STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2368

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2473

       S.D. 1

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2010

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Education and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2473 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to allow grandchildren of elderly housing project residents to temporarily reside with the residents or be transferred to family housing under certain family crisis situations and to afford residents evicted or transferred to family housing first priority back into elderly housing when the crisis has abated.

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, the Hawaii Family Forum, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and six individuals.  Written testimony presented to the Committees may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

     Your Committees find that there is a large population of grandparents raising their grandchildren in Hawaii and they are faced with unique problems.  Many of these grandparents living in elderly housing are faced with difficult decision when their own children are in a crisis situation and their grandchildren are left without parents and without alternatives.  Your Committees find that it is important for these children to have as much support as possible during these very difficult times, and that allowing them to live with their grandparents not only saves the State money, but also allows for a more stable and comfortable living environment for the children.  Your Committees further find that elders who have been evicted from elderly housing as a result of a family crisis should be given first priority to move back into elderly housing in their own geographical area should the crisis abate and that federal family housing could be used as an alternative to state family housing.

     Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that movements between elderly and family housing should be in their geographical area (on the same island);

     (2)  Elders who take on the responsibility of housing these grandchildren should be afforded first priority back into elderly housing in their geographical area;

     (3)  Federal family housing can be used as an alternative to State family housing in the event federal housing becomes available.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Education and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2473, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2473, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Education and Housing,

____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair