STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2466

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2006

RE: S.B. No. 2180

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2006

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2180 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this omnibus affordable housing measure is to expand affordable housing options, establish set-asides for grandparents raising grandchildren, effect the repair and maintenance of homeless, transitional, and emergency shelters, and to remove income restrictions for rental assistance.

Your Committees received testimony in support of the measure from the State Council on Developmental Disabilities; the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; the City and County of Honolulu, Department of Community Services; the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance; Catholic Charities Hawaii; Hawaii Association of Realtors; the Hawaii Family Forum; the Institute for Human Services; the Land Use Research Foundation of Hawaii; Pacific Gateway Center; and Partners in Care. The Department of Human Services submitted comments on this measure.

Your Committees find that this measure incorporates many important provisions to provide assistance to Hawaii's low-income residents, including:

(1) Affordable housing initiatives, including authorization for issuance of general obligation bonds and support for the homeownership project of Habitat for Humanity;

(2) Housing placement and support for the homeless population;

(3) Creating set-asides in elderly housing for grandparents raising grandchildren;

(4) Appropriating funds for the rental housing trust fund;

(5) Increasing the amount of rent supplement for eligible tenants;

(6) Redefining "qualified tenant" to include people receiving public assistance payments;

(7) Adjusting the amount considered for the relationship of annual payments to rental and income; and

(8) Increasing membership on the board of directors of the Hawaii Public Housing Administration.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the limit of payments on behalf of a qualified tenant under §201G-231 to an unspecified amount;

(2) Rewording the definition of "elder or elderly households" for households that include a grandparent or other relative caregiver for minor children;

(3) Adding emergency shelters to the list of shelters for which funds are appropriated;

(4) Deleting the exclusion of people receiving public assistance from the definition of "qualified tenant"; and

(5) Changing the makeup of the additional members of the board of directors to include a member with a disability or an advocate for people with disabilities.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2180, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2180, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Housing,

____________________________

RON MENOR, Chair

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair