STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2414

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3169

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 Water and Land, to which was referred S.B. No. 3169 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Ensure the continued existence of the Low-Income Tiny Home projects developed pursuant to the Governor's 2015 or 2018 Emergency Proclamations related to homelessness or their supplemental proclamations, by exempting the projects from certain statutes for the duration of the underlying state land leases; and

(2) Establish the Low-Income Tiny Home Village Pilot Program to provide shelter and certain services to low-income and homeless individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Youth Services Network. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Human Services, State Procurement Office, and Department of Land and Natural Resources. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Department of the Attorney General, Office of Information Practices, and Department of Budget and Finance.

Your Committees find that under the Governor's 2015 and 2018 Emergency Proclamations related to homelessness and the supplemental proclamations, the State and counties, in partnership with developers and nonprofit organizations, created portable homes, commonly referred to as tiny homes or kauhale. Your Committees further find that the proclamations exempted the development of these tiny homes from numerous statutory provisions; however, the final supplemental proclamation issued on December 16, 2019, expired on February 14, 2020. Your Committees find that these tiny homes that serve as a pathway out of homelessness for working families who cannot afford market rentals, are critical in addressing the State's homelessness issue. This measure ensures that the existing tiny homes are protected and enables the development of new low-income rental tiny homes.

Your Committees note the testimonies of the following departments and agencies raising concerns over of the exemptions from the Hawaii Revised Statutes granted to existing tiny homes in this measure: Department of Land and Natural Resources--chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes; Department of the Attorney General and Department of Budget and Finance--sections 37-41, 37-74(d), 40-66, and 103-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes; Office of Information Practices--chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and Department of Human Services--chapter 346, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Your Committees also note the testimony of the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, stating that it does not have the capacity or the expertise to develop tiny homes.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the final supplemental proclamation to the Governor's 2018 Emergency Proclamation related to homeless expired on February 14, 2020;

(2) Deleting the following statutes from the list of exemptions in section 3 of the measure granted to existing low-income rentals, tiny home villages, or kauhale developed on state land pursuant to the Governor's 2015 or 2018 Emergency Proclamations on homelessness or the supplemental proclamations:

(A) Chapter 6E, Hawaii Revised Statutes, governing historic preservation;

(B) Section 37-41, Hawaii Revised Statutes, governing appropriations to revert to state treasury;

(C) Section 37-74(d), Hawaii Revised Statutes, governing the executive budget program execution;

(D) Section 40-66, Hawaii Revised Statutes, governing the lapsing of appropriations;

(E) Chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, governing public agency meetings and records;

(F) Chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, public lands; and

(G) Chapter 346, Hawaii Revised Statutes, governing social services;

(3) Deleting the requirement that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation develop and implement the Low-Income Tiny Home Village Pilot program;

(4) Inserting an effective date of December 31, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committees have requested the Department of the Attorney General to provide the Legislature with proposed amendments to the measure addressing the concerns raised in its written testimony with the consideration that the purpose of this measure is to ensure the continuation of the existing tiny homes despite the expiration of the Emergency Proclamations that exempted them from numerous laws.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Water and Land that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3169, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3169, 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 Water and Land,

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair

________________________________ JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair