STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2316

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2733

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Housing and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2733 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Department of Human Services to support the housing first programs and shallow rent subsidy program.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Human Services, Americans for Democratic Action Hawaii, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, The CHOW Project, Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Helping Hands Hawai‘i, and two individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Coordinator on Homelessness under the Office of the Governor.

     Your Committees find that Hawaii has the highest per capita rate of homelessness of any state in the nation, as an estimated 7,620 people are living on the streets and in shelters in Hawaii.  Addressing homelessness requires a multi-faceted approach using interventions targeted to the particular characteristics of the population being served.

     Your Committees further find that two programs critically necessary to address homelessness in Hawaii are the housing first and shallow rent subsidy programs.  Housing first programs are proven to be effective in addressing homelessness for chronically homeless individuals, including those who have an addiction or mental illness, or both, while shallow rent subsidy programs are proven to be effective in securing and maintaining housing for working individuals and families who are homeless.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Clarifying that the maximum rent supplement under the shallow rent subsidy program shall be $500 per month per household; and

     (2)  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 Housing and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2733, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2733, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

________________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

________________________________ BREENE HARIMOTO, Chair