Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 7, 1 July 1994 — Akaka introduces bill to speed up home lands compensation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Akaka introduces bill to speed up home lands compensation

But Office of State Planning says negotiations are already well under way

by Patrick Johnston Many see what took plaee with the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act during the tenitorial period as a case of grand larceny. Under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, around 203,000 acres of lands were set aside for homesteading use by native Hawaiians. But between 1921 and 1959, the federal and territorial govemments took control of approximately 30,000 acres of these lands, depriving the homestead program of what state officials estimate to be over $120 million īn revenues from lost use and fee simple interest. In many cases the govemment took over the most productive land, leaving behind marginal and undeveloped lands for native Hawaiians. Hawaiian groups and state officials have been working to resolve the issue of federal use of Hawaiian homelands for over a decade.

In 1984, under Governor George Ariyoshi, most of the federally-held land was returned to the homelands trust. According to officials at the Office of State Planning, the only lands still wrongfully held by the federal govemment are 1,356 acres set aside for the Navy in Lualualei on O'ahu. A state suit filed several years ago for retum of these lands was thrown out of court because it was filed too many years after the transfer took plaee. The issue of compensating the tmst for federal use of the lands during the territori-

al penod has yet to be resolved. In an attempt to speed up resolution, U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka has just introduced a bill that would create a process to restore Hawaiian homelands taken by the federal govemment and provide compensation for losses resulting from what Akaka calls these "illegal land transfers." The Hawaiian Homes Lands Recovery Act would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to settle claims against the state by beneficiaries of the HHCA through negotiations with the State of Hawai'i and individuals representing the beneficiaries. Settlements could include exchanging federal lands for homelands that were originally taken by the United States or compensating the Hawaiian Homes trust for the acquisition of these lands. According to the proposed legislation, if a settlement is not reached within one year after the date of passage of the act, Congress may legislate compensation for lost lands. If both parties agree, the period of negotiations may be extended for an additional year. Akaka wants the process to be an open door affair and would like to see beneficiaries get involved. "Beneficiaries have written and said they want to be part of the process." says Esther Kia'aina, Akaka's legislative aide. "It's better if things are all out in public." Senate bill 2174 was introduced on June 9 and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on the bill June 16. Groups giving testimony at the hearings included the federal Department of the Interior, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, eonhnueā on page 9

Sen. Daniel Akaka

I Akaka home lands bill

from page 1 the Office of State Plan»mg, and the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations. While most supported the intent of the biil, stwne objections were raised as to what would be the next step. Norma Wong, Special Assistant for Federal/State Reiations at the Office of State Planning, gave testimony on behalf of Governor Waihe'e. She expressed eoneem that the process the bill would authorize is similar to work that is already being done at the Office of State Planning and other state agencies. "We have already begun the negotiations that the proposed bill intends to authorize and frame," she read from the statement. For the past year, a four-mem-ber negotiating team composed of representatives from the Governor's office, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, and the Attorney General's office, as well as the independent representative for homelands beneficiaries, has been holding discussions with the fcderal Department of the Interior to work out an agreement regarding home Iands claims. Their hope is to put together a compensation bill - with fu!l support of the Clinton administration - and introduce the bi 11 to Congress. Officials at the Office of State Planning are concemed that the Governor and Ihe Senator may be working at cross-purposes. The mood in Congress these days is very "anti-compensation," they point out, and that mood could work against what they and

Akaka are doing. "We deeply appreciate what Akaka is doing," one official at OSP said. "But we don't feel the bill is needed at this thne." OSP says a key to negotiations so far bas been their soccess in getting the Department of the Interior involved - impossible under the Reagan and Bush administrations - and they feel that having the administration support their plan will give them a valuable advantage in Congress. There is eoneem that the Akaka bill in Congress will send the wrong message to the administration and possibly derail the process. "The state respectfu)ly submits," the Govemor's testimony reads, "that any further deliberation of the proposed bill at this time would send an inappropriate signal to the Department of the Interior that Congress does not intend for there to be any discussion (on home lands compensation) uiuil those negotiations are duly authorized by Congress." The Govemor's office, however, recognizes the value of Senator Akaka's work in Washington and wants to maintain a dialogue. "We will continue to work closely with what the senator is trying to do," an OSP official said. Also raising concerns was Miehael Heyman, special representative for the Department of the lnterior. Heyman also felt the bill would disrupt the negotiations between the state and the DOĪ, negotiations he said could be complete by the end of August.