Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 1, 1 January 1995 — OHA prepares for 1995 Legislature [ARTICLE]

OHA prepares for 1995 Legislature

by Jeff Clark The 1995 Hawai'i State Legisiature opens Jan. 18, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is ready. Some of the measures being prepared by OHA's government affairs office will address: • native Hawaiian education; • the 999 year homestead lease program and the difficulty lessees face buying their fee, financing improvements, and dividing their property; • the possibility of requiring proof of Hawaiian ancestry to register to vote in OHA elections; and

• the escheat of kuleana lands to OHA instead of (to) the state. OHA's various divisions and offices are also finalizing OHA's operating budget, whieh, like the Judiciary budget, must be approved by the Legislature although it is not part of the administration's submittals. One particular goal is ensuring that trust funds are referred to as such and not as "special funds," as the monies have been called in the past. The need to change the terminology was noted by the state auditor. OHA is also looking at making OHA trustees eligible to participate in the state retirement plan,

and at having their salaries drawn from both general and trust funds. Legislation drafted by OHA is approved by the trustees; measures are then presented to the Legislature by the OHA Lobbying Team, whieh consists of Trustees Abraham Aiona, A. Frenchy DeSoto, and Kīna'u Boyd Kamali'i. Regarding the switch of power from the Democrats to the Republicans in the U.S. Congress, OHA government affairs officer Scotty Bowman said OHA will try to enlist the aid of Republican state legislators in establishing GOP contacts in Washington.