STAND. COM. REP. NO. 69-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2560

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2560 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to establish within the Department of Education a two-year pilot program to provide temporary financial stabilization assistance to families with enrolled students identified as experiencing homelessness.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from two individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education; Department of Human Services; and Statewide Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions.

Your Committee finds that families with children experiencing homelessness often face immediate and urgent financial needs that compromise housing stability and school attendance. Your Committee further finds that students identified as experiencing homelessness need timely, flexible assistance to obtain the basic necessities that directly affect their ability to remain engaged in school.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Establishing the pilot program within the Department of Human Services, rather than the Department of Education;

(2) Deleting language that would require the State Coordinator for Education for Homeless Children and Youth to head the pilot program;

(3) Amending the preamble to reflect its amended purpose;

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000; 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 Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2560, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2560, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Human Services & Homelessness.

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

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair