood said. But Mood said she had a positive meeting with Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr and Public Works Minister Fred Tilley late last week. Mood said the ministers told her the PC government does not intend to take dramatic steps such as billing a municipality for project work, and are open to clarifying wording that would "take away the angst" and concerns. "That's certainly not the province's intention. They understand, like we do, whatever is good for municipalities is good to uplift the entire province," Mood said. But Mood said a wording change is important. "We can't have municipalities out there believing something that simply won't happen," she said. "Because when it's in the legislation, it's saying it can happen." Mayor Elspeth McLean-Wile of the District of Lunenburg said she isn't comfortable with the bill's wording. In a rural district made up of mostly provincial roads and few municipally-owned streets, McLean-Wile said she's concerned the minister could force the municipality to pay for improvements to provincial roadways. McLean-Wile said municipal leaders are very aware of the importance of improving transportation and transit, and would be happy to collaborate with the government on a provincewide approach. "One has to wonder, why does the province believe it needs that new power? And why would it not work with us to figure out solutions to this that could help meet their objectives, without jeopardizing the tax base and increasing the tax burden on municipal government?" McLean-Wile said. "It isn't clear what the intent is behind this, and that is worrisome." Bill 24 also changes the Joint Regional Transportation Agency (JRTA) to Link Nova Scotia, broadening its scope to the entire province instead of Halifax and surrounding areas. The JRTA's final report has yet to be released, but the province has announced pieces, like a Halifax light-rail study and new highway connectors. Link N.S. will be able to acquire or build transportation assets, manage a transit service, and prepare a province-wide plan to improve transportation. Mayor Cecil Clarke of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality said he's glad to see the province owning the transportation file, and is hopeful Link Nova Scotia's work could lead to expanded transit, port capacity, and light rail in CBRM. "This brings me to a table we weren't at a year ago, so I'll treat it as an opportunity rather than a threat," said Clarke, a former Progressive Conservative MLA. Bill 24 also states a municipality's regulations, bylaws and policies for transportation must be reasonably consistent with plans from the provincial government and Link N.S. But Coun. Kathryn Morse of the Halifax Regional Municipality said she's concerned those provincial priorities might not always align with the capital city's — the latest example being Premier Houston's decision to remove the Halifax bridge tolls in April. "It's going to increase traffic. It's not ideal in terms of managing traffic to remove tolls," said Morse, adding that cities like London and New York have gone in the opposite direction with congestion pricing. "We're taking our existing congestion pricing away at not the best time. So to me, the whole toll removal, the way it was done is kind of a cautionary tale when it comes to Bill 24," Morse said. CBC asked Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore's office for reaction to Bill 24, but did not receive a response. Mayor Mood said conversations with the PC government will continue as the bill moves through Province House. The legislation was introduced on Feb.20, and has yet to pass second reading or the law amendments committee.
