The facts seem irrefutable. Hawaii has the highest per-capita homelessness rate in the country, fueled in part by the state’s stratospheric property values and rents. Additionally, the lack of enough affordable rentals forces too many families to live too close to the edge of their household budgets, with a single economic mishap serving to bounce them onto the streets.
So the current initiative by Gov. David Ige to invest a higher share of the state’s budget in provisions to solve these crises seems a no-brainer. More money needs to be dedicated to finding solutions, in both the short and long terms, for homelessness and the housing needs of Hawaii’s low-income residents.
Of course, it isn’t really a no-brainer, and the state Legislature will need to apply some brain power to implement this policy in a way that makes sense. The budget must bring enough funding to bear on the problem without unnecessarily growing government; efficiencies must be realized as well.
Specifically, the Ige administration’s budget proposal for the 2016 legisla-
tive session carves out about $140 million for these purposes. They include homelessness assistance programs, resources to dismantle the homeless encampments on state property, upgrades to return degraded public housing units to rental condition and efforts to accelerate construction of affordable housing.
The housing and homelessness initiatives were unveiled Monday, along with other elements in his proposed $13 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts in July.
They comprised a welcome development for an administration that has been somewhat halting in its approach to homelessness, up to this point. The governor did belatedly move to break up the encampments that had been building at Kakaako Waterfront Park, Kewalo and elsewhere, after a snag in finding a contractor to do the work forced a delay.
Partly as a result, it seems, the budget includes about $2.2 million to staff a maintenance unit that would help clear camps, get rid of rubbish and store homeless belongings for the homeless to reclaim.
The state also plans to deploy sheriffs as enforcement assistants, which is a rational idea. But lawmakers should press the administration to examine its current maintenance units across state governments to see whether existing staffers could similarly be redeployed to help with the homelessness mission.
Some staffing increase may be necessary, but if there’s a funding crunch — which seems all but certain — there should be a Plan B for rounding up the necessary maintenance crews.
There may be an idea from city government that could be applied: Oahu needs groundskeepers for municipal properties, but in a recent job fair the positions advertised were temporary. Adding to the state roster of permanent, full-time employees who will be due retirement benefits may not be wise fiscal planning for a state that is looking to trim these unfunded liabilities.
Among other elements of the plan Ige proposes:
>> $25 million to upgrade public housing, and $6 million to expedite repairs on vacant units. He also wants to fund 64 more staffers for the Hawaii Public Housing Authority to do needed upgrades in-house, an idea that will invite scrutiny.
>> $75 million for the Rental Housing Revolving Fund, which provides landowners or developers of affordable housing units with the low-interest loans or grants they need to make the projects pencil out.
>> $25 million for the Dwelling Unit Revolving Fund, offering developers of the projects with financing for construction.
Legislators should call on the Hawaii Housing Finance &Development Corp, which manages both revolving funds, to detail its plan for putting these resources to the most optimal use.
In general, the emergence of a blueprint for combating homelessness and housing shortages is encouraging. It comes closer to presenting solutions matching the scale of the problem confronting the state: The best current estimate is that 7,620 homeless people are living on the streets and in shelters, and that about 28,000 new housing units, about two-thirds for low-income renters, are needed in 2016.
Both statistics define a problem that should not be tolerated by the policymakers of this state. Ige’s proposal offers a good starting point for discussion when the Legislature convenes a few weeks from now.
