Post by Logan on Apr 6, 2016 4:30:59 GMT -6
Gov. David Ige’s plans to address Hawaii’s homelessness crisis and affordable-housing shortage are competing for funding with other priorities in the Legislature, and some advocates are concerned that lawmakers are not setting aside enough money to solve those pressing problems.
The state budget passed by the House reduced the amount of money Ige wants to spend for affordable-housing development, prompting concern about the Legislature’s commitment to making a dent in the decades-old problem. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will make its own changes when it takes up the budget Tuesday.
“With the extreme crisis in homelessness and affordable housing, we feel that the funding at the level the governor requested is almost the minimum that should be allocated,” said the Rev. Bob Nakata, a former state legislator pushing for progress on those issues.
The House rejected several budget items on homelessness programs, including $2 million for homeless outreach services, $3 million for the Housing First program that helps long-term homeless people, and $2 million to help people with up to three months of rental subsidies.
Read more: www.staradvertiser.com/hawaii-news/advocates-fret-homelessness-housing-funding/
The state budget passed by the House reduced the amount of money Ige wants to spend for affordable-housing development, prompting concern about the Legislature’s commitment to making a dent in the decades-old problem. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will make its own changes when it takes up the budget Tuesday.
“With the extreme crisis in homelessness and affordable housing, we feel that the funding at the level the governor requested is almost the minimum that should be allocated,” said the Rev. Bob Nakata, a former state legislator pushing for progress on those issues.
The House rejected several budget items on homelessness programs, including $2 million for homeless outreach services, $3 million for the Housing First program that helps long-term homeless people, and $2 million to help people with up to three months of rental subsidies.
Read more: www.staradvertiser.com/hawaii-news/advocates-fret-homelessness-housing-funding/