STAND. COM. REP. NO. 314-22

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2022

RE: H.B. No. 1859

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1859 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for the State Rent Supplement Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, and Partners In Care. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committee finds that low-income renter households are cost burdened by housing costs, with many of these households dedicating over half of their monthly income to rent and utilities. According to testimony provided by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, the State Rent Supplement Program keeps its participants housed and employed and currently keeps a majority of its participants from becoming homeless. Approximately seventy-five percent of participants who are age fifty and over and approximately fifty-five percent who are age sixty-two and over are being assisted from becoming homeless. Your Committee further finds that providing funds for the State Rent Supplement Program will enable eligible families to pay for part of their monthly rent, thereby helping at-risk individuals and families make ends meet and maintain their housing.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1859, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1859, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Housing,

____________________________

NADINE K. NAKAMURA, Chair