HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

271

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

URGING THE GOVERNOR AND THE LEGISLATURE TO REQUEST AND PROVIDE FOR SUFFICIENT FUNDING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, in 1920, the United States Congress enacted the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to award 99-year homestead leases to qualified native Hawaiians to recognize the severe disruptions in the political, social, and economic issues leading Hawaiians to the widespread loss of land; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1959, the State of Hawai‘i, in a compact with the United States relating to the management and disposition of Hawaiian home lands, agreed that the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act would be adopted as part of the Hawaii Constitution and "faithfully administered" for the benefit of native Hawaiian beneficiaries as a condition of attaining statehood and entry into the Union; and

 

     WHEREAS, this solemn promise was adopted as article XII, section 3, of the Hawaii Constitution as a demonstration of the State's commitment to live up to the State's duties relating to Hawaiian home lands, imposed on the compact between the State and the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1978, the State ratified a constitutional amendment that required the Legislature to make "sufficient sums" available to pay for the operation of the Department of Hawaiian Home lands (DHHL), including:

 

     (1)  Providing homesteads to every eligible beneficiary who applies in a timely manner;

 

     (2)  Funding farm, ranch, and aquaculture assistance programs to make homesteaders successful on their homesteads;

     (3)  Assisting homesteaders in community development programs under the Native Hawaiian Rehabilitation Fund; and

 

     (4)  Funding the administrative and operating budget of the Department;

 

and

 

     WHEREAS, the explicit reason for adopting this constitutional amendment was to release DHHL from its present burden of generating revenues through the general leasing of Hawaiian home lands to pay for the costs of the homestead program and free Hawaiian home lands for native Hawaiian beneficiaries, instead of being diverted to general leases to non-beneficiaries; and

 

     WHEREAS, the 1978 constitutional convention delegates intended to deny the Legislature any discretion in determining whether to provide "sufficient sums" to DHHL in light of the chronic lack of resources the Department previously faced; and

 

     WHEREAS, since 1978, no governor has sought to make available the level of "sufficient sums" necessary for DHHL to perform all of its functions including the funding of its administrative budget in support of important trust work; and

 

     WHEREAS, these governors have systematically restricted the level of funding requested for appropriation by the Legislature on grounds other than that justified by the 1978 constitutional amendment requiring the provision of "sufficient sums" to DHHL; and

 

     WHEREAS, neither the Hawaiian Homes Commission nor DHHL has ever insisted that the State provide it with the constitutionally mandated "sufficient sums" that would enable the Department to stabilize or reduce the waiting list for homesteads; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature enacted Act 14, Session Laws of Hawaii 1995, in special session to authorize compensation to DHHL for various illegal administrative acts that had previously deprived the Hawaiian home lands trust of land and revenues that should have been paid to DHHL between 1959 and 1988; and

     WHEREAS, Act 14 authorized, after negotiations between various offending state agencies, DHHL, and an independent representative of native Hawaiian beneficiaries, payments of $30,000,000 per year to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Fund for the succeeding 20 years to eliminate any cloud in the former Hawaiian home lands trust that had been illegally conveyed out of the trust to private parties; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 14 specifically precluded the State from asserting that these payments met any part of the Legislature's obligation to provide "sufficient sums" to DHHL, as required under article XII, section 1, of the Hawaii Constitution; and

 

     WHEREAS, DHHL is expending much of its resources to develop commercial lands, sacrificing the time, energy, and resources that should be expended to place native Hawaiian beneficiaries on Hawaiian home lands; and

 

     WHEREAS, under the hope and presumption that revenues from the general leases to non-beneficiaries would pay for developing homesteads for native Hawaiians on other Hawaiian home lands, DHHL has failed to objectively determine whether the commitment of lands for general leasing to non-beneficiaries will result in adequate compensation to DHHL; and

 

     WHEREAS, DHHL will likely have to expend more money to develop any available Hawaiian home lands that were to accommodate those native Hawaiians who were denied the use of Hawaiian home lands made available to non-beneficiaries through general leases; and

 

     WHEREAS, the state administration provides funding to DHHL as low priority, relative to funding for other entities that include the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, which gets more than 70 times the funding that DHHL receives, despite the constitutional mandate for "sufficient sums"; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, the Senate concurring, that the Governor and the Legislature are urged to acknowledge the State's trust responsibility to native Hawaiians under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and its constitutional duty to provide DHHL with "sufficient sums" to fund its programs, loans, and administrative and operating budget, without compelling DHHL to issue general leases of Hawaiian home lands to non-beneficiaries to raise revenues; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor, with cooperation from the Legislature, is requested to provide and release sufficient levels of funding for the administrative and operating budget of DHHL; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaiian Homes Commission and DHHL are requested to seek from the Legislature an adequate level of funding so the Hawaiian Homes Commission and DHHL are released from the burden of general leasing to non-beneficiaries of Hawaiian home lands to generate revenues from risky commercial ventures; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, who, in turn, is requested to transmit copies to Hui Kako‘o Aina Ho‘opulapula, the Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homelands Assembly, Keaukaha Panaewa Farmers Association, and Panaewa Hawaiian Home Lands Community Association, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Royal Order of Kamehameha I, `Iho`ulaokalani Coalition, Hale O Na Ali`i, Ahahui Ka`ahumanu, Sons & Daughters of Hawaii, and the members of Hawai‘i's congressional delegation.

Report Title: 

Hawaiian Homelands; Adequate Funding