Advocates to rally for repeal of homeless law
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
At least 200 supporters of Hawai'i's homeless are expected to converge at the State Capitol tomorrow for a rally to protest a law making it a crime to remain at parks and other public property after being warned to leave.
The advocates want lawmakers to repeal Act 50, which they believe criminalizes being homeless. Authorities have used the act to remove the homeless during sweeps of parks on the North Shore, at Wahiawa and 'Ewa Beach. Approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Linda Lingle last year, it allows law enforcement to ban people from public property for up to a year after a warning has been issued to leave. Failure to do so results in a charge of second-degree criminal trespassing.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawai'i is challenging the law in federal court.
"Legally, there's no place a homeless person can be except in a shelter and the shelters are full," said Bob Nakata, pastor of the Kahalu'u United Methodist Church and former state senator.
House Bill 806, which repeals Act 50, has passed out of the House and Senate with different language and will need to be taken up during conference committee hearings in the coming weeks. The Senate version calls for a straight repeal, while the House language replaces the criminal trespassing charge with a lesser petty misdemeanor offense.
Nakata said the advocates also want more money for repair and maintenance of public housing units as well as raising basic welfare grants for needy families.
Housing committee chairmen in the House and Senate said they support a repeal of Act 50.
Rep. Mike Kahikina, D-44th (Nanakuli, Honokai Hale), said the House version of the affordable housing omnibus bill appropriates $1.65 million for expansion of homeless shelters and related services, and requires the state to offer decommissioned public housing to private developers for homeless shelters, transitional housing and low income rental housing for $1 a year.
"I wish we had more money," Kahikina said, noting that he wants to meet with stakeholders after the session to discuss what else can be done for the homeless.
Senate Housing Chairman Ron Menor, D-17th (Mililani, Wai-pi'o), said his committee also has been pushing for more homeless funding. "I'm confident that, by the end of conference committee deliberations, additional monies will be provided for homeless and transitional housing."
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
