Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 3, 1 March 1996 — Hawaiian entitlements on brink of extinction! [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian entitlements on brink of extinction!

by Rowena Akana Trustee-at-Iarge If some members of the 1996 Legislature get their way, native Hawaiians ean all but kiss their entitlements good-bye. Current bills now before the Senate and House would cripple, if

not eliminaie, mueh needed programs for our Hawaiian constituents. If our legislators are successful in their attempts to ehop funding of important OHA programs in a desperate attempt to replenish the state's coffers, Hawaiians, especially our children, will suffer for years. We mustn't forget that the leadership in the House and Senate is responsib!e for our state's current financial crises. We've worked too hard for too long to idly

stand by and watch what little we have, get stripped away by the current proposed legislation: SB 2867 INTRODUCED BY Sen. Nonnan Mizuguchi PROPOSED ACTION Limits revenues due OHA and Hawaiian beneficiaries. HB 3874 INTRODUCED BY Rep. Calvin Say PROPOSED ACTION Requires 20 percent of ceded Iand revenues be given to Dept. of Heahh and Human Services and Hawaii Housing Authority.

SB 2867 is another attempt by the Legislature to decrease the revenues due OHA by supposedly "clarifying" the definition of "revenue" as used in chapter 10 of the Hawai'i Revised Statutes. What this bill will actually end up doing is severely limit and in some cases, exempt the state from having to pay the 20 percent share of all revenues derived from the public land trust. Sen. Mizuguchi's bill is a direct assault on the very survival of OHA and all Hawaiian entitlements! In testimony given before a joint meeting of the Hawaiian affairs and housing committee and the Senate ways and means committee, Hawai'i's Attorney General, Margery Bronster, presented SB 2867 as follows: 1) It reiterates that

only revenues actually generated and received are subject to 20 percent share requirement; 2) Excludes interest ineome earned by revenues prior to a quarterly payment to OHA; 3) Confirms that only revenues generated by ceded lands themselves are required to be paid; 4) Supposedly "sharpens" the distinction between revenues derived

i from proprietary activities on ceded lands (whieh are payable to OHA) and revenues derived from sovereign functions (whieh are not payable to OHA). Attorney General Bronster ehallenged OHA's assertion that the 20 percent share should include receipts for hospital patient services, rents eollected from public housing projects, money collected at the State's harbors and airports, retail vendor rents at airports and harbors, etc. She also testi-

fied that the bill "clarifies" that the 20 percent should nol be calculated against money made from improvements to trust lands. From the House, Rep. Calvin Say (Palolo/Kaimuki) introduced HB 3874. This reckless pieee of legislation requires that 20 percent of ceded land revenues be given to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Hawaii Housing Authority to defray all costs incurred by native Hawaiians. This bill smacks of racism and outright discrimination, not to mention being uneonstitutional! Rep. Say is singling out a specific group of people by demanding Hawaiians foot a portion of their bill for general assistance (a program that is supported by all of Hawaii's taxpayers). Are any other ethnic groups being asked to "pay back" 20 percent of the money they receive as well? Why then, are native Hawaiians the only ones being targeted for this discriminatory legislation? We all know about the financial woes of our state. But let's not forget who got us here. Instead of shoving the state's financial burdens onto the backs of our Hawaiian beneficiaries, our legislators should look at ways to cut their own spending. How many positions have Senator Norman Mizuguchi or Representative Calvin Say cut from their staffs? And what about Governor Cayetano? What has he done to downsize government? When asking the people to make hard choices and difficult sacrifices, our leaders should do the same. It's the least they cando.