STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1544_______

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.C.R. No. 246
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Human Services and Housing, to which was
referred H.C.R. No. 246 entitled: 

     "HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE CONVENING OF A
     HUNGER AND FOOD SECURITY TASK FORCE TO DEVELOP A SYSTEM FOR
     PROVIDING VALID AND RELIABLE ESTIMATES OF HUNGER AND FOOD
     INSECURITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this concurrent resolution, as received, is
to request the convening of a Hunger and Food Security Task Force
to develop a system for providing valid and reliable estimates of
hunger and food insecurity.

     The Department of Human Services testified in support of the
intent of this measure.

     Your Committee finds that this measure is duplicative of
H.C.R. No. 126, which was heard earlier by your Committees on
Human Services and Housing and Labor, and would, therefore, like
to use this measure to address another pressing issue.

     Your Committee finds that more than 30,000 Hawaii households
now have affordable rent through the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) project-based Section 8
program.  In this program, HUD directly subsidizes buildings
which are owned by private entities.  Originally subsidized for a
term of twenty years, every unit in these buildings are now at
risk of converting to market rate rent due to HUD's yearly

 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1544_______
                                 Page 2

 
contract renewals, shrinking subsidies, and the Mark to Market
program.

     Since the twenty-year commitment has expired, more and more
owners are putting their units up for sale or converting them to
market rate rent.  This action is displacing many elderly and
low-income individuals into homelessness.  Your Committee
believes that one way to resolve this problem is to provide more
low-income rental housing through HUD.  As such, your Committee
has amended this measure by deleting its substance and replacing
it with language that:

     (1)  Amends the title to read: "URGING THE UNITED STATES
          CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO
          RENEW, OR EXAMINE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO PROVIDE, LOW-
          INCOME RENTAL HOUSING THROUGH THE UNITED STATES
          DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT";

     (2)  Urges the Housing and Community Development Corporation
          of Hawaii (Corporation) to examine the extent of this
          problem in Hawaii;

     (3)  Requests the Corporation to submit its findings to the
          Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the
          convening of the Regular Session of 2000; and

     (4)  Provides for the transmittal of this concurrent
          resolution to the President of the United States, the
          Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
          the President of the United States Senate, and the
          Executive Director of the Corporation.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Human Services and Housing that is attached to this
report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of
H.C.R. No. 246, as amended herein, and recommends that it be
referred to the Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto
as H.C.R. No. 246, H.D. 1.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Human Services
                                   and Housing,



                                   ______________________________
                                   DENNIS A. ARAKAKI, Chair