STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2469

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2018

       S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2018, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a program within the Department of Human Services to assist homeless individuals who suffer from multiple chronic diseases find housing opportunities in the community and to obtain federal monies to implement and carry out the program.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from NuWayve Unlimited and four individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaii Association for Justice.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness under the Office of the Governor, Department of Health, and Department of Human Services.

     Your Committees find that homeless persons are often in poor health and found to be suffering from several chronic diseases.  This program requires the Department of Human Services and the Coordinator on Homelessness under the Office of the Governor to collaborate to identify qualified individuals for participation in the program.  Health and homelessness are intertwined, and assisting homeless persons with multiple chronic diseases to find affordable housing assists one of the most vulnerable sectors of the population.  Further, homelessness exacerbates already ill individuals, so by identifying the chronically ill persons and providing them with housing, the State can help end the cycle that reinforces poverty and illness.  Most significantly, the Medicaid program can realize significant savings by reducing high utilization of health services among homeless persons with chronic illnesses.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting the language concerning the limitations on liability;

     (2)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2018, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2018, S.D. 2, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ BREENE HARIMOTO, Chair

________________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair