STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2657

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2563

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2563 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a three-year Homelessness Sanctuary Pilot Program to be administered by the Coordinator on Homelessness on designated land for the Pilot Program, which shall serve as a safe location for unhoused women and young children under the age of ten to reside and access services;

(2) Require the Coordinator on Homelessness and the Coordinator's partner agencies to provide certain facilities and services to the designated location;

(3) Require reports to the Legislature; and

(4) Appropriate funds.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Kalihi-Pālama Hawaiian Civic Club; Waiʻanae Coast Community Foundation; Back to the Beginning, Inc.; The Shelter; and eighteen individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Statewide Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions, and Policy Advisory Board for Elder Affairs.

Your Committee finds that homelessness is not a crime, but a condition arising from complex factors including housing shortages, rising costs of living, economic instability, health challenges, and systemic inequities. However, your Committee further finds that for decades, policies and practices within the State and its counties have increasingly relied on criminalization, enforcement, and displacement to address homelessness, including the use of anti-camping laws, park exclusions, encampment sweeps, and other punitive measures. These approaches have failed to reduce homelessness and have instead left individuals and families experiencing homelessness with fewer lawful places to exist, rest, and meet basic human needs. This measure addresses homelessness with a compassionate, humane, and evidence-based approach that prioritizes dignity, safety, and voluntary participation.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Replacing the term "women" with "primary caregivers" to ensure that the intent of the Homelessness Sanctuary Pilot Program is effectuated;

(2) Establishing the Homelessness Sanctuary Pilot Program in session law, rather than codifying the program into the Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(3) Raising age limit of children to be served by the Homelessness Sanctuary Pilot Program from under the age of ten to under the age of eighteen;

(4) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose;

(5) Inserting an effective date of January 30, 2050, to encourage further discussion;

(6) Inserting an implementation date of July 1, 2026; and

(7) 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 Health and Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2563, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2563, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health and Human Services,

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JOY A. SAN BUENAVENTURA, Chair