Bill Text: HI HR52 | 2022 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Human Services And Legislative Reference Bureau To Conduct A Study On The Feasibility Of Establishing A Program To Provide A Basic Income To Qualified Adults Who Are Verified Victims Of Sex Trafficking Or Who Are Female Or Sexual And Gender Minority Individuals Seeking To Exit The Sex Trade.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-31 - Report adopted. referred to the committee(s) on JHA as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Eli, Hashem, D. Kobayashi, Ohno excused (4). [HR52 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-HR52-Amended.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

52

THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO CONDUCT A STUDY ON THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM TO PROVIDE A BASIC INCOME TO QUALIFIED ADULTS WHO ARE VERIFIED VICTIMS OF SEX TRAFFICKING OR WHO ARE FEMALE OR SEXUAL AND GENDER MINORITY INDIVIDUALS SEEKING TO EXIT THE SEX TRADE.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, mainstream American feminism has focused on the right to engage in prostitution, thus overshadowing indigenous and transnational feminists' call for women and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer ohana to have the right to refuse to engage in prostitution or endure recurring sexual assault to survive; and

 

     WHEREAS, Native Hawaiian women, women of color, and sexual and gender identity minorities deserve the same right as affluent, collegeeducated, or white women to exit the sex trade; and

 

     WHEREAS, the right to exit prostitution does not meaningfully exist for most individuals in the sex trade; and

 

     WHEREAS, the right to leave patriarchal institutions is one of the rights that is most often denied to women; and

 

WHEREAS, an appropriate alternative would be to establish a program to support the economic survival of those wanting to exit this patriarchal system, thereby addressing the tendency of many social institutions to criminalize those who are forced to engage in prostitution and instead encourage compassion for individuals ensnared in the sex trade; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Department of Human Services and Legislative Reference Bureau are requested to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing a program to provide a basic income to qualified adults who are verified victims of sex trafficking or who are female or sexual and gender minority individuals seeking to exit the sex trade; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services and Legislative Reference Bureau are requested to consider the feasibility of the following when conducting the study:

 

     (1)  Providing each qualified applicant a basic monthly income of $2,000 for a period of up to one year; and

 

     (2)  Exempting the basic monthly income provided by the program from state income taxes and, to the extent permissible under federal law, from being considered income for the purposes of determining eligibility and benefit amounts under relevant public assistance, social services, and financial aid programs; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Human Services and Legislative Reference Bureau are requested to submit a report of their findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2023; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Human Services, and Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Human Services; Legislative Reference Bureau; Study; Basic Income; Sex Trafficking Victims; Sex Trade Victims

feedback