House Committee finalizes walkthrough of homelessness bill, affirms hotel-motel caps and reporting, and sets FY27 rate limits

The House Committee on Human Services completed a final walkthrough of draft bill DR 260766 on May 12, focusing on definitions, shelter standards, hotel and motel use, reporting requirements and fiscal guidance ahead of an expected vote.

The bill creates a new chapter with updated definitions and a new definition for “highly structured shelter,” which the presenter described as one that “provides programming that emphasizes case management, housing stability, employment, education or treatment services as well as other services as appropriate and a manner that accommodates an eligible household’s disability if any.” The committee also added an annotated HUD definition of domestic violence; the presenter said this language was “taken directly from HUD.”

Members spent considerable time on the hotels and motels section, which was consolidated into a single section that directs the department to enter agreements with community partners for supportive services, to propose hotel and motel rates as part of its budget presentation, and to ensure services are not provided on a strictly overnight basis. The draft sets…