STAND. COM. REP. NO.  456

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

 

RE:   H.B. No. 72

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 72 entitled:

 

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

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to increase the safety of public housing projects by making it a crime to, among other things, enter into or unlawfully remain in a public housing project.

 

     The Hawaii Public Housing Authority and several concerned individuals testified in support of this bill.  The Honolulu Police Department and American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii opposed this measure.  A concerned individual provided comments.

 

     Your Committee has amended this bill by:

 

(1)  Providing a definition of the "housing authorities" that are qualified to make a request or warning for a person to leave the premises;

 

(2)  Deleting the provision that between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m., a warning or request to leave a public housing project is not necessary to establish a criminal trespass in the first degree; and

 

(3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 72, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 72, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

RIDA CABANILLA, Chair