STAND. COM. REP. NO.  44-14

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2014

 

RE:   H.B. No. 1886

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1886 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the Housing First Initiative, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Permanent Supportive Housing Programs, and the shallow subsidy rental assistance program.

 

     The Hawaii Primary Care Association, Catholic Charities Hawaii, Partners in Care, Institute for Human Services, Inc., Phocused, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Family Life Center, and Community Alliance for Mental Health supported the measure.  The Department of Human Services, the Hawaii Inter-agency Council on Homelessness, and a concerned individual provided comments.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

(1)  Directing that the Housing First Initiative funds be expended by the Department of Human Services, instead of the City and County of Honolulu, in response to the concerns of multiple testifiers; and

 

(2)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2525, to encourage further discussion.

 

     Your Committee respectfully requests the House Committee on Finance to consider the following appropriation amounts in its deliberations:

 

(1)  $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2014-2015 for the Housing First Initiative;

 

(2)  $500,000 for fiscal year 2014-2015 for matching funds for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care Permanent Supportive Housing Programs; and

 

(3)  $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2014-2015 for a shallow subsidy rental assistance program.

 

     Your Committee further requests that if your Committee on Finance chooses to consider this measure, consideration also be given to providing additional funding for the Housing First Initiative to compensate for funds lost when the Honolulu Affordable Housing Preservation Initiative sale was terminated.

 

     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. 1886, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1886, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

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

 

 

 

 

____________________________

MARK J. HASHEM, Chair