A controversial $75 million state tax credit originally meant for an aquarium at Ko Olina Resort & Marina would go toward tax credits for affordable rental housing and tourism training facilities on the Leeward Coast, under a bill advanced by a Senate committee yesterday.

The measure would repeal the Ko Olina tax credit and instead establish tax credits of up to $50 million for affordable housing projects and up to $25 million for educational and training facilities operated together with visitor accommodations in the area.

To qualify for the tax credits, housing projects must rent all units to households with incomes at or below 60 percent of the Honolulu median income, which the state says is no more than $42,780 for a family of four. The housing and training facilities would be within the Leeward Coast, defined as Senate President Colleen Hanabusa's district, which spans Nanakuli to Makaha.

Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board Chairwoman Patty Teruya welcomed the idea for the Leeward Coast, where hundreds of homeless people live in tents at beach parks. The Wai'anae Coast also lacks training to prepare residents for good jobs, she said.

"We need to boost up the economy in Wai'anae," she said. "We want people to come out there and spend money out there. ... We have to train our people. A lot of them haven't been active in work for so long."

The tax credits would be for costs incurred from June 1, 2007, through May 31, 2012. No more than $7.5 million in total tax credits can be used in a year, although unused credits may be carried over. The bill, approved yesterday by the Senate Tourism and Government Operations committee, now heads to the Senate Economic Development and Taxation and Ways and Means committees for consideration.

The measure, Senate Bill 1993, is among other proposals targeting the Ko Olina tax credit and follows the announcement last month that the credit for a Ko Olina aquarium would not be used. Ko Olina master developer Jeff Stone has said he wouldn't use the tax credit, saying it was no longer necessary to stimulate economic development at the resort and surrounding area.

House Speaker Calvin Say's bill to provide up to $75 million in state tax credits to develop a world-class aquarium in Kaka'ako is scheduled for a hearing today. Gov. Linda Lingle has proposed that the Ko Olina credits be made available to any business that makes capital investments on the Wai'anae Coast.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.