Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 445 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to include a native Hawaiian perspective on decisions governing land use by requiring the Governor to appoint one member to the Land Use Commission from a list of three nominees submitted to the Governor by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA).

OHA, LUC, Hawaii's Thousand Friends, Oahu Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, and Life of the Land supported this measure. The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism and the Department of Land and Natural Resources opposed this bill.

Your Committees recognize that prudent and balanced management of state lands and resources and the protection of important Hawaiian cultural landmarks and burial sites are of critical importance to the preservation of native Hawaiian cultural and spiritual practices. Requiring the Governor to appoint one member to the LUC from a list of names submitted by OHA is a reasonable step in ensuring that native Hawaiians are provided a voice in land use decisions that directly affect them.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 445 and recommend that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Finance.