STAND. COM. REP. NO. 62

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 877

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 877 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENCAMPMENTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit the erection, placement, construction, or maintenance of an encampment within one hundred feet from the property line of a K-12 public or private school or school facility.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Education. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that homeless encampments near school grounds pose significant safety, health, and environmental risks to students, school staff, and the surrounding community. These encampments, which often consist of tents and makeshift shelters, can obstruct public access, introduce hazardous conditions, and create public safety concerns. This measure seeks to prohibit the establishment of encampments within one hundred feet of public and private school property, ensuring a safer and more secure environment for students, educators, and other staff.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying the definition of "buffer zone" to include pre-K classrooms and public or private property;

(2) Making a violation of the school encampment buffer zone a petty misdemeanor, rather than subjecting violators to immediate removal;

(3) Requiring law enforcement personnel to take the personal belongings of individuals displaced from encampments into custody for storage, to be returned to the individual upon release from custody;

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(5) 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 Human Services & Homelessness that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 877, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 877, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Education.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Human Services & Homelessness,

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair