STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2993

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 1841

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred H.B. No. 1841, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide an additional housing resource for homeless families and individuals in Hawaii by establishing the Hale Kokua program and appropriating funds for the program.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Community Alliance for Mental Health and three individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Human Services.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from Catholic Charities Hawaii and PHOCUSED.

 

     Your Committee finds that homelessness persists as one of the State's primary challenges, with about forty-five out of every ten thousand individuals being homeless.  Your Committee further finds that the Hale Kokua program existed for over twelve years and assisted the homeless by incentivizing property owners to set aside existing rental space or separate dwelling units to rent to families or individuals classified as employed but homeless.  The Hale Kokua program was repealed in 2010.  Your Committee received testimony expressing concern that the Hale Kokua program as established in this measure includes onerous and detailed requirements for the Department of Human Services or a contracted vendor and would require a substantial amount of additional resources.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Removing the Hale Kokua program from under the housing first program and establishing it as a separate program, with its own Administrator, because the two programs are not compatible as they are designed to serve different populations;

 

     (2)  Removing the requirement that a homeowner must set aside an existing dwelling unit for a period of five years to participate in the Hale Kokua program;

 

     (3)  Inserting language to include in the Hale Kokua program families or individuals who have steady income from a government source;

 

     (4)  Removing the provision exempting contracts entered into by the Department of Human Services pursuant to the Hale Kokua program from civil service and collective bargaining laws;

 

     (5)  Inserting language requiring the Hale Kokua program to be carried out utilizing the rapid re-housing model;

 

     (6)  Removing many of the specific duties assigned to the Department of Human Services or a contracted agency in relation to the Hale Kokua program;

 

     (7)  Removing language that specifies how property owners would receive financial compensation for participating in the Hale Kokua program;

 

     (8)  Amending the appropriation so that general revenues are provided directly to the Homeless Programs Office of the Department of Human Services instead of to the housing first special fund; and

 

     (9)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1841, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1841, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair