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Senate adds coordinator and reporting requirements to homeless-services bill, passes unanimously
Summary
Second substitute House Bill 347 was amended to create a state homelessness coordinator with direct reporting to the governor and twice-yearly briefings to legislative leadership; sponsors argued the change improves coordination for spending that exceeds $100 million annually. The bill passed the Senate 28-0.
The Senate amended and passed second substitute House Bill 347 to strengthen statewide coordination of homelessness services by creating a homelessness coordinator position that reports to the governor and requires the coordinator to brief the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House at least twice a year.
Sponsor Senator Andrick said the change came after years of stakeholder work and a study process and emphasized the need for centralized oversight: "on an annualized basis, we're spending well over $100,000,000 a year on this issue," he said, arguing better coordination will improve outcomes and reduce duplication. Senator Thatcher raised a procedural concern that the bill might require every dollar be spent only on HUD's Housing First model; the drafting attorney and Senator Thatcher clarified on the floor that the bill's language does not limit spending only to Housing First and that language could be amended to allow other evidence-based approaches where appropriate.
Senator Andrick said the coordinator's role is to bring stakeholders together, increase transparency and accountability and help align state, local and philanthropic investments. The Senate approved the second substitute under suspension of the rules; roll-call vote recorded 28 yay, 0 nay, 1 absent. The bill will be returned to the House for further consideration.
