HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

119

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

urging the united states president and congress to immediately ratify the amendments made to the hawaiian homes commission act of 1920, as amended, as embodied in act 302, session laws of hawaii 2001, and to recognize hawaiian homestead community organizations as self-governing administrative authorities for their respective communities.

 

 

WHEREAS, in 2001, the Hawaii State Legislature passed and the Governor of the State of Hawaii enacted Act 302, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001 (Act 302); and

WHEREAS, the purpose of Act 302 was to amend the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, to promote increased self-governance by providing Hawaiian homestead community organizations with administrative authority over the affairs of their distinct native communities on Hawaiian Home Lands; and

WHEREAS, Act 302 accomplished this purpose by requesting that the United States government and the State of Hawaii reaffirm and recognize that:

(1) The native Hawaiian people are a distinct native, indigenous people who have maintained their own language, culture, and traditions, and have established Hawaiian Home Lands areas protected under federal and state law;

(2) The United States has a unique trust responsibility to promote the welfare of the aboriginal, indigenous people of the State of Hawaii, and the federal government has delegated broad authority to the State of Hawaii to act for their betterment; and

(3) The aboriginal, indigenous people of the State of Hawaii retain their inherent sovereign authority and their right to organize for their common welfare; and

WHEREAS, Act 302 also:

(1) Declared that it is the policy of the State of Hawaii to support participation in governance by promoting the empowerment of democratically elected Hawaiian homestead community self-governance organizations;

(2) Established, with the consent of the United States Congress, the authority for the State of Hawaii to delegate to a democratically elected organization representing a Hawaiian homestead community or communities, the powers delegated to the State by the United States relating to the administration of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended; and

(3) Authorized, with the consent of the United States Congress, the Hawaiian Homes Commission to establish a working relationship with a democratically elected Hawaiian homestead community self-governance organization to promote community welfare; and

WHEREAS, on the state level, the State of Hawaii already is moving forward with the concept of increased self-governance for native Hawaiian communities on Hawaiian homestead land; and

WHEREAS, in 1987, the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations was established to provide a mechanism through which homesteaders could effectively voice their opinions on matters and issues of concern to all homesteaders; and

WHEREAS, since 1987, the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations has grown and transitioned into a viable statewide homestead community-based organization consisting of twenty-seven organizations representing over thirty thousand homesteaders; and

WHEREAS, in keeping with its mission, the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations has partnered with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to secure the following:

(1) A $600,000,000 settlement for breach of trust;

(2) Potable water for agriculture by securing an amendment to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act;

(3) The appointment of a ninth commissioner to adequately represent the island of Hawaii;

(4) A flexible formula for guaranteeing Department of Hawaiian Home Lands loans to lessees;

(5) The establishment of a new mortgage loan program that provides more sources for home construction financing for lessees;

(6) The establishment of "enterprise zones" on Hawaiian home lands thereby allowing Hawaiians to participate in economic ventures;

(7) The establishment of tax exemptions for Hawaiian homes' lessees for homes and lands;

(8) The establishment of extended homestead leases from ninety-nine years to an aggregate of one hundred ninety-nine years; and

(9) The return of sixteen thousand acres to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust, which brings the land trust account to its original acreage as established by law; and

WHEREAS, however, to date, the United States Congress has failed to act on approving these amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended; and

WHEREAS, it has been theorized that the reason for this inaction is due to the pending debate over the passage of Senate Bill 147, the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2005, otherwise known as the Akaka Bill; and

WHEREAS, the elemental issue of governance of Hawaiian Home Lands by its residents should not be delayed simply due to political discourse on the related issue of sovereignty for the Hawaiian people, especially since the federal government already has enacted legislation that governs Hawaiian Home Lands, namely the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the President and Congress of the United States are urged to immediately ratify the amendments made to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, under Act 302, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, that promote the self-governance of the native Hawaiian people; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President and Congress of the United States are also urged to immediately recognize Hawaiian homestead community organizations such as the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations as self-governing administrative authorities for their respective communities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the United States President, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, each member of Hawaii's congressional delegation, and the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Hawaiian Homes Commission Act; Federal Adoption of Amendments