STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2212

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2870

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 2870 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC HOUSING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to consider the severity of the basis when considering to terminate a lease and evict a tenant, and to make a determination that no alternative remedy is available before taking action to evict.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction Center, Akamai Cannabis Clinic, and two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority.

Your Committee finds that eviction from public housing units can pose a significant challenge to many individuals and families. Given the significance of eviction for those individuals and families, it is essential that all other alternatives are considered. However, your Committee further finds that the Hawaii Public Housing Authority has already established procedures for the eviction of tenants that consider alternative options and that federal regulations require strict enforcement of certain policies.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Limiting the application of the measure to public housing administered by the State and to marijuana use;

(2) Establishing a formal process for evicting a tenant for marijuana use;

(3) Requiring the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to file for exemptions to federal regulations concerning the use of controlled substances; and

(4) Allowing exemptions to eviction for tenants who present sufficient medical documentation.

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 S.B. No. 2870, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2870, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

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

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STANLEY CHANG, Chair