STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2222

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3363

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 3363 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide that a living beneficiary's place on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' waitlist for any residential or commercial agricultural tract may be designated for transfer to a successor if the living beneficiary dies before receiving an offer for a tract; provided that the successor shall be at least 1/32 Hawaiian.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Hoʻomana Pono, LLC and six individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from two individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from Department of the Attorney General and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Your Committee finds that it is the mission of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to develop and deliver land to native Hawaiians. However, as time goes by, the number of native Hawaiians with a blood quantum of fifty percent or more continues to diminish, while the number of native Hawaiians on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' waitlist continues to grow. This measure recognizes the importance of the succession rights of native Hawaiian beneficiaries and will ensure that the intent of providing lands for native Hawaiians is upheld.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that this measure shall be implemented by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands at the sole discretion of the Hawaiian Homes Commission;

(2) Specifying that a living beneficiary's place on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' waitlist is for residential, agricultural, or pastoral tracts;

(3) Amending section 207 and 208, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to clarify that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' lease may be awarded to native Hawaiians or qualified application successors; and

(4) Making it effective upon either the date that Congressional approval is deemed unnecessary, or on the date of consent by the United States Congress.

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. 3363, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3363, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

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MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair