Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 54 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to request the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) to provide a detailed report to the 2002 Legislature on the Native Hawaiian Rehabilitation Fund (Fund), including the source and amount of all funds deposited for the last five years, an expenditure report, and a report detailing the impact of the various projects and programs funded through the fund, for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with the State Constitution.

Supportive testimony was submitted by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Comments were also submitted by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

With the reduction in sugar production and closure of many of the State's sugar plantations, receipts deposited into the Fund have declined in recent years. To the extent possible, DHHL has treated the Fund like an endowment, keeping the corpus of the Fund intact and using the interest earnings to support scholarship and community grant programs, and other projects benefiting native Hawaiians.

Your Committee believes that a detailed accounting of the fund is necessary to assure that the requirements of the Constitution are complied with.

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 concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 54 and recommends its adoption.