Hawaii Legislature begins 2016 session, focuses on homeless
STAR-ADVERTISER / AUG. 4 ,2015
Religious leaders, homeless individuals and homeless advocates delivered letters to the mayor, council members, legislators and governor outlining their ideas to deal with homeless in August.
Homelessness and affordable housing will be key topics as the Hawaii Legislature begins its 2016 legislative session.
The House and Senate began their legislative session today, talking about the need to create a more economically viable community.
People were singing and chanting outside the chambers about protecting Hawaii’s delicate environment, and students and families were lining up to get a seat before the session began.
As Senate President Ron Kouchi began the chamber’s first official meeting of the year, the senators sang “Hawaii Ponoi,” a song about Hawaii, while wearing flower lei.
The Rev. Bob Nakata, a housing advocate, said he’s hopeful that the Legislature will provide more money for affordable housing this year.
“The crisis is so bad it can’t really be shifted to the side,” Nakata said.
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Democratic Rep. Matt LoPresti said he planned to introduce legislation to regulate police body cameras and to protect online privacy for students and adults.
“We need to realize that legislation has not kept up with the technology,” LoPresti said in a news conference. “We should be able to keep our social media profiles private.”
