Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Labor and Public Employment, to which was referred S.B. No. 1286, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to transfer administrative responsibility for the Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawaii (HCDCH) from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) to the Department of Human Services (DHS).

The Department of Human Resources Development, HCDCH, and DHS testified in support of this bill.

HCDCH and its precursor, the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA), have been heavily criticized for their inability to provide for the needs of their clients. Over the past twenty years, in an attempt to alleviate what was seen as administrative problems, HCDCH and HCDA, have been administratively transferred three times, including to DBEDT and the Department of Budget and Finance. These transfers have not appeared to solve the problems experienced in past years. However, your Committee notes that the transfer of HCDCH to DHS may finally solve some of the administrative problems of HCDCH and improve the quality of services provided to the neediest of our citizens—the poor, indigent, and their families.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Labor and Public Employment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1286, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance.