STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1515

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: S.B. No. 1040

S.D. 2

H.D. 2

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1040, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish under the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands a Native Hawaiian Supportive Housing Pilot Program on the Leeward Coast of Oahu to provide housing and services to native Hawaiian beneficiaries, who are homeless, or threatened with homelessness, and on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands waiting list; and

(2) Appropriate funds to support the establishment of a Native Hawaiian Supportive Housing Pilot Program on the Leeward Coast of Oahu.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Council on Mental Health, Malama Makua, Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, Opportunity Youth Action Hawai‘i, and five individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Your Committee finds that the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, was enacted nearly one hundred years ago to provide for the rehabilitation of the native Hawaiian people through a government-sponsored homesteading program. Yet, Native Hawaiians remain disproportionately affected by the State's housing crisis and homelessness. This measure would prioritize housing for native Hawaiian beneficiaries who are homeless, or threatened with homelessness, on the Leeward coast of Oahu.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting the unspecified number of individual or shared micro housing units the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands may construct;

(2) Clarifying that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, rather than communities, may allow for off-the-grid technologies that can provide water, electricity, and process sewage without existing infrastructure; and

(3) 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 Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1040, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1040, S.D. 2, H.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair