STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2886

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3063

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Housing and Judiciary, to which was referred S.B. No. 3063 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE IX, SECTION 5, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to propose an amendment to article IX, section 5, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, to require the State to assure that each resident has access to housing as provided by law.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Pono Hawai‘i Initiative, Imua Alliance, Building Industry Association Hawaii, and one individual. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Libertarian Party of Hawaii.

Your Committees find that although Hawaii has had unmet housing needs for decades, today the State is in crisis mode as more people face the challenge of moving out of state or living in multi-household housing to avoid homelessness. The entire State, government at all levels, the private sector, non-profit agencies, and individuals, must focus on creating the supply to meet the demand for housing for all residents. Housing for all residents should be as important a priority as the right to a clean and healthful environment, which is already enshrined in the State Constitution. Your Committees further find that while the State Constitution should prioritize housing for the State's residents, your Committees also do not wish for the State to be vulnerable to litigation. Finally, your Committees find that the measure does not provide for a ballot question of whether the phrase "slum clearance" should be amended to read "the elimination of blighted areas". As such, your Committees have amended this measure by:

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the language of the proposed constitutional amendment to contain aspirational, rather than mandatory, language;

(2) Removing the amendments deleting "slum clearance" and adding the phrase "the elimination of blighted areas; 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 Judiciary that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3063, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3063, 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 Judiciary,

________________________________ KARL RHOADS, Chair

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair