| 47 | | - | SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii has the highest rate of homelessness per capita of any state in the nation. Hawaii also has the highest rate in the nation, per capita, of chronically unsheltered homeless. According to the Hawaii Homelessness Initiative Point in Time Count for 2020, an estimated 6,458 people live on the streets and in shelters in Hawaii. Addressing homelessness requires a multi-faceted approach that uses interventions targeted to the characteristics of the population being served. The state rent supplement program for homeless families and individuals is critically necessary to address homelessness. The legislature further finds that the state rent supplement program provides a "shallow", but sustained subsidy to struggling households. Unlike the "deep" subsidy housing choice voucher program, better known as the section 8 program, which helps families at the lowest ends of the income scale by bridging a wide affordability gap between income and housing costs, the state rent supplement program helps households who are closer to financial self‑sufficiency but still have a narrow affordability gap to fill. The state rent supplement program provides an ongoing subsidy, enabling homeless households or those at imminent risk of homelessness to close the affordability gap, maintain housing, and achieve self-sufficiency. Because individual subsidies under the state rent supplement program are relatively low, the subsidies can resolve homelessness for many individuals and families relative to the total cost of the subsidy program. The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to support the state rent supplement program. SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,500,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for the state rent supplement program established pursuant to section 356D-151, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and for one full time (1.0 FTE) public housing specialist II position. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing authority for the purposes of this Act. SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050. |
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| 47 | + | SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii has the highest rate of homelessness per capita of any state in the nation. Hawaii also has the highest rate in the nation, per capita, of chronically unsheltered homeless. According to the Hawaii Homelessness Initiative Point in Time Count for 2020, an estimated 6,458 people live on the streets and in shelters in Hawaii. Addressing homelessness requires a multi-faceted approach that uses interventions targeted to the characteristics of the population being served. The state rent supplement program for homeless families and individuals is critically necessary to address homelessness. The legislature further finds that the state rent supplement program provides a "shallow", but sustained subsidy to struggling households. Unlike the "deep" subsidy housing choice voucher program, better known as the section 8 program, which helps families at the lowest ends of the income scale by bridging a wide affordability gap between income and housing costs, the state rent supplement program helps households who are closer to financial self‑sufficiency but still have a narrow affordability gap to fill. The state rent supplement program provides an ongoing subsidy, enabling homeless households or those at imminent risk of homelessness to close the affordability gap, maintain housing, and achieve self-sufficiency. Because individual subsidies under the state rent supplement program are relatively low, the subsidies can resolve homelessness for many individuals and families relative to the total cost of the subsidy program. The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to support the state rent supplement program. SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for the state rent supplement program established pursuant to section 356D-151, Hawaii Revised Statutes. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing authority for the purposes of this Act. SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050. |
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