Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 6, 1 June 2009 — Definition of insanity? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Definition of insanity?

Apopular layman's definition of insanity is, "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." By that definition, one might gather that the OHA trustees are candidates for the pupule house. In the last two sessions of the Legislature, OHA has introduced legislation formulated to have the state acknowledge its debt to OHA for "funds" from the use of ceded lands that were unpaid from 1978 to 2008. Both attempts were unsuccessful. In 2008, the legislation was based on an agreement between OHA and the state administration that established the debt at $200 million and provided for payment in a combination of land and money. That legislation was soundly defeated in the state Senate for a number of reasons: the State Council of Hawaiian Homestead Associations argued that at least some of that money should go directly to the homesteaders; other groups quarreled over the land choices made by OHA; and some asserted that the Hawaiian community should have been consulted about the details before anything was presented to the Legislature. The House of Representatives tried to help, but to no avail. In this '09 session we went back to the Legislature with another attempt to establish the $200 million debt and provide a method of repayment. Again, the Senate shot us down. This time the debacle was caused by Sen. Clayton Hee. Senator Hee expanded the concept of our bill and introduced a dramatically larger view of the debate. Does that mean that we trustees are insane? I don't think so. However, what we failed to remember, on both occasions, is that in spite of our status as a constitutional agency, we operate in the political arena with regard to everything we do. Thus, in '08 we failed to at least keep in touch with legislative leaders and inform them about our discussions with the admin-

istration. The leaders could at least have conunented on them. When we deal with the Legislature we need to remain llexible. The '09 session was a different story altogether. This brings us back to Senator Hee's expanded bill. In his '09 bill Senator Hee attempted at least two things: first, to include within the lands to be transferred to OHA, certain "legacy lands," such as the Mauna Kea Scienee Reserve and the ahupua'a of Kahana. Beyond that, however, he was trying to at least get OHA, the beneficiaries and the general community to think about OHA's mission and its relationship to the 'āina in broader terms than the past-due monies. I have personally discussed the bill and its halloon approach with Senator Hee. I agree with him that, especially now, with the advent of the Akaka Bill, the beneficiaries and the general community need to think about the larger issue of what kind and how mueh land (and perhaps not neeessarilv ceded lands) ean and should be transferred to OHA. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, such a broad-based approach always raises the specter in the Hawaiian community of a "global" settlement of all claims by Native Hawaiians either against the state or the United States. Thus, there was considerable push back from the eommunity against Senator Hee's proposal. The point of all this is not to put the onus for OHA's legislative failures on Senator Hee. His actions only remind us that the Legislature engages in the "art of the possible." There is an old saying about the relationship between the executive and the legislative branches that, "The executive proposes and the legislature disposes." We need to heeome more active in the art of the possible by connecting with all legislators so that we have more input into their "dispositions." OHA itself must assume the process of being more engaging with the Legislature. Just because we have developed what we consider solid, meritorious programs or proposals we cannot expect the Legislature to accept them without close scrutiny and criticism. It is OHA's responsibility to "sell" our programs to the Legislature whenever we need their approval or participation. ■

Walter M. Heen TrustEE, O'ahu