Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 1350 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to authorize the House and Senate leadership to convene and chair a joint task force on Hawaiian affairs to study the issues and options, and make recommendations on ways to deal with this threat to the Hawaiian people.

The measure also appropriates funds for this purpose.

Testimony in support of the measure was received from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. Ka Lahui Hawaii opposed passage of the measure.

Your Committee finds that in recent years, Hawaiian entitlements have come under legal attack. The United States Supreme Court, in the case of Rice v. Cayetano, opened voting for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to all voters, not just Hawaiians. Close on the heels of Rice, the federal court decision in Arakaki v. State opened the position of Office of Hawaiian Affairs' trustees to candidates from all ethnic backgrounds. The most recent federal case, Barrett v. State, seeks to destroy the Hawaiian Home Lands program, prohibit the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and ban the traditional and customary rights of Hawaiians exercised for subsistence, cultural, and religious purposes. These cases attack Hawaiians and Hawaiian assets because they are being held by the State.

Your Committee understands that the Legislature cannot alter the filing of these cases in federal court, but it can recognize that a threat to the Hawaiian people exists and remedies must be structured to neutralize it. Although the primary remedy will be at the federal level, the State should take whatever actions necessary to ensure that the State Constitution, laws, and policies regarding and impacting Hawaiians continue to be properly implemented.

In this light, the measure seeks to address these issues by establishing a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives to chair a Hawaiian Affairs Task Force that shall consist of not more than fifteen members. The Task Force will be comprised of representatives of the Hawaiian community and state and county agencies and will be charged with the mission of providing fact-finding and recommendations to the Legislature on the impacts the federal case law, most notably Rice v. Cayetano, Arakaki v. State, and Barrett v. State, have on the future of the Hawaiian people.

Your Committee believes that this measure represents the best course of action for a prudent study of the issues and possible solutions.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1350 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.