Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 1, 1 January 2010 — 0HA's legislative outlook [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

0HA's legislative outlook

Aloha kākou. During the legislative interim, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs sought your input on legislative matters by hosting an aggressive community outreach schedule on all islands. Unfortunately with the sudden passing ofWayne Kaho'onei Panoke, it is with deep regret that we were unahle to complete the ouūeaeh we started. However, with the iniīial meetings conducted on every island your voices were heard and we hope to follow up with a response by letter, fur-

thering the causes you advocate. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is pleased with enactment of five new laws during the first part of the hiennium in 2009. With the 25th Legislature scheduled to reopen the second part of the legislative hiennium on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, the 10 bills we presented last year that were not enacted will carry over with five additional measures to the overall OHA legislative package. As a recap, OHA will reintroduce measures on Puhlie Land Trust Back Payments, Homelessness, Taro Task Force, 'Aha Kiole Advisory Committee, Mākua Valley, Charter School Facilities, UH Tuition Waivers, Hawaiian Architecture, Historic Preservation and Child Welfare Services. New to our legislative package are five proposals based on our community outreach. To better protect our history, the first measure requires the State to hold certain Hawaiian artifacts in trust for preservation or proper disposition. To better serve you, the second proposal requires OHA to work on Statehood Day during calendar years in whieh the Election Day holiday occurs. Though it may be controversial, the third measure urges the removal of certain portraits of provisional-government officials in light of injustices that the provisional government represented. The fourth proposal honors our past by urging the formation of

a task force to create a monument to Queen Ka'ahumanu in or near Hāna, Maui, the area of her birth. Following our success to provide Kuleana Land Tax Exemptions in all Counties and our priority to help our taro farmers, the fifth is an ordinance for Hawai'i County to consider by establishing a property tax exemption for the portion of a parcel that is being used for taro farming. As a result of the recession, the Legislature is faced with deliberating and balancing with austerity the needs of our State.

With a projected $1 hillion budget deficit through June 2011, a report released by the National Conference of State Legislatures pegged Hawai'i's budget deficit at $683 million this fiscal year, or 13 percent of the state's general fund budget, and $1.1 billion by fiscal year 2011, or 21.2 percent of the general fund budget, whieh places the state's budget gap as among the worst in the nation. This is made worse by a laek of preparation, leadership and resolve as our keiki have been shut out of school. 2010 will be a time of hardship and of greater demands for puhlie service. As the eeonomie crisis looms and budgets tighten, our legislators will be pressed to prioritize and deliberate policies to meet the needs of our State. OHA seeks your solidarity to strongly advocate that whieh is important to all of us. We must remind our elected officials that the economy is a temporary crisis that we all will work through. It will demand that everyone make sacrifices for the greater good. Though OH A too has been financially realigned, we intend to recognize and prioritize in testimony where funds should be directed. ■ Colette Maehaeīo is the Chairperson of OHA 's Beneficiary, Advocacy and Empowerment Committee.

leo eleletrustEE mESSSagES

featuring native hawaiian news, features and events ka wai ola | the living water of OHA

Cūlette Y. Machadū TrustEE, Mūlūka'i and Lāna'i