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HB1489
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
1489
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to homelessness
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION
1.
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The legislature finds that
homelessness remains one of Hawaii's most pressing challenges, requiring a
comprehensive, long-term solution to address the State's affordable housing and
homelessness crisis.
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Hawaii currently
has one of the highest per capita homelessness rates in the nation.
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Over the
past five decades, the proportion of cost-burdened renters - those paying more
than thirty per cent of their income for housing - has grown from less than
twenty-five per cent to over fifty per cent of the population.
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These escalating housing costs have forced an
increasing number of Hawaii residents into homelessness.
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The
legislature further finds that the State has maintained base funding through
the department of human services' homeless programs office to support essential
services, including emergency and transitional shelters, housing placement
programs, state homeless emergency grants, and limited outreach services.
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Beyond this base funding, the State has
consistently appropriated an additional $10,800,000 annually for nearly a
decade to support critical services, including further homeless outreach, legal
assistance, rapid re-housing, family assessment centers, and the housing first
program.
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These evidence-based
interventions targeting the most vulnerable populations have proven both
effective and cost-efficient.
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The
legislature also finds that these strategic investments have begun to yield
positive results in addressing the homelessness crisis.
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Across the State, the rate of homelessness has
declined since 2016, correlating with increased use of homeless services
programs within the same time frame.
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However,
more recent data indicates homelessness rates have crept up again since 2023
and, thus, demonstrate a need to continue to expand services.
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The
legislature finds that sustained funding for these services that are currently
operating outside the base budget of the homeless programs office are essential
for program continuity and participant stability.
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Without dedicated funding, these vital
programs face annual uncertainty and risk services being cut or eliminated,
which could force individuals and families to regress back into homelessness.
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Addressing Hawaii's fifty-year trajectory of
housing and homelessness challenges requires consistent, long-term investment.
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While the State has made significant
commitments, such as the annual $50,000,000 allocation for kauhale development,
these initiatives alone cannot address the full spectrum of needs, as these
funds do not assist in the broader homeless support services that get families
into the systems that connect them to programs such as the kauhale initiative.
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Securing dedicated funding for these support
systems, which serve the entire continuum of care, is imperative; yet these
services remain outside the homeless programs base budget.
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The
purpose of this Act is to establish sustainable funding for core homelessness
services that currently operate without base budget support from the homeless
programs office.
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SECTION
2.
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There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $10,800,000 or so much
thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so
much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the department
of human services to fund and administer core homelessness services in the
State; provided that the sums appropriated shall be expended as follows:
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(1)
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$3,750,000 for the housing first program;
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(2)
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$3,750,000 for the rapid re-housing program;
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(3)
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$1,550,000 for family assessment centers; and
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(4)
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$1,750,000 for homeless outreach and civil
legal services.
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The sums
appropriated shall be expended by the
department of human services for the purposes of this Act.
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SECTION 3.
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This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Homelessness;
Services; Department of Human Services; Appropriation
Description:
Appropriates
funds for the Department of Human Services to fund and administer core
homelessness services.
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