Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 6, 1 Iune 2023 — Dysfunctional Legislative Session an Affront to Native Hawaiians [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Dysfunctional Legislative Session an Affront to Native Hawaiians

V LEO 'ELELE V ^ TRUSTEE MESSAGES *

We cannot let one of the most dysfunctional legislative sessions in recent history end without eomment ffom OHA. We are appalled that our 300,000 beneficiaries were deliberately silenced onee again by the refusal of the House of Representatives, for the second year, to even hear or deliberate on OHA's Hakuone bill, or to provide funding to repair a de-

fective bulkhead fronting a puhlie harbor that was the victim of the state's longstanding neglect. OHA sought legislation to build a eommunity for Hawaiians and loeal families in Kaka'ako that would have included residential housing, related services like day care for keiki and kupuna, parks and open spaces, and a Hawaiian cultural center to bring us together around our shared Hawaiian values of aina, eommunity and 'ohana. We regret that under the leadership of Speaker Scott Saiki and some House Committee chairs, OHA for the second year was denied a hearing on its proposal in spite of large puhlie support for OHA and its plans. Voters expect their legislative leaders to serve the greater puhlie good by hearing and deliberating on proposals in both houses, and the denial of a hearing by House leadership on OHA's bill whieh was heard by the Senate should not and cannot go unanswered. Advocates don't expect that every bill introduced will be passed in both ehambers, but we do expect that a proposal that has been heard in the Senate for two years will at least be granted a hearing in the people's house - the House of Representatives. The arbitrary killing of OHA's proposal in the House without even being afforded a hearing after garnering substantial support signals a highwater mark of disrespect by the House Speaker and his committee chairs for the will of the people and for OHA's Hawaiian beneficiaries.

Through actions such as this, we at OHA believe democracy is being seriously undermined, and that all voters should sit up and take notice of it. Our proposal to lift the restrictions on residential housing on our lands in Kaka'ako - the parcels that we eall Hakuone - was not even given the basic courtesy a hearing in the House. For a second legislative session, OHA was not allowed the opportunity to make its

voice heard in the House, to present its case for residential development on its lands, and to have that august body eonsider and deliberate upon it. Even so, we expected that funding for the needed repairs to the defective bulkhead and revetment - whieh is the state's responsibility - would eome through. The money allocated for this expenditure was not a gift to OHA but was intended to remedy the state's longstanding neglect of basic maintenance on the harbor lands transferred to OHA in settlement of the state's monetary debt to OHA. By its actions, the House Speaker and his committee chairs have seen fit to completely ignore OHA's request that it be made whole. And with eaeh passing day, the state's debt to Hawaiians continues to grow. How will we at OHA move forward? We stand fast on our dream of building residential housing for working families on Hawaiian land in Hakuone, we stand fast on our dream of providing services for both kupuna and keiki, we stand fast on our dream of creating a cultural eenter and gathering plaee in celebration of our culture and our traditional ways, and we stand fast on our vision of creating opportunities for business and eeonomie development. And we will not be silent when we are faced with disparate treatment, unfairness, or injustice. ■

Carmen "Hulu" Lindsey CHAIR Trustee, Maui