HB1692 CD1.DOC

Report Title:

Low-income Housing; Rental Leases

Description:

Requires the Hawaii public housing authority to: establish, beginning July 1, 2009, a pilot project in a state low-income housing project stipulating that no tenant in occupancy as of July 1, 2009 shall rent, lease, or occupy any dwelling unit for more than five consecutive years; and no new tenant shall rent, lease, or occupy any dwelling unit for more than seven consecutive years; exempt persons fifty-five years of age and older, persons with a mental or physical disability, or persons retired for medical reasons; allow family members and medically necessary personal care attendants to reside with persons exempt from the provisions; develop recommendations for a transition plan; establish a working group; report on the status of the pilot project to the 2010 and 2011 legislatures. (HB1692 CD1)

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the cyclical nature of poverty perpetuates a lifestyle that is inherited from generation to generation. Families born into poverty appear hopelessly caught in a self-fulfilling prophecy of welfare and public housing.

The legislature further finds that this situation is not unique to Hawaii and that the federal government has established pilot programs to assist families in breaking the cycle of public housing and welfare.

The purpose of this Act is to encourage families to move out of public housing by requiring that the Hawaii public housing authority:

(1) Establish, beginning July 1, 2009, a pilot project in a state low-income housing project to be designated by the authority stipulating that no tenant in occupancy as of July 1, 2009, shall rent, lease, or occupy any dwelling unit for more than five consecutive years from that date; and no new tenant shall rent, lease, or occupy any dwelling unit for more than seven consecutive years; provided that an exemption to these occupancy time limits is provided for persons fifty-five years of age and older, persons with a mental or physical disability, or persons retired for medical reasons;

(2) Allow family members and medically necessary personal care attendants to reside with persons exempt from the occupancy time limit provisions;

(3) Develop recommendations for a transition plan to assist tenants in meeting the occupancy time limits, including a review of federal pilot programs intended to break the cycle of public housing and welfare and related support programs;

(4) Establish a working group to determine the site of the pilot program and assist the authority in developing recommendations for a transition plan; and

(5) Report on the status of the pilot project to the 2010 and 2011 legislatures.

SECTION 2. (a) Beginning July 1, 2009, the Hawaii public housing authority shall establish a pilot project in a state low-income housing project to be designated by the authority, in which:

(1) No tenant in occupancy in the designated state low-income housing project as of July 1, 2009, shall rent, lease, or occupy any dwelling unit for more than five consecutive years from July 1, 2009; and

(2) No new tenant in the designated state low-income housing project shall rent, lease, or occupy any dwelling unit for more than seven consecutive years from the date of the new tenant's initial occupancy of the unit;

provided that this subsection shall not apply to persons fifty-five years of age and older, persons with a mental or physical disability, or persons retired for medical reasons.

(b) In implementing the pilot project, the authority shall include provisions to allow family members and medically necessary personal care attendants to reside with persons exempt from the occupancy time limits of subsection (a).

(c) The executive director of the authority shall establish and convene a working group including representatives from the authority and tenant associations of federal and state public housing projects. The working group shall determine a housing project to serve as the site of the pilot project. The working group shall submit its determination of the pilot site to the board of directors of the authority within sixty days of the effective date of this Act. The working group shall also assist the authority in developing recommendations for a transition plan to assist tenants in meeting the occupancy time limits in subsection (a). At minimum, a transition plan shall include information to assist tenants in planning and budgeting, such as annual rents and assessments for common area expenses, as well as other information as may be appropriate. In developing the recommendations for a transition plan, the authority shall review federal pilot programs intended to break the cycle of public housing and welfare, including related support programs that may assist tenants in the transition from state low-income housing projects to other housing.

(d) The authority shall report on the status of the pilot project to the legislature, including any additional findings and recommendations regarding the continuation of the pilot project, and any proposed legislation or budget requests, no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2010 and 2011.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2009.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1692
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2
		C.D. 1