STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3110

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 2510

       H.D. 1

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Housing and Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2510, H.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOUSING VOUCHERS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to authorize the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to establish a housing voucher program for full-time classroom teachers employed by the Department of Education, including classroom teachers at public charter schools.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Special Education Advisory Council, Hawaii State Teachers Association, and four individuals.

 

     Your Committees find that Hawaii's high cost of living hinders teacher recruitment and retention, as approximately ten percent of Hawaii's teachers switch schools, relocate, or leave the profession each year.  As the cost of rent continues to rise, many teachers, who are earning well below their counterparts in states like California and New York, are forced to work second and third jobs to make ends meet.  This measure would assist teachers in attaining and maintaining stable housing, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the profession.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that the housing voucher program is not limited to full-time classroom teachers, but to any full-time teacher employed by the Department of Education, including teachers at public charter schools; and

 

     (2)  Clarifying that the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation shall work with the State Public Charter School Commission, in addition to the Department of Education, to develop a process to verify an applicant's status for the housing voucher program.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Housing and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2510, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2510, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Housing and Education,

 

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair

 

________________________________

BREENE HARIMOTO, Chair