STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3052

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 2000

                                   RE:  S.C.R. No. 207
                                        S.D. 1




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs and
Judiciary, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 207 entitled:

     "SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO
     AMICABLY AND INFORMALLY RESOLVE, THROUGH NEGOTIATION AND
     SETTLEMENT, KALIMA V. STATE OF HAWAII, CIVIL NO. 99-4771-12
     VSM, PENDING BEFORE THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to urge the Attorney General
to amicably and informally resolve, through negotiation and
settlement, Kalima v. State of Hawaii, Civil No. 99-4771-12 VSM,
pending in the First Circuit Court.

     Testimony in support of the measure was received from the
Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the law firm representing
the plaintiffs in this class action suit against the State.  The
Attorney General submitted comments on the measure.

     Your Committees find that Chapter 674, Hawaii Revised
Statutes (HRS), established a process to resolve individual
claims of breaches of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust which
occurred between August 21, 1959, and June 30, 1988.  Under this
law, 2,752 native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home
Lands Trust filed their claims with the Hawaiian Claims Office by
the statutory deadline of August 30, 1995.  Out of those
beneficiary-claimants, 418 claimants completed the Hawaiian Home
Lands Individual Claims Review Process and received favorable
recommendations from the Individual Claims Review Panel, some of

 
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whom have been waiting since 1997 for legislative approval of
their damages awards.  Another 1,376 claimants were still waiting
for their claims to be processed when Governor Cayetano vetoed
legislation that would have extended the life of the Hawaiian
Claims Office for one more year to complete its work.

     Although they were not responsible for any delay in the
processing of their claims, claimants were forced to go to
circuit court by December 31, 1999, in order to preserve their
claims because the State failed to timely process and/or award
them compensation.

     Your Committees also find that claimants, who faithfully and
patiently fulfilled all the requirements set forth in Chapter
674, HRS, in order to process their claims and have been waiting
up to six years for any resolution of their claims, must now
endure a lengthy and costly court battle with the State.

     Currently, a case entitled Kalima v. State of Hawaii, Civil
No. 99-4771-12 VSM, is pending in the First Circuit Court on this
very matter and it is your Committees' belief that continued and
protracted litigation will not only adversely affect the
interests of the claimants, but also force the State to incur
significant litigation costs and attorneys' fees regardless of
the outcome of the litigation.  Therefore, it is your Committees'
desire to have this matter resolved in a timely manner.

     Your Committees have amended the measure by:

     (1)  Adding language that requires both the plaintiffs and
          the State to work together to reach a mutually
          beneficial solution to this issue, rather than putting
          the responsibility solely on the State;

     (2)  Adding language that includes mediation as an
          acceptable means by which to ameliorate the problem;

     (3)  Adding the plaintiffs' attorneys to the transmittal
          list; and

     (4)  Amending the title of the measure to reflect the
          abovementioned amendments.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your
Committees on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs and Judiciary
that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the
intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 207, as amended herein, and
recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,
in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 207, S.D. 1.

 
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                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committees on Water, Land, and
                                   Hawaiian Affairs and
                                   Judiciary,



____________________________       ______________________________
AVERY B. CHUMBLEY, Co-Chair        COLLEEN HANABUSA, Chair



____________________________
MATTHEW M. MATSUNAGA, Co-Chair

 
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