HB1337 Summary

• Establishes a homelessness fund under Chapter 346, HRS, to be administered by the Department of Human Services and funded by net proceeds from homeless facilities and a portion of conveyance tax revenues.

• Increases Hawaii's conveyance tax rates by 5 cents per $100 of property value across all price brackets (e.g., from 10 to 15 cents for properties under $600,000) and directs a percentage of collected taxes to the homelessness fund.

• Creates community shelter commissions in each county composed of representatives from state, federal, county, clergy, real estate, social services, and business sectors with exclusive authority to select public property for homeless facilities.

• Establishes a civil rights board within the Department of Human Services with nine members to oversee civil rights protections for homeless individuals and request emergency examinations or order law enforcement action when individuals pose dangers to public health or safety.

• Requires the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation to inventory state-owned vacant housing units suitable for affordable rental housing and report findings to the legislature by 2021; requires DHS to convene a homeless summit by December 1, 2019; and creates a state comprehensive employment and training program to provide subsidized public service employment and loans to employers hiring unemployed persons.