Report Title:

Affordable Housing; HCDCH

Description:

Requires public housing set asides for grandparents raising grandchildren. Appropriates funds for repair and maintenance of public housing, improvements to infrastructure for new and existing transitional housing, support services for affordable housing and homeless programs, and the Rental Housing Trust Fund. Authorizes the issuance of bonds for affordable housing. Allows public assistance recipients to receive rental income supplements. Increases rental income supplements. Modifies composition of the HPHA and HHFDA boards. (HB2065 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2065

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

PART I

SECTION 1. Section 201G-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read:

""Relative caregiver" means a relative of a minor child by blood or marriage, who is a resident of the state and:

(1) Lives with the child; and

(2) Is the child's primary caregiver, whether formally or informally, because the biological or adoptive parents are unwilling or unable to serve as the primary caregiver for the child."

2. By amending the definition of "elder or elderly households" to read:

""Elder or elderly households" means households in which at least one member is sixty-two years of age, the spouse or partner has attained the age of majority, and the remaining members have attained the age of fifty-five years at the time of application to the public housing project[.]; provided that for elders living in public housing at or before the effective date of this Act, it may also include households in which an elder is the relative caregiver for one or more minor children twelve years of age or younger. Such a child shall cease to be a resident of the household upon attaining the age of thirteen, or upon the removal from the project of the elder. A live-in aide shall cease to be a resident therein upon the recovery of, or removal from the project of, the elder."

SECTION 2. Section 201G-42, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§201G-42 Housing, tenant selection[.]; grandparents. (a) Subject to the [following] limitations and preferences[,] set forth in this section, the administration shall select tenants upon the basis of those in greatest need for such housing.

(b) The administration may limit the tenants of any housing project to classes of persons when required by federal law or regulation as a term or condition of obtaining assistance from the federal government.

(c) Within the priorities established by the administration recognizing need, veterans with a permanent disability of ten per cent or more as certified by the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs, the dependent parents of the veteran, and the deceased veteran's widow shall be given first preference.

(d) Five per cent of state low-income public housing units shall be set aside as rentals for grandparents who are the primary caregiver for one or more of their grandchildren; provided that teacher housing under subpart G shall be excluded."

SECTION 3. Section 201G-152, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) In the administration of elder or elderly public housing, the administration shall observe the following with regard to resident selection, dwelling accommodations, and rentals:

(1) Except as hereinafter provided, it shall accept only elder or elderly households as residents in the elder or elderly public housing projects[;], except as provided in section 201G-42(d);

(2) It may accept as residents in any housing unit one or more persons, related or unrelated by marriage. It may also accept as a resident in any dwelling accommodation or in any elder or elderly public housing project, in the case of illness or other disability of an elder who is a resident in the dwelling accommodation or in the elder or elderly public housing project, a person designated by the elder as the elder's live-in aide whose qualifications as a live-in aide are verified by the administration, although the person is not an elder; provided that the person shall cease to be a resident therein upon the recovery of, or removal from the elder or elderly public housing project of, the elder;

(3) It may rent or lease to an elder a dwelling accommodation consisting of any number of rooms as the administration deems necessary or advisable to provide safe and sanitary accommodations to the proposed resident or residents thereof without overcrowding; and

(4) Notwithstanding that the elder has no written rental agreement or that it has expired, so long as the elder continues to tender the usual rent to the administration or proceeds to tender receipts for rent lawfully withheld, no action or proceeding to recover possession of the dwelling unit may be maintained against the elder, nor shall the administration otherwise cause the elder to quit the dwelling unit involuntarily, demand an increase in rent from the elder, or decrease the services to which the elder has been entitled during hospitalization of the elder due to illness or other disability."

PART II

SECTION 4. The legislature finds that repair and maintenance expenses hinders the State's efforts to provide affordable public rental housing. This directly affects the State's ability to provide housing for the homeless. It has been reported that there are seven hundred sixty vacant public housing units, about half of which require major renovations.

The purpose of this part is to appropriate funds for the repair and maintenance of public housing units.

SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of state low income housing revolving fund under section 201G-45, Hawaii Revised Statutes, sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for repair and maintenance of public housing projects.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this part.

PART III

SECTION 6. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the following sums for transitional housing:

(1) The sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for design and construction of new transitional shelters, as defined in section 201G-451, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(2) The sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for maintenance and repair of existing transitional shelters, as defined in section 201G-451, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The sums appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this part.

PART IV

SECTION 7. 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 2006-2007 for support services for the homeless population located at homeless shelters.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this part.

PART V

SECTION 8. The shelter care plus program, under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, provides rental assistance for hard-to-serve homeless persons with disabilities in connection with supportive services funded from sources outside the program. The target population are those with serious mental illness, chronic problems with alcohol or drugs, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS or related diseases), and their families, who are living in places not intended for long-term human habitation, as in streets or emergency shelters. The program allows for a variety of housing choices and a range of supportive services funded by other sources, in response to the needs of the hard-to-reach homeless population with disabilities.

The purpose of this part is to provide state funding for the shelter plus care program.

SECTION 9. 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 2006-2007 for the shelter plus care program.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this part.

PART VI

SECTION 10. 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 2006-2007 for housing placement program for the homeless population.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this part.

PART VII

SECTION 11. 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 2006-2007 for homeownership project of the Habitat for Humanity, to prevent homelessness.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this part.

PART VIII

SECTION 12. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $30,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for deposit into the rental housing trust fund under section 201G-432, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration for the purposes of this part.

PART IX

SECTION 13. The director of finance is authorized to issue general obligation bonds in the sum of $           or so much thereof as may be necessary, and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary is appropriated for fiscal year 2006-2007 for the purpose of development of affordable housing.

The bond issuance shall be finance projects of for-profit and non-profit entities or organizations for development of mixed use projects; provided that        per cent of such projects shall be reserved for persons and families below fifty per cent of the state median income level, and        per cent shall be reserved for persons and families below thirty per cent of the state median income level.

SECTION 14. The appropriation made for the capital improvement project authorized by this part shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal biennium for which the appropriation is made; provided that all moneys from the appropriation unencumbered as of June 30, 2008, shall lapse as of that date.

SECTION 15. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii public housing administration pursuant to section 201G-113(e), Hawaii Revised Statutes, for the purposes of this part.

PART X

SECTION 16. The legislature finds that the current level of the rent supplement for eligible tenants is set at approximately $168 per month. The legislature further finds that this amount is woefully inadequate.

The purpose of this part is to raise the State's rental income supplement under the state rental supplement program, and to include welfare recipients as being eligible for the program.

SECTION 17. Section 201G-233, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§201G-233 Qualified tenant defined. As used in this subpart, the term "qualified tenant" means any single person or family, pursuant to criteria and procedures established by the administration, that has been determined to have an income not exceeding the very low income limit, exclusive of public assistance, as determined by the administration pursuant to rules adopted by the administration; provided that the qualified tenant's primary place of residence shall be in the State of Hawaii or that the qualified tenant intends to make the State of Hawaii the qualified tenant's primary place of residence. The terms "qualified tenant" and "tenant" include a member of a cooperative who satisfies the foregoing requirements and who, upon resale of the member's membership to the cooperative, will not be reimbursed for more than fifty per cent of any equity increment accumulated through payments under this subpart. With respect to members of a cooperative, the terms "rental" and "rental charges" mean the charges under the occupancy agreements between the members and the cooperative. The term "qualified tenant" shall not include any person receiving money payments for public assistance from the department of human services; provided that the term "public assistance" shall exclude aid provided through the federal Supplemental Security Income Program."

SECTION 18. Section 201G-234, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§201G-234 Relationship of annual payment to rental and income. The amount of the annual payment with respect to any dwelling unit shall not exceed the amount by which the fair market rental for that unit exceeds [thirty]        per cent of the tenant's income as determined by the administration pursuant to procedures and regulations established by it."

PART XI

SECTION 19. Section 201G-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) There is created a board consisting of [nine] eleven members, of whom [eight] ten shall be public members appointed by the governor as provided in section 26-34. Public members shall be appointed from each of the counties of Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai. At least one public member shall be a person who is directly assisted by the administration under the federal low-rent public housing or federal section 8 tenant-based housing assistance payments program while serving on the board. One public member shall be an advocate for low-income persons or homeless persons. One public member shall be a person with a disability or an advocate for persons with disabilities. The public members of the board shall serve four-year staggered terms; provided that the initial appointments shall be as follows: three members to be appointed for four years; two members to be appointed for three years; and three members to be appointed for two years. The director of human services, or a designated representative, shall be an ex officio voting member. The administration shall be headed by the board."

2. By amending subsection (c) to read:

"(c) [Five] Seven members shall constitute a quorum, whose affirmative vote shall be necessary for all actions by the administration. The members shall receive no compensation for services, but shall be entitled to necessary expenses, including travel expenses, incurred in the performance of their duties."

SECTION 20. Section 201H-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) There is created a board of directors of the Hawaii housing finance and development administration consisting of [nine] ten members, of whom [six] seven shall be public members appointed by the governor as provided in section 26-34. At least four of the public members shall have knowledge and expertise in public or private finance and development of affordable housing. One public member shall be an advocate for the homeless. Public members shall be appointed from each of the counties of Honolulu, Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai. At least one public member shall represent community advocates for low-income housing, affiliated with private nonprofit organizations that serve the residents of low-income housing. The public members of the board shall serve four-year staggered terms; provided that the initial appointments shall be as follows:

(1) Two members to be appointed for four years;

(2) Two members to be appointed for three years; and

(3) Two members to be appointed for two years.

The director of business, economic development, and tourism and the director of finance, or their designated representatives, and a representative of the governor's office, shall be an ex officio voting member. The administration shall be headed by the board."

2. By amending subsection (c) to read:

"(c) [Five] Six members shall constitute a quorum, whose affirmative vote shall be necessary for all actions by the administration. The members shall receive no compensation for services, but shall be entitled to necessary expenses, including travel expenses, incurred in the performance of their duties."

PART XII

SECTION 21. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 22. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that sections 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 shall take effect on July 1, 2006; and provided further that sections 1-3 and 17-20 shall take affect on July 2, 2006.