Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 10, 1 October 2009 — Here we go again [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]
Here we go again
To assist OHA in preparing legislation for the coming session, the administrative staff is meeting with beneficiaries around the islands to discuss matters of importance to them that might be presented to the Legislature. When and if the legislative proposals are approved by the Board, they will be presented to the Legislature in January of next year. There is still one issue, however, left over from the last session - how mueh money the state owes to OHA for revenue the State received for the use of ceded lands from 1978 to 2008. Here is a brief history of the legislation proposed by OHA on that issue in the past two legislative sessions. After lengthy discussions, OHA entered into an agreement with the state administration that the sum of $200 million was owed for what might loosely be called commercial uses of ceded lands. The agreement provided for that sum to be paid partly in state-owned lands and partly in cash. A bill to that effect was presented to the Legislature in the 2008 session and was met by a whirlwind of opposition from a number of Native Hawaiian groups and for a variety of reasons. And for a variety of reasons OHA's legislation died - almost "ahomin'." In the 2009 session we again introduced legislation to settle the dispute by transferring land and monies from the state to OHA. The two Senate and House subject matter committees dealing with Hawaiian affairs eame up with two vastly different proposals for resolving the issue. The Senate committee proposed a rather large number of properties for transfer to OHA,
while the House committee proposed transferring state lands at Kaka'ako originally included in the OHA legislation of 2008. Both bills contained proposals for the transfer of funds to OHA to make up the difference between the value of the lands proposed for transfer and the amount agreed upon between OHA and the administration. The conference committees were unahle to reach agreement on either bill or any compromise position and the bills are still held over for aehon in the coming session. One reason for seeking legislative approval of OHA's agreement with the administration was that we wanted hnalization of the total amount due, and the land transfer, because it had heeome apparent that a recession of some proportions was coming and it was essential that the issue be resolved. What we foresaw then has heeome a large roadblock hindering settlement now and perhaps for decades into the future. The state's fiscal problems may make it virtually impossible for the Legislature to approve paying OHA the $200 million agreed upon with the administration in 2008. Additionally, the state's crying need for ineome to support its own operations will make it difficult to give up land that is producing or has the potential to produce ineome. I have been told this by key legislators. Finally, we all know that Congress is poised to pass the Akaka Bill and that President Ohama will sign it. This poses another obstacle to settlement of the overdue revenues from the State because the Legislature anticipates that establishment of the sovereign Hawaiian entity will require negotiations regarding the status of the title to and the revenues from ceded lands. And they're right. The coming legislative session will be difficult sailing for OHA. It will require imagination and the combined effort of all of us. OHA has heeome like Sysiphus of Greek legend who was condemned to roll a large stone up a steep hill only to have it roll down again when he reached the top. ■
Walter M. Heen TrustEE, ū'ahu