STAND. COM. REP. NO. 375-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2083

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 Human Services & Homelessness, to which was referred H.B. No. 2083 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PROMOTION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to create drug-free zones around facilities that offer housing, shelter, or other assistance to homeless individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Health Planning and Development Agency; Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu; and The Institute for Human Services. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Office of the Public Defender and Drug Policy Forum of Hawaiʻi.

Your Committee finds that homelessness continues to rise nationally and within the State, and that substance use remains a significant factor contributing to homelessness in Hawaii. Because of this correlation between substance use and homelessness, homeless facilities offer a critical point of intervention but also a convenient target for those in the drug market seeking to take advantage of community members when they are vulnerable. Your Committee further finds that by creating criminal penalties and clear enforcement authority for drug distribution and possession with intent to distribute on and within seven hundred fifty feet of homeless facilities, this measure seeks to deter dealers from targeting highly vulnerable populations and reduce drug activity around places intended for the provision of essential housing and services.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

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

(2) 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. 2083, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2083, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair