H.B. 1452 Summary

• Establishes the Hawaii Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable with the Attorney General and Director of Human Services as co-chairs and representatives from 11 state agencies including Health, Labor, Housing Authority, and Public Safety.

• Directs the roundtable to improve coordination among state programs serving low-income and vulnerable populations by integrating legal services, increase access to justice, develop policy recommendations, and evaluate the impact of civil legal aid on government agency missions.

• Requires the roundtable to submit annual reports to the governor and legislature detailing resource deployment, spending on civil legal services by agencies, and policy recommendations; also requires a separate economic impact report by January 1, 2021.

• Mandates the roundtable hold at least three meetings per year with the Department of Human Services providing administrative support and staff.

• Appropriates unspecified sums from general revenues for fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 to the Department of Human Services for the roundtable and to the Judiciary to purchase civil legal services for low- and moderate-income persons; effective July 1, 2019.