THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	60
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

SUPPORTING the DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS BENEFICIARIES By AFFIRMING THEIR KULEANA TO HAVE A VOICE IN COMING TO A RESOLUTION ON COMPENSATION FOR UNAUTHoRIZED USE OF THE MAUNA KEA ACCESS ROAD AND OTHER department of hawaiian home lands PARCELS IN THE SURROUNDING AREA.

WHEREAS, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) is governed by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, enacted by the United States Congress to protect and improve the lives of native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, the Act created a Hawaiian Homes Commission to administer certain public lands, called Hawaiian home lands, for homesteads (Trust lands); and

WHEREAS, native Hawaiians are defined as individuals having at least fifty percent Hawaiian blood; and

WHEREAS, in 1995, the State of Hawai‘i enacted legislation, known as Act 14, to resolve and satisfy all claims stemming from its improper and uncompensated use of Trust lands that arose between August 21, 1959, and July 1, 1988; and

WHEREAS, to resolve all controversies and claims regarding the improper and uncompensated use of lands for state roads and highways, Act 14 contemplated "the initiation of a land exchange" between the State and the Hawaiian Homes Commission; and

WHEREAS, twenty-four years after the law was passed, there is no evidence that either entity has initiated any land exchange pursuant to Act 14 to resolve the State's prior improper and uncompensated use of trust lands for roads and highways, including for the use of the Mauna Kea Access Road; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Homes Commission, under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and the Hawaii State Constitution, has an obligation to protect the Trust lands and exercise exclusive loyalty to its beneficiaries pursuant to Ahuna v. Dep't of Hawaiian Home Lands, 64 Haw. 327 at 340 (1982); and

WHEREAS, consultation between the Hawaiian Homes Commission and the beneficiaries has not commenced for land exchanges; and

WHEREAS, as of December 31, 2017, there were 44,952 beneficiary applicants on the waitlist for Hawaiian home lands leases, and annually, a large number of these beneficiaries die while still waiting for a land award while non-Hawaiian interests are afforded access to land for the "greater good" of the community; and

WHEREAS, it is the right and responsibility of the native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the DHHL to provide input and to be consulted in matters of land disposition, yet they have not been afforded the venue to do so; and

WHEREAS, previous resolutions of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs have affirmed the sacredness of Mauna Kea; and

WHEREAS, County of Hawai‘i Mayor Harry Kim met with members of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs Hawai‘i Council on October 17, 2019, and the Council brings forward these issues as a result of this meeting; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Legislature supports the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries by affirming their kuleana to have a voice in coming to a resolution on compensation for unauthorized use of the Mauna Kea Access Road and other DHHL parcels in the surrounding area; 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, and Mayors of each county.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Supporting the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries by affirming their kuleana to have a voice in coming to a resolution on compensation for unauthorized use of the Mauna Kea access road and other Department of Hawaiian Home Land parcels in the surrounding area