S.B. 255 Homelessness in Vulnerable Populations Amendments: transcript

Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee, Feb 23, 2026

1. Committee chair43:29

   Uh, we have before, uh, Senate Bill 2 55, homelessness and vulnerable population amendments. Um, and we are ready for you to present on this bill.

2. Sen. Nate Blouin43:41

   Thank you. And I've got built tidbits with Crossroads here, and I will give a quick presentation and then you have anything to add, you're free to add after that, if that works.

3. Sen. Nate Blouin43:51

   Thank you. Yeah. Um, so homelessness is not inevitable. It's the result of choices, uh, and whether we act early or wait, and until a crisis forces our hand. Right now in Utah, seniors on fixed incomes, people with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, and young people are aging out of foster care. They're already on the edge of housing instability. As we prepare for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic winter games, we know the pressure on our housing system is only gonna continue to increase. So, SB 2 55, uh, ensures that Utah does not walk into that moment unprepared. This bill creates a 17 member homelessness in Vulnerable Populations task force. Um, it brings together the institutions and decision makers who are directly responsible for housing and homelessness in our state. Um, so that includes the state's homeless coordinator and housing leadership. Uh, it includes public housing authorities from Davis, Salt Lake Summit, Utah, and Weber County. So all of the, uh, counties and areas would be impacted by the Winter Games. Uh, it includes the state's continuum of Care organizations that coordinate homelessness services, the, uh, nonprofit affordable housing providers and shelter operators, private sector housing developers. And importantly, it has, uh, representation from the 2034 Olympic, uh, organizing Committee. So this ensures that the people planning the games are sitting at the very same table, uh, as the people who are responsible for housing Utahans. Uh, the task force is required to meet regularly, uh, to conduct a comprehensive analysis and to deliver a formal report to the legislature by, uh, November, 2026. So a very short-lived, uh, sprint to, uh, to get this data and this information put together, uh, the report that they will present must do several things that will assess the housing and shelter needs of vulnerable populations. And those are all defined in the bill. Uh, it'll identify gaps in deeply affordable housing, supportive housing and shelter capacity, analyze the risk of displacement caused by Olympic related housing demand, uh, evaluate the cost of producing the housing that Utah Utahns will need, and identify funding strategies including public private partnerships, private investment grants, and other financing tools. So it's not symbolic. This is a, a structured and accountable process that results in concrete recommendations to this body so that we can act based on facts, because we cannot fix, uh, what we refuse to measure. We cannot claim to lead if we refuse to plan. Uh, so this bill also positions Utah to seize a rare opportunity. The Olympic Games will bring in global corporations and, and a lot of capital to our state. Uh, some of those entities may be willing to invest in deeply affordable housing as part of a lasting Olympic legacy, but only if Utah, if we have a clear plan and a credible path forward. So the task force ensures we are ready to capture those opportunities and to turn the global attention that we are going to receive into lasting investment in our communities. Um, we, every year that we wait housing becomes more expensive. Every year that we, uh, we lack planning more Utahans are gonna fall into crisis that could have been prevented. So, uh, SB 2 55 ensures that Utah acts with foresight, coordination, and responsibility, and it ensures that we are not just reacting to displacement after it happens, but we are preventing it before it begins. Um, Anything to add, bill? Yeah, Actually, um, please introduce yourself.

4. Bill Tibbitts, Deputy Executive Director, CrossRoads Urban Center47:28

   My name is Bill Tibbits. I'm the Deputy Executor, deputy Executive Director at Crossroads Urban Center, which is a mission institution of the United Methodist Church that was founded in 1966. And so we are celebrating our 60th anniversary this year. Um, we, uh, have two emergency food pantries in Salt Lake City that serve about 13,000 people per month. Um, we also have a thrift store where we primarily give away clothing. We are, are serving over 2000 people with, with direct, with, uh, no cost clothing per month. Um, and so we see a lot of people who are in hou who are homeless, people who are in house dealing with housing instability. I am realizing that I, crossroads is celebrating it 60th anniversary. And I've been with Crossroads for almost 25 of those years because I started working at Crossroads in, in 2001, November of 2001. And one of the first things I did at Crossroads was talk to people who came to our food pantry who had been, uh, pushed outta their homes during the Olympic Games. There were people who were in apartment in, uh, apartments that rented on a week to week basis, and they were told, come back in two weeks and, and were made homeless during the games. And so we as an organization thought, well, we could, how can we do better? Going toward 2034? We started organizing meetings around this back in 2019. We, we organized about five, and then the pandemic killed a lot of things, and we, we stopped focusing on that. But one of the people who came to five, all five of the meetings we organized was then Nate Bwin, who was, who I had not, not met before. Um, what I will say, a a shortcoming we had as an organization is you run a food pantry and you see the need and you focus on the need. And we always said, okay, well, we need know, we need more housing. What we only thought realized in December, you know, so a couple months ago, was that there's also an opportunity because there are, are Phil philanthropic institutions that donate to affordable housing in lots of states, but not Utah. There are corporations that do the same thing. There are, um, funding op funding opportunities like, uh, social impact bonds that can be issued by government, but also by, by banks that don't make a lot of sense for Utah most of the time. But with the games, they, they might. And so if you look at the resources we already have and how we can make them go further, it's possible we could build a lot of that housing that we need, um, to address homelessness. I, I think another, another. And so I think that it would be smart for us as a state to have a process for exploring that opportunity, because if, I don't know how much we could bring in, we could, could we bring in, could we bring in a billion dollars from OUTTA state? Could we bring in 500 million? Could we bring in, I mean, 20 million can, when you match it with the other resources can go pretty far, right? So it, it seems like there's an opportunity. It would be a shame if we didn't explore it. Um, I, I will also say, I mean, part of why we like this bill, um, is, uh, that when you look at places where they've had CE success in reducing homelessness, they've often focused on groups of people who have something in common other than the fact that they don't have a home right now. So there have been lots of places that have had success in addressing homelessness among veterans, right? There's been a few smaller number of places, but some places that have address have had success addressing homelessness among pregnant women, right? I mean, and so it, and I I would say from a, from the perspective as nonprofit person who's done fundraising appeals to, to philanthropic organizations, the more focused your request is. If you say, we would like to do our best to end senior homelessness and homelessness for pregnant women and, and for families with young kids going into the games, because we don't want to have people posting videos on TikTok of themselves sleeping in the car with their baby during the games, right? I mean, like, we, we don't want that to be part of the story. Um, I I think that that could be a very compelling request to, I don't know, people, you, you, in this area, you look at like the, the former Mrs. Bezos is somebody who gives tons of money to things, right? I mean, could we come up with a compelling, a compelling request? I, I think the more looking at, at, at compelling subpopulations, I mean, there are organizations that are very interested in solutions to au you know, solutions that help people with autism. Could we come up with a plan for helping the, there's over a thousand people right now with developmental disabilities like autism who are homeless. If we had a plan to say, we're gonna try to end homelessness for people with developmental disabilities, are there people who would give to that, who would never give money to anything in Utah? But they might be if it was connected to the games? So that's, that's, it's, I I just wanna make clear for us, this bill is about the opportunity. We, I regret that I didn't even, I mean, we've been talking about this since 2019. I didn't even think about it. The, I I thought about the need for six years. It, it wasn't until December that we realized there was an opportunity, and when we thought, well, who can we get to sponsor a bill in December? We thought, well, Senator Blouin was actually talking to us about this in 2019. So we reached out to him and we're very grateful that he remembered those conversations and, and was willing to put a bill together.

5. Committee chair53:05

   Does that conclude your presentation? Yes. Okay. Um, do I have questions from the committee? Senator Owens?

6. Sen. Derrin R. Owens53:13

   Thank you, Madam Chair. I, uh, thanks, Senator. I agree with you and your presenter. What a great opportunity, and I, um, appreciate the, the thought of this. We, we really need to put something together to, uh, address this. And I think we keep making a huge difference. Um, so the last, uh, we, the last bill, um, Representative Roberts, uh, the last witness said that they had had 63 meetings across the state on, uh, working not to work on housing. Same, same issue. And that brings in a lot of stakeholders. So what's been your process? You talked about December, when you plan, have you met with county commissioners or, um, any mayors of these, uh, cities that would, would, uh, be involved? What, what's been the process to get you to the 17 person board? Yeah, that was really came out of the, the conversations. We have the crossroads in a few other, I'm trying to think of Bill, who was involved. There were several other housing coalition coalition, Some, some, some homeless service providers. Yeah, we, um, I, I think that we, we have, we have discussed this bill with the, the mayors of Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County. Um, but you know, they have so many things on their legislative plate in December already, right? They, they were very busy. So I, I don't, I can't say we had extended conversations, but we certainly have, have raised this with them. I think if you look at the Salt Lake Valley, the continuum of care that addresses homelessness for Salt Lake County, they have come up with a proposed, you know, a list, an inventory of housing that would be needed to reduce homelessness in the county. That, that, um, that was created by, by staff for the county Mayor's office and the city mayor's office. So I would say that this is something that for Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County, there, they are already working in this direction. And I think that they've been involved with the process you're describing. I think that this would be just, I, I, but I would say that there are, are opportunities related to the games that are different. And that, and, and so having a, a, a process to look at that. And I'd also say, I mean, with, with housing, like developing a, a plan to pitch to philanthropic organizations will take time. Getting them to make decisions takes time, and then building takes time. And so that's part of why we, you know, like we, I wish, I wish we had thought of this two years ago. Yeah. Um, and, and so, and I, because I I do think it would be, it will be easy to get a lot of these organizations to, to Participate. Yeah, I can follow up on that. Yes. Yeah, you make a great, you make my point that I'm gonna make here. It's perfect. Uh, I appreciate that and I hope you will. Uh, because it, right now, I feel like this is, this is the cart that's gonna help pull this, this, uh, initiative. And it's needed, but the cart is before the horse. And next time you're here, maybe in a year, if you've been able to go out and circle all the wagons and get everybody to come and support, I would expect some mayors and commissioners to be sitting behind you anxious for this and behind the legislation. But to put it in legislation first without knowing what that's all gonna look like. I, it just, it causes me some pause. We, we have Talked to all of the housing, housing authorities.

7. Unknown speaker56:48speaker not certain

   Excuse. I'm sorry. I I just wanted to say we have talked to Some of them. Are you asking A question? Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. Yeah.

8. Sen. Derrin R. Owens56:54

   So I, that's what I am gonna ask is, would, is this something, uh, senator that you would, you're into long term and would work on for a year and get those, all those together? Because this seems like it's a great idea, but I don't know if it's ready to put into code.

9. Sen. Nate Blouin57:11

   Yeah. Well, I won't, I won't be here in a, in a year. Um, but, uh, I think this is something we need to address right now. I mean, this is, this fits in well with, I, I'm just looking at the language of the bill that was presented before. Uh, I think it fits nicely under something like that to really give a targeted view of, of these are very specific populations. This is not just the, the kind of average low income population that is so in need of affordable housing right now. This is a, uh, you know, veterans, this is pregnant women, like we just heard. I mean, all these very specific subpopulations that deal with their own, uh, critical problems. And, and if we don't get started on this now, we are going to, uh, end up in a place where we're, you know, we're at 2034 with the Olympics coming in before we know it. Um, and so I think that's, that's the idea. And I think, um, I don't think there would be a lot of resistance from, from folks, uh, to put something like this together, uh, to use some of their resources.

10. Committee chair58:05

    Okay. Is that okay? Yeah. Senator Kwan.

11. Sen. Karen Kwan58:10

    Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I, I absolutely agree this is something that's needed and necessary. I have a nephew who has, um, uh, developmental disabilities, and I can just see the need, uh, the, in terms of the resources that he has. And he, he's not here in Utah. Um, which, uh, you know, with our, um, list the DSPD list being years, decades long, and I know that that's very specific, but these are vulnerable populations who are waiting a very long time to get services. I think that this is an important topic and now is the time to start addressing it. So thank you for bringing this forward.

12. Sen. Karen Kwan58:53

    Um, I do have a question on line 1 29 and one 30. I'm confused, uh, by the repeal dates. Is it really supposed to be repealed in just a few months? Yeah.

13. Sen. Nate Blouin59:05

    Yep. It's a very short-lived, uh, uh, just a one year sort of effort to get all this together.

14. Sen. Karen Kwan59:12

    And does that give the, um, the task force enough time? Because I, I mean, I'm hearing about grants and, you know, I am also hearing about this really should be long term. Is that,

15. Sen. Nate Blouin59:25

    Yeah, I, I think there are other efforts that are longer term. This is really identifying like a very specific kind of smaller part of the problem that would dig in deeply to that, uh, to those populations. Specifically looking at the opportunities that come with the Olympics, like, like Bill mentioned of potentially seeing Coca-Cola or Visa or, you know, all these big companies that sponsor, uh, that, that pay millions of dollars for advertising. All those sorts of things to, uh, put in dollars to, you know, some sort of fund that we create sooner than later to, uh, get this stuff starting to get billed. 'cause I mean, these projects, housing projects take, you know, a couple years to get built in many cases. And, um, if we, if we don't start working towards that sort of goal right now, then you know, it's gonna be 20 28, 20 30, and, uh, and, and it'll be too late to bring all the resources together, um, to, to build some of those facilities that are gonna be needed. Because, uh, we, I think we, well, I was not here in 2002, but I know there was a lot of reshuffling and people left the city and, um, people were, were out on the streets where, where we didn't need them to be, where they shouldn't have been. And, um, and that's, that's really sad. And we, we just, we don't wanna see that happen again.

16. Unknown speaker1:00:33speaker not certain

    Agreed. Madam Chair, another call. Any other questions? Just a follow up. Okay.

17. Unknown speaker1:00:36speaker not certain

    What senator, what do you see as after the work of this, um, task force? Should it, should it go forward? Um, what do you see happening with the information and, and moving forward? Because you know, it needs to continue, right?

18. Sen. Nate Blouin1:00:51

    Yeah. So we will get that report back to the legislature, uh, and then I think that would spearhead an effort potentially for more legislation to create some sort of a fund or, or something along those lines that would bring in private dollars, I think is the real big idea here, is to say to these big corporations that can, that, that have millions of dollars to, uh, yeah, to, to create a legacy. I mean, there are folks, you know, we know a lot of the names in Utah that, that love to, uh, have their names on buildings and that sort of thing to, to put funds into this sort of, uh, project to, uh, to build a, a legacy here that, um, moves us forward and, and creates a, uh, more affordability and, and brings people, uh, off the streets. So. Great.

19. Unknown speaker1:01:33speaker not certain

    Thank you. And Madam Chair, I think Mr. Tibbits wanted to respond, and I'd like to hear what he had to say.

20. Committee chair1:01:39

    You, would you like to respond?

21. Bill Tibbitts, Deputy Executive Director, CrossRoads Urban Center1:01:40

    I first off apologize for interrupting. I was actually realizing I didn't fully answer your question because I have spoken to all of the, the people involved with the, um, with, with housing authorities listed on this, and they were all enthusiastic about participating. I have asked, um, and I have spoken to people from a couple of the continual care. So it's not that we haven't, I, there were people who were, I, I talked, started off with the people who were negative and or who are just not, not negative. They were just not like disengaged, right? The people who were too busy to really think too hard. I didn't talk about the people who, who did take the time to say, oh, yeah, that would be great. Um, and, and there, there, so on that list, there are several eager participants. Um, and I, so I, I, um, that was what I wanted. I also, I think that this is not, this is not the, the, this is a more of a, a planning task force. I would think that if we came up with a reasonable plan, there are people in the division of housing, uh, in community development who would be eager to follow through in, in their new home and go, yo, um, I mean, there, there would be if, if, if there is opportunity here, if they, we explore this and to find, yes, we could do this. I, I think it won't be hard to have. I have a, there are already agencies in place to drive it forward once a plan is, is created and, and that, and so I, you know, I didn't want to, it doesn't make sense to create something new. This is really just bringing Utah stakeholders together to figure out how can, is there a way we can do this?

22. Bill Tibbitts, Deputy Executive Director, CrossRoads Urban Center1:03:13

    Is that conclusion comment? Yeah. I'm, I'm, thank you so much.

23. Committee chair1:03:16

    Thank you. Okay.

24. Unknown speaker1:03:18speaker not certain

    Um, I, I just wanna ask the question why a special task force? Uh, Utah has, uh, a homeless on this board that's really doing lots of good work that's planning on, uh, big pro, you know, he's got big projects under discussion right now, uh, really trying to take some bold moves forward in terms of positioning us. Why would we separate this work from the work that they're doing? Because they're also going to have to be in the fundraising business, et cetera, to be able to help. So, I, I don't think I'm understanding why we need two separate groups to do this.

25. Sen. Nate Blouin1:03:58

    Yeah. I think they will be more focused on, on specifically that overall picture of homelessness, whereas this is looking at those very specific subgroups of that. And also looking at, uh, the larger opportunities for philanthropic dollars, for private dollars for those sorts of things with, with an eye towards the games specifically. Um, so it's a, it is just a more granular picture there. I think, um, you know, we could, we could, uh, press them to put similar projects together in, in the work that they do, but I think this is something that's more about, uh, creating some momentum right now. Uh, whereas, you know, they, they're, they have a much broader focus and, uh, and a lot that they're working on. So they're, they may not get to, uh, all of these things that we are asking different stakeholders to come together and, and work on through this task force.

26. Unknown speaker1:04:45speaker not certain

    So have you had conversations, uh, with the director or with the chair of their board?

27. Sen. Nate Blouin1:04:52

    I have not. Bill did you?

28. Bill Tibbitts, Deputy Executive Director, CrossRoads Urban Center1:04:53

    I, I have spoke with Nick Coleman, the interim director of the Office of Homeless Services. Um, and I, I don't think that they thought this was a bad idea. I, I don't, I don't think, uh, I, I, um, I think that they have an awful lot on their plate. And, and I think that when it comes to actually producing housing, um, like there are a lot of more stakeholders than, than, than there are. I mean, it's, it's bigger. It's a, it would need some, it would, it is something that they would have to convene a process with a lot of the same stakeholders to, to come up with the plan themselves. And I, I don't, I didn't, I I, I would prefer to have an independent process rather than like, try to make them do something more.

29. Committee chair1:05:41

    Okay. Thank you. Um, I, so are, is there anyone from the public that would like to speak to this bill? We got two people, and I also have somebody online, so. Okay.

30. Tara Rollins, Utah Housing Coalition1:06:06

    Good morning. Yes. My name is Tara Rollins and I work for the Utah Housing Coalition. And I wanna commend, um, bill for bringing this conversation forward and the senator for running this bill. Um, I was here for the, um, the Olympics, um, back in 2002. And Bill, um, I mean, um, Bruce Quint, who ran the CDC Utah did bring this conversation together before the legislative, I mean, before the Olympics. And some of the conversations that were happening back then were what were the assets, um, what was gonna happen to the assets after the Olympics left? And some of that was the temporary housing that was, um, was going to be on the ground and where was that gonna go afterwards. And so taking advantage of some of the assets that were here and using them long term for other, um, some of it was used, um, on, um, the reservation, some of it in rural areas for housing. Um, I think doing some exploratory, um, conversations like that would not hurt. I think also, um, you know, you may not know, but brand new housing has to be used for like the FBI, nobody can live there previously. And so now we have that as Jefferson. Um, I think it's Circle Housing, which is on like ninth South and West Temple. Um, the Housing Authority owns that, but that was FBI housing, um, during the Olympics. And so those type of opportunities we really could get ahead of and, and look at. Um, I think, um, having the housing authorities and the homeless community talking about what the needs are, especially when this, um, report comes out, I think would be an asset to the rest of the community. And so, um, I agree. I think this would be a good start to a conversation. Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

31. Committee chair1:08:03

    Please introduce yourself and please sign in.

32. Zoe Newman1:08:08

    Hi, my name is Zoe Newman, and I am representing myself today. I've been working in the housing and homelessness space for roughly six years now, and I've worked in several different states, and I'm very excited about this bill, and I'm excited about the opportunity to work in a space where the Olympics are coming here. And I think there is an opportunity to leverage a lot of the private sector and a lot of the, and, and increase the capital stack in a way where we could develop some really cool things intentionally. Um, I was a part of that initial conversation, um, when we were first starting to talk about the bill and the opportunity that the Olympics, um, brings, brings to Utah. And we could potentially think about this much differently than anybody has before and be leaders in this space and say, well, instead of having to go in and repurpose all of this housing, we could go into the Olympics and say, you know, these are the needs of our communities. These are the needs of, of real utahans and build housing that works for us long term instead of having to go in and like retrofit and change everything around. So we could go into the Olympics with this philanthropic mindset, and I think it could be a very beautiful thing. You could bring in a lot of private sponsors. You could bring in, um, a lot of the CRA funding and the banks and everything that we have right in our backyard, um, to create some really beautiful things. So I'm very excited about this and, and I agree with the senator in the sense of, if we don't start having these conversations now and maybe giving this some legs, um, it could be potentially too, too late. And I think there is a lot of energy around housing and homelessness right now. So let's continue to, um, piggyback off of that energy, um, and use this momentum that we have now. Thank you.

33. Committee chair1:10:10

    Okay. We have Online, uh, Lynndyl Smith.

34. Linda Smith, Faith and Advocacy Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness1:10:26

    Good morning. Good morning. My Name, please introduce yourself. My name is Lynndyl Smith, and I live in Salt Lake City. I'm here speaking on my own behalf and on behalf of the Faith and Advocacy Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, which is a 17, uh, congregation and individual group that works with, um, crossroads Urban Center. Um, I was a professor at the University of Utah when we were planning for the prior Olympics. And at that time I was, um, uh, president of the academic Senate, and as such was able to sit with the, uh, president's cabinet. I remember the deep planning that went on at the university to make sure that the Olympics was something that wasn't just a blip, but something that the university would benefit from as well. Um, the university obtained, uh, government lands, um, in order to build dormitories. Uh, the dormitories were built for the Olympics for athlete housing, and now they're dormitories for the university. Um, that kind of planning, uh, is crucial. Um, and if people representing the unhoused population and the poorest among us are not part of the conversation, if they're not at the table, none of the assets that are developed for the Olympics will ultimately benefit them or this community. And as you know, um, affordable hou, deeply affordable housing is a market failure. It's not possible to develop that housing just based on market forces. There have to be contributions by governmental entities and, and nonprofit, uh, or foundation entities. I think the sooner we get this started, um, the more likely we are to have people that are knowledgeable about development as well as people that know the service needs. Um, so I encourage you to support this bill, and I'm sure that, um, the people that are already contacted and active in the homeless SP space will work together to make sure all the governmental entities and everyone, uh, is able to be consulted. Thank you for your consideration.

35. Committee chair1:12:34

    Thank you. We appreciate that. Okay. Um, I'm gonna return to the committee. Senator Kwan.

36. Sen. Karen Kwan1:12:44

    Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I'd like to, uh, move, uh, SB 2 55 out with a favorable recommendation to the full body of the Senate, and I'd like to speak to that if I may.

37. Committee chair1:13:00

    Okay. We have a motion to, um, send Senate Bill 2 96 student consent, and, oh, excuse me, 2 55. Sorry, I'm sorry. I'm just so out of order. Um, we have the motion to move Senate Bill 2 55, homelessness and vulnerable population amendments out to the Senate floor with a favorable recommendation.

38. Committee chair1:13:22

    Any discussion to that motion? May I? Yes. Speak to

39. Sen. Karen Kwan1:13:25

    That. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, I also was at working at the University of Utah at the, uh, 2002 Olympics. And, and remember, uh, the, um, the many conversations that happened at that time. So I think this is the right time to begin talking about this. Um, now I would like to see the, either the discussion or the task force, and I'm not sure what, uh, to be institutionalized in our, um, in our state homelessness, um, committees or commissions, right. That I think this is a conversation that needs to continue. So, I mean, I get what the good Senator Vickers trying to do here. I I would like to see more, and I'm sure a lot of our advocates would like to see more. Uh, but I'm gonna support this of course today and hope that we can have a conversation to maybe talk about how to make it more robust within the systems that we already have here. No, thank

40. Committee chair1:14:20

    You. Okay. Thank you very much.

41. Unknown speaker1:14:23speaker not certain

    Um, I'm just gonna say, I really would like to see this work aligned. I think about the work that was done on housing, um, this past year and how it's been disseminated everywhere. And I think we now, finally, now through the work and the collaboration over so many groups, we have the opportunity to align that work. We are have a homeless services board for me, that's the group that should be involved in this. And, uh, it should be moved forward with them. It's an important topic. Absolutely. And big picture kind of planning and thinking, I think is important, but I, I just don't think we have the right group here, um, that is taking on this problem. So, um, would you just wanted you to hear my responses. It's an important topic, no doubt about that. Just, I don't think it's the right group.

42. Committee chair1:15:16

    So, uh, not seeing any other comments from the committee? Senator Blouin, would you like to Some,

43. Sen. Nate Blouin1:15:23

    Yeah. I think this is, this is the time we need to move forward with a, with a program like this. Uh, we, we do have a robust group here with a lot of different, um, agencies and counties and different entities involved that I think we're all gonna have a, a real stake in what comes out of this. And again, if we don't, um, start to think about this right now, we are gonna keep kicking the can down the road and see us end up in a place where there's just this mis mishmash of, uh, projects that get built with a, without a whole lot of intentionality. So I think if we, uh, were to move forward with something like this, we could, we could see a, a proposal come out of it that really draws down on some of the, um, the, the big dollars that are gonna be coming into Utah, uh, in, in 2034, and leading up, leading up to it to, uh, build some new, new housing that is really targeted to a specific group. Uh, I, I think this is more about a focus on those subpopulations that are, uh, that get left out of the conversation a lot of the time and, and aren't acknowledged as they're, um, individual groups that, uh, have different problems, different needs, uh, in their housing situations. And, uh, I think we're gonna be miss that if we don't, uh, have this group pulled together and, and, uh, able to put something out that can really target this two solutions for, uh, the folks who are in, in the most critical needs of, uh, of some help from, from our state.

44. Committee chair1:16:44

    Okay. Thank you, uh, Senator Kwan. Okay. Um, all in favor of passing out Senate bill 2 9 2 55, Senate bill 2 55, homeless lessness and vulnerable population amendments. Please indicate by saying aye. Aye. No. All not in favor, please, please say no. No, no. Okay. So that fails. Three. Uh, one to three. Yes. It fail. One to three, right? One. I vote three and na votes. Okay. Um, thank you very much. This is a really important topic. Uh, it's really a matter of getting the right group engaged in this, I think, um, to take us forward. So, thank you. Okay.