STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1323

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 1097

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 1097, H.D. 1, entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to reduce the time the Hawaii Public Housing Authority is required to store unclaimed personal effects of a tenant evicted from public housing.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Affordable Housing Connections LLC, and one individual.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from three individuals.

Your Committees find that when a public housing tenant is evicted and leaves personal belongings behind, the Hawaii Public Housing Authority must store the unclaimed personal property within the vacated unit, as there are no dedicated storage facilities on-site. This can cause delays in essential repair and maintenance work and prevents new families from moving into the vacated units, thereby extending the time units remain unavailable for eligible low-income applicants. Your Committees also find that each day a unit remains vacant is another day a family remains unhoused. According to the testimony of the Hawaii Public Housing Authority, most of the items left behind are not valuable personal belongings, but rather consist of broken furniture, trash, and other discarded materials. Because most of the unclaimed property stored in these vacant units is not reclaimed at the end of the thirty days, reducing the storage timeframe will help the Hawaii Public Housing Authority efficiently remove debris, restore units, and house new families faster. This measure reduces the storage time for unclaimed property from thirty days to fourteen days to allow the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to accelerate unit rehabilitation and ensure that state and federal housing assets are utilized as efficiently as possible.

Your Committees also note the concerns raised in the public hearing on this measure regarding the shortened time period and the potential burden it may have on families trying to relocate before they can reclaim their items from the vacated unit. Your Committees find this issue merits further consideration and therefore request that subsequent Committees who choose to deliberate on this measure consider these potential impacts as the measure moves through the legislative process.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(2) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Housing that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1097, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1097, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Housing,

________________________________ STANLEY CHANG, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair