Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 4, Number 6, 1 June 1987 — No Firm Decisions on Certain Issues [ARTICLE]

No Firm Decisions on Certain Issues

Legislative Reluctance Leaves Confused Pattern

By Linda Delaney, Lands Officer In his "State of the State Address," Governor John David Waihee III urged the Legislature to reach out to the native Hawaiian people: "... there are many descendants of Hawaii's original people who haue been and are doing well in our state, there are man^i who feel lost in the land of their ancestors. To these indiuiduals, we must reach out and s ay that your gouernment has not forgotten you ..." Hawaiians were not forgotten. But the legislative reluctance to deal openly and decisively with certain Hawaiian issues left a confused pattern of legislative action. Even with an extension of the legislative session, the native Hawaiian and Hawaiian "right to sue" bill couldn't get out of conference committee. Months of meeting, testifying and explaining the need for native beneficiaries to sue for the enforcement of the Hawaiian Home Lands and Office of Hawaiian Affairs trusts — ended in frustration for this year. But justice ean only be delayed, not denied. We'll be back next year. In other action, the Legislature provad themselves more receptive to the needs of Hawaiians. Of special importance were the OHA and DHHL budgets. In some ways, this session was truly memorable. Among the bills sponsored or supported with

testimony from OHA were: S.B. 548 Escheat of Kuleana Lands — Under existing law, when the owner of a kuleana dies without a will and no heirs, the land reverts or escheats to the owner of the original ahupua'a or 'ili in whieh the kuleana belonged. Historically, that has meant these uniquely-Hawaiian lands have escheated to surrounding sugar or pineapple plantations. With the passage of this bill, OHA will receive escheated kuleana lands in the future. (Read more on this matter in this month's eolumn by Trustee Clarence F.T. Ching.) H.B. 35 State Water Code — Finally, after nearly 10 years, the State Constitutional mandate for public management of all water has been implemented. This bill is complex and will have far-reaching consequences. Most important, there is a separate explicit "Native Hawaiian Water Rights" section in the Code whieh: I. Recognizes the special water powers of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. 2. Assures that monies now received by DHHL and OHA from state water licenses will be honored. 3. Guarantees traditional and customary gathering of, for example, 'o'opu, hi'iwai and opihi. 4. Acknowledges the water use rights of kuleanaand taro lands. OHA and DHHL Budgets — A total of more than $6

million in State general revenues were approved. OHA's two-year budget — without counting 5(f) trust funds — received twice the support given in the last biennium, a total of $3.2 million. An historic "first" was achieved with the inclusion of another $3.2 million to cover the administrative costs of DHHL. Explicitly mandated by a 1978 Constitutional amendment, this is the first year DHHL has been funded through the Governor's budget. Other issues affecting Hawaiians were the development of "submerged lands" at Ke'ehi Lagoon in anticipation of the America's Cup Race — development whieh could mean significant revenue gains to OHA; a feasibility study of the potential for a spaceport in Hawai'i; geothermal development; and resolutions affecting the return of federal lands to the State when they are no longer needed for national purposes. The implications of these measures will be the subject of heated debates in the future. The issues are complex and sensitive to the Hawaiian community and to all of the people of Hawai'i. But as Governor Waihe'e concluded in his speech: " I was there at the birth and creation of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. I haue no illusions that easing OHA's difficulties will be easy or always pleasant; but we do no one any injustice by auoiding the tough issues ..."