Returning homeless to the mainland could become permanent
STAR-ADVERTISER / JUNE 28 Homeless encampments large and small are an ongoing issue on Oahu's streets.
1 /2 STAR-ADVERTISER / JUNE 28 Homeless encampments large and small are an ongoing issue on Oahu's streets.
JAMM AQUINO / SEPT. 10 With a new bill, the state would pay half the cost of airfares of those homeless with mainland ties who are willing to return home. Above, a man sleeps on the pavement near Ward Village.
2 /2 JAMM AQUINO / SEPT. 10 With a new bill, the state would pay half the cost of airfares of those homeless with mainland ties who are willing to return home. Above, a man sleeps on the pavement near Ward Village.
STAR-ADVERTISER / JUNE 28 Homeless encampments large and small are an ongoing issue on Oahu's streets.
JAMM AQUINO / SEPT. 10 With a new bill, the state would pay half the cost of airfares of those homeless with mainland ties who are willing to return home. Above, a man sleeps on the pavement near Ward Village.
Popular and successful efforts that have returned over 800 homeless people to the mainland since 2015 would become permanent if either of two bills in the state Legislature becomes law this session.
In 2024, 6, 389 homeless people were counted as homeless across the state, with most of them—4, 494—on Oahu.
The overwhelming majority are from Hawaii.
But House Bill 212 and Senate Bill 360 would focus on people with mainland ties who ended up homeless in the islands and are willing to go back, with the state paying half the cost of their airfares.
There remains a common belief that 'most ' of Hawaii's homeless are from the mainland and that mainland cities, counties and states are 'dumping ' them in Hawaii with no resources.
Angie Knight of the Institute of Human Services—which operates Hawaii's largest homeless shelters and helped launch Hawaii's initial 'repatriation ' efforts in 2015—has been surprised by the attention on sending homeless people back to the mainland, when the majority are actually from Hawaii.
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But IHS nevertheless supports the state making a 'Return to Home Program ' and funding it through HB 212 and SB 360.
She called 'the Return to Home Program one solution to homelessness. This relocation program is just one part of a more complex problem that we're all working together to solve.'
Rep. Adrian Tam (D, Waikiki ) introduced HB 212, which would focus on the specific segment of Hawaii's homeless population with ties to the mainland who agree to go back to families and support, including in-patient treatment.
'Everyone acknowledges that there are homeless people here from the mainland, ' Tam said. 'It doesn't solve the big, overarching problem of homelessness, but it is a start. It's a proven success. It's all voluntary and has reunited the homeless here with family on the mainland.'
In the House, Tam said HB 212 has received widespread support from both Republicans and Democrats, who continue to hear concerns about homelessness from their frustrated constituents.
Neither House nor Senate bill proposes a specific dollar amount for funding a permanent program.
The exact amount, if legislators approve the idea, would be decided during budget negotiations at the end of the legislative session as part of overall state spending.
In February 2014 the state took over what had been ad hoc 'repatriation ' programs and created a pilot project that has since returned 137 people to the mainland in one year.
When he served in the House, now-state homeless coordinator John Mizuno dipped into his own wallet to fly homeless people from the mainland back to families who would welcome them.
In his new role, Mizuno continues to urge legislators to make Hawaii's pilot project permanent and ensure a steady source of state funding that would include a salary for a full-time staff member to help administer it.
HB 212 and SB 360 also would require homeless people who volunteer to have 'the necessary and proper preparations for travel, including obtaining proper identification, accessing public transportation to the airport, providing orientation relating to airport security, and ensuring sufficient personal hygiene.'
IHS originally joined forces in 2015 with the Hawai 'i Lodging and Tourism Association, along with donations from a private foundation, to relocate homeless people in Hawaii back to the mainland.
HLTA then also contributed money to start a relocation program with Maui's tourism industry, and a third effort began on Hawaii island, Knight said.
But subsequent funding was sometimes inconsistent, even as homeless people continued to return to the mainland.
For homeless people in Hawaii, or their families on the mainland, who cannot afford their half of the airfare, Knight said, 'for the special cases we're able to cover it.'
'This program is for helping to reunite homeless people among communities of support, such as families, ' Knight said. 'This program is not about sending homeless individuals to be homeless in other locations.'
There is no shortage of reasons why people from the mainland find themselves homeless in the islands, they have told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser over the years.
Some arrive as happy couples, or as an effort to restart their relationships in 'paradise, ' only to break up, leaving neither able to afford Hawaii's high cost of housing and able to survive financially on their own.
Others wore out their welcomes with family and friends on the mainland through behavior including theft, violence, substance abuse and mental health issues and were offered one-way tickets to anywhere else and chose Hawaii.
Some tourists fell in love with Hawaii and decided to stay but struggled to survive and ended up homeless.
And several others arrived as new employees from more affordable states and did not calculate that their salaries could not keep up with Hawaii's high cost of living, and got financially underwater.
Among the homeless people who have been flown back home, Knight said, 'some were here for 15 years, and some a few weeks, two weeks, two days.'
In written testimony in support of HB 212, IHS' Knight said :
'Currently, over 60 % of new intakes at our men's shelter are recent arrivals from out-of-state. Moreover, over the past year, we've seen an increase in demand for relocation services for individuals receiving care at behavioral health crisis centers and our own triage and treatment center, individuals voluntarily wishing to participate in in-patient programs in the mainland. A partnership with Waikiki community partners has also helped identify more candidates for this program more efficiently.'
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A teenager with a job making burritos became a powerful Minnesota lawmaker who trained service dogs
MINNEAPOLIS -- MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Melissa Hortman' s influence at the Minnesota Capitol and her power as a Democratic leader to shape the course of a deeply divided Legislature were a far cry from her job as a teenager making chili-cheese burritos and overshadowed her volunteer work training service dogs for veterans. She was a lifelong Minneapolis-area resident who went to college in Boston and then returned home for law school and, with degree fresh in hand, worked as a volunteer lawyer for a group fighting housing discrimination. Elected to the Minnesota House in 2004, she helped pass liberal initiatives like free lunches for public school students in 2023 as the chamber's speaker. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she helped break a budget impasse threatening to shut down state government. 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Hamilton Spectator
14 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
A teenager with a job making burritos became a powerful Minnesota lawmaker who trained service dogs
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Melissa Hortman' s influence at the Minnesota Capitol and her power as a Democratic leader to shape the course of a deeply divided Legislature were a far cry from her job as a teenager making chili-cheese burritos and overshadowed her volunteer work training service dogs for veterans. She was a lifelong Minneapolis-area resident who went to college in Boston and then returned home for law school and, with degree fresh in hand, worked as a volunteer lawyer for a group fighting housing discrimination. Elected to the Minnesota House in 2004, she helped pass liberal initiatives like free lunches for pubic school students in 2023 as the chamber's speaker. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she helped break a budget impasse threatening to shut down state government. Tributes from friends and colleagues in both parties poured in after Hortman and her husband were shot to death early Saturday in their suburban Brooklyn Park home in what authorities called an act of targeted political violence. Helping Paws, which trains service dogs, posted a message on its Facebook page, along with a photo of a smiling Hortman with her arm around a friendly-looking golden retriever. 'Melissa Hortman was a woman that I wish everyone around the country knew,' U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a longtime friend and Democratic ally, said Sunday on ABC's 'This Week.' Klobuchar added: 'She was a true leader and loved her work, but was always so grounded and such a decent person. I think that's probably the best word to describe her. You look at her pictures and you know what she was about.' The shootings followed a big Democratic dinner The killings of Hortman and her husband early Saturday followed the shootings and wounding of another prominent Minnesota lawmaker, state Sen. 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Visitors left messages on Post-It notes commending Hortman's legislative work, including, 'You changed countless lives.' Hortman supplied a key vote for a budget deal Democrats disliked Legislative colleagues described Hortman as funny, savvy and fiercely committed to liberal causes. When lawmakers convened in January with a vacancy in a Democratic seat in the House giving the GOP a temporary advantage, Hortman led a boycott of daily sessions for more than three weeks to force Republicans into a power-sharing arrangement. Republicans were intent this year on ending state health coverage for adult immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, authorized in 2023 as part of a sweeping liberal program . Democrats wanted to keep it, and lawmakers began June — the last month of the 2025 budget year — without having passed a 2026-27 spending blueprint. Hortman helped negotiate a package that included a bill ending the state health coverage for adult immigrants on Jan. 1, 2026. She was the only House Democrat to vote for it last week— the 68th vote it needed to pass the chamber. She told reporters afterward that Republicans insisted on the bill, and Minnesota voters who gave the House an even partisan split expect the parties to compromise. But she acknowledged she worries about people who will lose their health insurance. 'I know that people will be hurt by that vote,' she said, choking up briefly before regaining her composure. 'We worked very hard to get a budget deal that wouldn't include that provision.' Tacos, auto parts, physics and Habitat for Humanity Hortman's earliest jobs didn't suggest that she'd become a power in Minnesota politics. The earliest job listed on her profile, when she was 16, was as a cook and cashier at a restaurant, where she made tacos and, 'most importantly, chili cheese burritos.' She also worked for caterers and was a runner at an auto parts store, putting inventory away and retrieving items for customers. Her husband, Mark, earned a physics degree from the University of North Carolina and later, a master's of business administration. He was the chief operating officer of an auto parts company for 10 years before co-founding a business consulting firm. He was active in Helping Paws and worked with homebuilding nonprofit Habitat for Humanity. Melissa Hortman earned a degree in philosophy and political science from Boston University, where she also worked as a residence assistant in one of its dormitories. She earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota, but also a master's of public administration from Harvard University. She served a decade on the board of a local nonprofit providing transportation and car repairs for low-income residents. She also was part of a committee in 2005 considering whether Minneapolis should submit a bid to host the Summer Olympics. 'We remember Melissa for her kindness, compassion, and unwavering commitment to making the world better,' Helping Paws said in its Facebook message. ___ Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Associated Press video journalist Obed Lamy also contributed reporting from St. Paul, Minnesota. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
San Francisco Chronicle
14 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
A teenager with a job making burritos became a powerful Minnesota lawmaker who trained service dogs
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Melissa Hortman' s influence at the Minnesota Capitol and her power as a Democratic leader to shape the course of a deeply divided Legislature were a far cry from her job as a teenager making chili-cheese burritos and overshadowed her volunteer work training service dogs for veterans. She was a lifelong Minneapolis-area resident who went to college in Boston and then returned home for law school and, with degree fresh in hand, worked as a volunteer lawyer for a group fighting housing discrimination. Elected to the Minnesota House in 2004, she helped pass liberal initiatives like free lunches for pubic school students in 2023 as the chamber's speaker. With the House split 67-67 between Democrats and Republicans this year, she helped break a budget impasse threatening to shut down state government. Tributes from friends and colleagues in both parties poured in after Hortman and her husband were shot to death early Saturday in their suburban Brooklyn Park home in what authorities called an act of targeted political violence. Helping Paws, which trains service dogs, posted a message on its Facebook page, along with a photo of a smiling Hortman with her arm around a friendly-looking golden retriever. 'Melissa Hortman was a woman that I wish everyone around the country knew,' U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a longtime friend and Democratic ally, said Sunday on ABC's 'This Week.' Klobuchar added: 'She was a true leader and loved her work, but was always so grounded and such a decent person. I think that's probably the best word to describe her. You look at her pictures and you know what she was about.' The shootings followed a big Democratic dinner The killings of Hortman and her husband early Saturday followed the shootings and wounding of another prominent Minnesota lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, at their home in Champlin, another Minneapolis suburb. Hoffman is chair of the Senate committee overseeing human resources spending. A nephew posted Sunday on Facebook that the Hoffmans were out of surgery and recovering from multiple gunshot wounds. The Hortmans, the Hoffmans and other top Democrats had gathered at a downtown Minneapolis hotel Friday night for their party's annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner. It's named for two Minnesota liberal icons who served both as U.S. senators and vice presidents, Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale. Minnesota Democrat and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said she saw both lawmakers at the dinner. 'So it feels so personal, because we're all very good friends, of course, to have that have happened so shortly after we were all together,' Smith said on CNN's 'Inside Politics Sunday.' Outside the state Capitol in St. Paul, a memorial to Hortman and her husband included flowers, candles, small American flags and a photo of the couple. Visitors left messages on Post-It notes commending Hortman's legislative work, including, 'You changed countless lives." Hortman supplied a key vote for a budget deal Democrats disliked Legislative colleagues described Hortman as funny, savvy and fiercely committed to liberal causes. When lawmakers convened in January with a vacancy in a Democratic seat in the House giving the GOP a temporary advantage, Hortman led a boycott of daily sessions for more than three weeks to force Republicans into a power-sharing arrangement. Republicans were intent this year on ending state health coverage for adult immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally, authorized in 2023 as part of a sweeping liberal program. Democrats wanted to keep it, and lawmakers began June — the last month of the 2025 budget year — without having passed a 2026-27 spending blueprint. Hortman helped negotiate a package that included a bill ending the state health coverage for adult immigrants on Jan. 1, 2026. She was the only House Democrat to vote for it last week— the 68th vote it needed to pass the chamber. She told reporters afterward that Republicans insisted on the bill, and Minnesota voters who gave the House an even partisan split expect the parties to compromise. But she acknowledged she worries about people who will lose their health insurance. 'I know that people will be hurt by that vote,' she said, choking up briefly before regaining her composure. 'We worked very hard to get a budget deal that wouldn't include that provision.' Tacos, auto parts, physics and Habitat for Humanity Hortman's earliest jobs didn't suggest that she'd become a power in Minnesota politics. The earliest job listed on her profile, when she was 16, was as a cook and cashier at a restaurant, where she made tacos and, 'most importantly, chili cheese burritos.' She also worked for caterers and was a runner at an auto parts store, putting inventory away and retrieving items for customers. Her husband, Mark, earned a physics degree from the University of North Carolina and later, a master's of business administration. He was the chief operating officer of an auto parts company for 10 years before co-founding a business consulting firm. He was active in Helping Paws and worked with homebuilding nonprofit Habitat for Humanity. Melissa Hortman earned a degree in philosophy and political science from Boston University, where she also worked as a residence assistant in one of its dormitories. She earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota, but also a master's of public administration from Harvard University. She served a decade on the board of a local nonprofit providing transportation and car repairs for low-income residents. She also was part of a committee in 2005 considering whether Minneapolis should submit a bid to host the Summer Olympics. ___
