STAND. COM. REP. NO. 380-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: H.B. No. 2733
                                     H.D. 1



Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which
was referred H.B. No. 2733 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS
     TRUST,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     As introduced, the purpose of this bill was to expedite the
resolution of individual claims filed with the Hawaiian Home
Lands Trust Individual Claims Resolution Panel.

     The bill was modeled after the reparations process similar
to that authorized by the United States Congress to compensate
Americans of Japanese Ancestry who were wrongfully interned
during World War II.  The bill generally proposed that the
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs ("DCCA") adjudicate
all remaining claims and award successful claimants a fixed
amount of damages.  By eliminating the need to compute "actual
damages," as was required by chapter 674, your Committee
anticipated that the DCCA would adjudicate all remaining claims
and disburse awards within the next two years.

     At the hearing, testimony in opposition to this bill was
provided by the State of Hawaii Department of Commerce and
Consumer Affairs, the State of Hawaii Office of Hawaiian Affairs,
Common Cause Hawaii, Consumer Lawyers of Hawaii, Ilio'ulaokalani
Coalition, the League of Women Voters of Hawaii, the Native
Hawaiian Legal Corporation, the State Council of Hawaiian
Homestead Associations, and numerous concerned individuals.  The

 
 
 
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State Attorney General and State of Hawaii Department of Hawaiian
Homelands commented on this bill.

     Your Committee acknowledges that a single measure like this
will not entirely or finally resolve the deep-rooted issues
confronting beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust.  In
fact, the claimants who testified at the hearing unanimously
believe that at this point, their best and only recourse is to
litigate their claims in court.  In this respect, your Committee
wishes to retain this bill merely as a vehicle in the event that
the State and beneficiaries are able to resolve their disputes
during the course of this legislative session.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by
deleting its contents and replacing it with that portion of the
content of H.B. 1675, C.D. 1 that creates a Hawaiian Home Lands
Individual Claims Compensation Commission to investigate various
ways to compensate claimants who received a favorable ruling
under the process established under chapter 674.  Again, your
Committee emphasizes that this language was inserted only to
ensure that a vehicle remain in place.  The language contained in
this H.D. 1 carries very little weight and should not be
construed as legislative intent with respect to any matter. 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to
this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and
purpose of H.B. No. 2733, as amended herein, and recommends that
it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No.
2733, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Judiciary &
                                   Hawaiian Affairs,



                                   ______________________________
                                   ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair