HB 2560 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS.

Summary

Establishes a two-year-pilot program within the Department of Human Services to provide temporary financial stabilization assistance to families with students identified as experiencing homelessness. Funds the program through the Department of Human Services using allowable Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds. Requires Department of Education Complex Area Community Homeless Concerns Liaison to make approved purchases. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Last action Mar 3, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HB2560_HD1 → HB2560_HD2 · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was revised from House District 1 to House District 2, resulting in significant policy updates to the homelessness pilot program. Key changes include clarifying that flexible spending must comply with federal regulations, adding a specific four-month limit on short-term necessities, and replacing a blanket ban on cash assistance with a new requirement to ensure third-party payees comply with state and federal laws. The bill also introduces a new section for information sharing between human services and education departments.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include formal information sharing agreements between the Department of Human Services and the Department of Education to reduce service duplication.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement that flexible spending and expenditures must comply with Title 2 Code of Federal Regulations Part 200.

Modified the rules for short-term necessities to explicitly state they must be non-recurring and cannot extend beyond four consecutive months.

ELIGIBILITY

Replaced a prohibition on direct cash assistance with a mandate that third-party payees must comply with applicable laws regarding business operations in the state.

ENFORCEMENT

Added a new provision requiring the Department of Human Services and Department of Education to enter into information sharing agreements.

TECHNICAL

Updated document metadata, including author names, page counts, and legislative session identifiers from HD1 to HD2.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Reported from HSH (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 522-26) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Feb 17, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on HSH recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Marten, Olds, Amato, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Takayama, Takenouchi, Alcos, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Hartsfield.

lower

Feb 9, 2026

Committee

Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 69-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to HSH.

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 10 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Garrett, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.

lower

Feb 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to EDN, HSH, FIN, referral sheet 6

lower

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

Introduced and Pass First Reading.

lower

24 primary · 0 co-sponsors