STAND. COM. REP. NO. 461

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1442

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred S.B. No. 1442 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OHANA ZONES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Appropriate funds for the Ohana Zones Pilot Program, including expenses relating to operations, upkeep of facilities, provision of services, and administrative costs; and

(2) Authorize the issuance of general obligation bonds for the construction of facilities for the Ohana Zones Pilot Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness, Department of Human Services, Hawai‘i Health & Harm Reduction, Partners in Care, AARP Hawai‘i, Family Promise of Hawai‘i, and one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that the Ohana Zones program provides an essential source of funding for innovative approaches to serve and house people experiencing homelessness and to fill gaps in homeless housing and services that do not qualify for many conventional sources of funding. According to testimony received by your Committee, this measure is aligned with the Governor's priorities on homelessness, which includes an emphasis on non-traditional housing to quickly house people who are unsheltered or experiencing homelessness. Your Committee notes the concerns raised in the testimony submitted by the Governor's Coordinator on Homelessness and the Department of the Attorney General and finds amendments to this measure are necessary to address those concerns.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Establishing a position within the Office of the Governor to deploy the capital improvement funds appropriated in this measure; and

(2) Inserting expending language and related provisions for the issuance of general obligation bonds; and

(3) Inserting language exempting the construction of facilities for the Ohana Zones Pilot Program from certain statutory requirements; and

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

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. 1442, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1442, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

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

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STANLEY CHANG, Chair