2017 DHHL Legislation
2017 Opening Day at the Hawaii State Legislature
On this page, you will find resources on navigating the Hawaiʻi State Legislature this 2017 legislative session. Get a primer on the legislative process at one of our Legislative Talk Story Sessions, find the lawmakers who represent you in your district, and track legislation related to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. Everything you need to know to get involved and stay engaged on legislative matters that impact beneficiaries and the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust can be found here.
DHHL 2017 LEGISLATIVE TALK STORY SESSIONS
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is partnering with homestead associations and beneficiary organizations to prepare for the upcoming legislative session. A copy of the presentation is available below. For more information about DHHL’s sufficient sums budget request and the Executive Biennium budget, DHHL’s legislative proposals, and other issues of interest for the upcoming legislative session please attend any of the following workshops:
– Thursday, December 29, 2016 at 3:30 p.m. at Kulana Oiwi – DHHL/OHA Conference Rm., Kalama’ula, Molokai, Molokai, HI 96748
– Monday, January 9, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at Ka Waihona O Ka Na’auao Public Charter School, 89-195 Farrington Hwy, Waianae, HI 96792
– Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. at Paukukalo Community Center, 657 Kaumualii St., Wailuku, HI 96793
– Monday, January 23, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. at Lincoln Elementary School Cafetorium, 615 Auwaiolimu St, Honolulu, HI 96813
– Thursday, January 26, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. at DHHL Hale Pono’i, 91-5420 Kapolei Parkway, Kapolei, HI 96707
– Monday, January 30, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at Waimanalo Hawaiian Homes Association Community Center, 41-253 Ilauhole Street, Waimanalo, HI 96795
If you are interested in a workshop for your community, feel free to contact Lehua Kinilau-Cano, HHL Legislative Analyst at Nicole.L.Kinilau-Cano@hawaii.gov or (808) 620-9486. Given the fast pace of the legislative session, updates will be posted at DHHL’s website at dhhl.hawaii.gov/legislation or via social media. Additionally, webinars or conference calls twice a month during the legislative session are being planned to begin in early February.
TRACKING LEGISLATION Here are brief summaries on bills currently making their way through the Hawaiʻi State Legislature this 2017 session that may have an impact on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the beneficiaries we serve: Here are summaries of the legislative proposals approved by the Hawaiian Homes Commission in 2016, and submitted to Governor David Ige for inclusion in the Administration’s 2017 Legislative package. The Governor included the first three of five proposals listed below: Proposal 1: Blood Quantum for Successors Proposal 2: Protecting Homestead Applicant and Lessee Information Proposal 3: Appointing a Hawaiian Homes Commissioner from the Island of Lanai Proposal 4: Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Retains the Right to Independent Counsel Proposal 5: Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairperson to also serve on the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM)TRACKING LEGISLATION
Budget Bill
Synopsis: Appropriates funds for the operating and capital improvement budget of the Executive Branch for fiscal years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019.
Status: (1/23/2017) Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the House Finance Committee (FIN).Blood Quantum for Successors Bills
Synopsis: Lowers the required blood quantum to one-thirty-second Hawaiian for the lessee’s relatives currently eligible to succeed to a lease with one-quarter Hawaiian including a lessee’s husband, wife, children, grandchildren, brothers, or sisters. Requires Congressional approval.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Awaiting hearings to be scheduled by the Senate Committees on Hawaiian Affairs (HWN) and Judiciary & Labor (JDL).
Synopsis: Lowers the required blood quantum to one-thirty-second Hawaiian for the lessee’s relatives currently eligible to succeed to a lease with one-quarter Hawaiian including a lessee’s husband, wife, children, grandchildren, brothers, or sisters. Requires Congressional approval.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Passed first reading.
Synopsis: Reduces the minimum Hawaiian blood quantum requirement of certain successors to lessees of Hawaiian home lands from one-quarter to one thirty-second.
Status: (As of 1/23/2017) Awaiting hearings to be scheduled by the House Committees on Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs (OMH); Judiciary (JUD); and Finance (FIN).
Synopsis: Reduces the minimum Hawaiian blood quantum requirement of certain successors to lessees of Hawaiian home lands from one-quarter to one thirty-second.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Awaiting hearings to be schedule by the Senate Committees on Hawaiian Affairs (HWN) and Judiciary & Labor (JDL).Protecting Beneficiary Privacy Bills
Synopsis: Specifies certain content of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands homestead applicant and lessee files are not required to be disclosed.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the Senate Committees on Hawaiian Affairs (HWN) and Judiciary & Labor (JDL).
Synopsis: Specifies certain content of Department of Hawaiian Home Lands homestead applicant and lessee files are not required to be disclosed.
Status: (As of 1/23/2017) Passed first reading.Lānaʻi Commissioner Bills
Synopsis: Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to reduce the number of commissioners that are residents of the city and county of Honolulu and adds a commissioner from the island of Lānaʻi.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs (HWN).
Synopsis: Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to reduce the number of commissioners that are residents of the city and county of Honolulu and adds a commissioner from the island of Lānaʻi.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Passed first reading.Other DHHL-related Bills
Synopsis: Amends the membership of the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) to add the chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission or the chairperson’s designee to serve as an ex-officio voting member.
Status: (As of 1/23/2017) Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the Senate Committees on Hawaiian Affairs (HWN) or Water & Land (WTL); as well as Ways & Means (WAM).
Synopsis: Amends the membership of the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) to add the chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission or the chairperson’s designee to serve as an ex-officio voting member.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Passed first reading.
Synopsis: Authorizes the legislature to reclassify certain agricultural lands and transfer them to DHHL or OHA.
Status: (As of 1/26/2017) House Committee on Agriculture (AGR) scheduled a hearing on the bill for Friday, January 27, 2017, at 8:30 a.m. in House Conference Room 312.
Synopsis: Allows the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to retain independent legal counsel as needed.
Status: (As of 1/23/2017) Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the Senate Committees on Hawaiian Affairs (HWN) or Judiciary & Labor (JDL); as well as Ways & Means (WAM).
Synopsis: Establishes a working group to address and provide findings and recommendations regarding issues that beneficiaries of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands on Hawaii Island face relating to the financing and insuring of homes. Appropriates funds.
Status: Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the House Committees on Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs (OMH); and Finance (FIN).
Synopsis: Authorizes general obligation bonds and appropriates funds to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for redevelopment of the Bowl-O-Drome property, located at 820 Isenberg Street, with the assistance of the Hawaii Community Development Authority.
Status: (As of 1/23/2017) Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the House Committees on Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs (OMH); and Finance (FIN).
Synopsis: Authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds for construction and infrastructure development projects to provide affordable housing units for middle class and low-income residents. Allows moneys from the conveyance tax and the county surcharge on state tax to be used to repay the bonds.
Status: (As of 1/2523/2017) Awaiting hearing to be scheduled by the Senate Committees on Transportation & Energy (TRE) or Housing (HOU); as well as Ways & Means (WAM).
Synopsis: Authorizes the issuance of general obligation bonds for construction and infrastructure development projects to provide affordable housing units for middle class and low-income residents. Allows moneys from the conveyance tax and the county surcharge on state tax to be used to repay the bonds.
Status: (As of 1/25/2017) Passed first reading.
This proposal would lower the blood quantum to one-thirty second Hawaiian for the lessee’s relatives currently eligible to succeed to a lease with one-quarter Hawaiian including a lessee’s husband, wife, children, grandchildren, brothers or sisters. DHHL continues to receive requests from beneficiaries, particularly lessees in our older homestead communities, to reduce the blood quantum requirement for successors. As these communities age, the lessees with one-quarter Hawaiian are facing the possible loss of a homestead lease that has been within the family for several generations because their descendants lack the required blood quantum. This amendment will provide lessees with greater flexibility to retain homestead leases within their families.
The second proposal specifies that certain content of DHHL’s homestead applicant and lessee files are not required to be disclosed to the public. DHHL has received Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA) requests for specific homestead application files and homestead lease files that include personal contact information, genealogies, finance and loan documents, and other correspondence. DHHL’s administrative rules require that “personal data received or recorded by the department shall be held in absolute confidence and no release of information shall be made without written approval of the individual concerned.” Public access to this information should be considered an unwarranted invasion of privacy. This proposal would further protect the interest of Hawaiian home land applicants, lessees, and their successors by protecting information in which they have a significant privacy interest.
The third proposal changes the composition of the HHC by reducing the number of commissioners that are residents of the City and County of Honolulu and adding a commissioner from Lanai. The HHC is currently composed of nine members, and at least one member is a resident of each island on which DHHL has land with the exception of Lanai. DHHL acquired 50 acres on Lanai in 1999 and awarded 29 leases and has 66 applicants awaiting lease awards. However, there is no provision for a member of the HHC to be a resident of Lanai. This proposal would provide for a more direct connection for native Hawaiian beneficiaries on Lanai to the HHC.
The fourth proposal allows DHHL to retain independent legal counsel to be paid by the State and also use the services of the attorney general as needed when the interests of the State and DHHL are aligned. DHHL has a trust duty to its beneficiaries and in the fulfillment of its trust obligations, DHHL may at times be at odds with the interests of the State. It is at these times that DHHL must be assured that its counsel provides legal guidance strictly in the interest of its client. Independent counsel that is hired and retained by DHHL eliminates any cloud of uncertainty that there is a conflict of interest that DHHL is represented by the Attorney General’s office that also represents the State.
The final proposal would add the Chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission or the Chairman’s designee to the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM). The Water Code requires that planning decisions of the CWRM ensure that sufficient water remain available for current and foreseeable development and use of Hawaiian Home Lands. In order to further the interest of beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Chairman of the Commission or the Chair’s designee should serve as an ex-officio voting member of the CWRM.
FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS
OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES FOR THE 2017 LEGISLATIVE SESSION