STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2218

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2723

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Human Services and Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2723 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 support the State Rent Supplement Program administered by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, Partners in Care, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, The Radical Hale, and five individuals. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committees find that Hawaii has one of the highest homelessness rates per capita in the nation. The State Rent Supplement Program is a rent subsidy program administered by the Hawaii Public Housing Authority that assists households who are close to financial self-sufficiency but are not, due to Hawaii's high cost of living. Your Committees believe that the program, which keeps its participants housed and employed and helps them eventually achieve self-sufficiency, is a cost-effective approach to prevent homelessness in comparison to the high expense of assisting families who have already become homeless. Therefore, your Committees find that the continued operation of the program is critical to alleviate the homelessness crisis in Hawaii.

Your Committees note the Hawaii Public Housing Authority's testimony expressing that it is willing to open its statewide waiting list and assist two hundred additional families; provided that additional funding and one Public Housing Specialist II position is provided.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Requiring the State Rent Supplement Program to provide rent supplements to two hundred additional qualified tenants from its waitlist;

(2) Including in the appropriation, funding for one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) Public Housing Specialist II position within the Hawaii Public Housing Authority; and

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

Your Committees note that although the appropriation is blank, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority's testimony provides that the program is facing a deficit of approximately $500,000 for fiscal year 2022-2023 and that an additional $1,000,000 and one Public Housing Specialist II position will be needed to assist an additional two hundred new families from its waitlist.

Your Committees have also reviewed the testimony of the Department of Budget and Finance expressing concerns regarding this measure's possible effect on the State's obligation to adhere to the maintenance of effort requirements as a recipient of Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief funds under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Recovery Plan Act of 2021. Your Committees find that this issue raises concerns that merit further consideration and respectfully requests that your Committee on Ways and Means further examine those issues and concerns raised by the testimonies on this measure.

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. 2723, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2723, S.D. 1, 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,

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair