THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	186
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the department of hawaiian home lands to consider building affordable rental housing that could be used for transitional, permanent, or rent-to-own housing for homeless Native hawaiians.

 

 

     WHEREAS, over the past several years, the issue of affordable housing came to the forefront of people's minds due to rising home prices driven by a period of unprecedented economic growth in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, whenever the supply of available housing is less than the demand, low and moderate income housing is often difficult to secure; and

 

     WHEREAS, in these housing markets, land values often outpace the capacity of incomes to keep up, making it difficult or costly to increase housing supply at rents or prices affordable to consumers at income ranges below the local average; and

 

     WHEREAS, the inability to easily find an affordable place to live can cause distress among families and individuals; and

 

     WHEREAS, urban planners have noticed other negative effects on a community's overall health where there is a lack of affordable housing, including scarcer low-cost labor and increased demands on transportation systems; and

 

     WHEREAS, other studies and articles focused on United States cities have also been able to link the parallel trends of housing cost increases and declines in enrollment at local schools; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii faces a severe affordable housing shortfall, with many individuals residing in long-term shelters because no permanent affordable housing is available; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the 2012 Homeless Service Utilization Report, around twenty-seven percent of those using shelter or outreach programs are native Hawaiian or part native Hawaiian; and

 

     WHEREAS, homelessness becomes a revolving door for individuals and families because of a myriad of socioeconomic problems they are mired in, including unemployment and low incomes, substance abuse, and chronic health problems; and

 

     WHEREAS, if the cycle of homelessness is going to be broken, we need to develop innovative housing solutions that provide homeless individuals and families with stable housing; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body urges the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to consider building affordable rental housing for homeless native Hawaiians; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that living in affordable rental housing on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' lands would not remove individuals from the waiting list for Hawaiian Home Lands housing; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Housing