STAND. COM. REP. NO. 605-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: H.B. No. 2168

H.D. 2

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. 2168, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE EDUCATION OF STUDENTS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Department of Education to:

(1) Establish a program for the support of students experiencing homelessness; and

(2) Designate a state coordinator position and state navigator positions to implement the program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education; Opportunity for Youth Action Hawaiʻi; and four individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General.

Your Committee finds that students experiencing homelessness face significant barriers to enrollment, attendance, and academic success, and that uncertainty in federal law could jeopardize critical protections currently afforded to these students. Your Committee further finds that ensuring consistent access to educational stability and support services is essential to these students' well-being and long-term outcomes. This measure therefore promotes consistent, timely, and equitable education services for Hawaii's most vulnerable students.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that if immunization records are unavailable, students experiencing homelessness may attend school on a provisional basis, while the Department of Education's program works to meet associated provisional attendance documentation requirements; 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. 2168, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2168, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

LISA MARTEN, Chair