STAND. COM. REP. NO. 35

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 85

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 85 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to establish the resident programs and services trust fund, to be administered by the Authority.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, the Community Alliance for Mental Health, and one individual.  Testimony in opposition to this measure was received by the Department of Budget and Finance and the State Procurement Office.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Office of Information Practices.

     Your Committee finds that the establishment of a resident programs and services trust fund by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority will significantly improve the ability of the Authority to ensure that the tenants of public housing receive much needed resident programs and services, such as family self-sufficiency programs, employment training and opportunities, and education- and health-related services, that will not only improve their quality of life, but also assist the tenants in transitioning out of public housing.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Specifying that the education- and health-related programs and services that may be funded by the resident programs and services trust fund shall be those deemed appropriate by the Authority, thereby allowing the agency the flexibility to include other uses of the fund when future programs and services might arise; and

     (2)  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 S.B. No. 85, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 85, 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