SB 2563 Hawaii Senate · 2026 Regular Session

RELATING TO HOMELESSNESS.

Summary

Establishes a three-year Homelessness Sanctuary Pilot Program to be administered by the Coordinator on Homelessness, in coordination with the Department of Human Services and the City and County of Honolulu, on designated land for the pilot program, which shall serve as a safe location for unhoused primary caregivers and children under the age of eighteen to reside and access services. Requires the Coordinator on Homelessness and the Coordinator's partner agencies to provide certain facilities and services to the designated location. Requires reports to the Legislature. Appropriates funds. Effective 1/30/2050. (SD1)

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Mar 5, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

SB2563 → SB2563_SD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill revision expands the Homelessness Sanctuary Pilot Program to include primary caregivers and children under 18, rather than just women and young children under 10. It clarifies that the program is a three-year initiative and updates reporting requirements to cover specific future years. The text also standardizes terminology by replacing 'Med-QUEST' with 'med-QUEST' and 'state IDs' with 'state identification cards' for consistency.

Scope change

The program's eligibility was broadened to include all unhoused primary caregivers and children under age 18, whereas the original version was limited to unhoused women and children under age 10.

ELIGIBILITY

Expanded eligibility from 'unhoused women and young children under the age of ten' to 'unhoused primary caregivers and children under the age of eighteen'.

TIMELINE

Explicitly defined the program as a 'three-year' initiative and updated reporting deadlines to occur prior to the Regular Sessions of 2027, 2028, and 2029.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the sunset clause for unencumbered funds from June 30, 2029, to June 30, 2028, to align with the three-year program duration.

TECHNICAL

Standardized the capitalization of 'med-QUEST' and 'coordinated entry system' to lowercase in the text, and updated 'state IDs' to 'state identification cards'.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM has rescheduled its decision making to 03-05-26 12:04PM; CR 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-05-26 10:15AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.

upper

Feb 20, 2026

Committee

Reported from HHS (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2657) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.

upper

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HHS were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) San Buenaventura, McKelvey, Kanuha, Keohokalole, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

The committee(s) on HHS has scheduled a public hearing on 02-18-26 1:00PM; Conference Room 225 & Videoconference.

upper

Jan 28, 2026

Committee

Referred to HHS, WAM.

upper

Jan 23, 2026

Introduced

Introduced.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors