Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 16, Number 6, 1 June 1999 — OHA urges gov's veto [ARTICLE]

OHA urges gov's veto

AT ITS May 26 meeting on Moloka'i, the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs adopted the recommendation of its Committee on Governmental Affairs and Sovereignty to oppose S.B. 1635 whieh was passed during the final hours of the 1999 Legislature. As a result, the board has asked that Governor Cayetano veto the bill when it comes before him for his signature into law. "This bifi basically extends Act 329, Session Laws of Hawai'i 1997, as to its makeup, meeting and reporting to the Legislature," said Trustee Mililani Tra.sk, GAS Commitīee chair, m her letter on behalf of the board. "This is unacceptable to the Board of Trustees. This bill also calls for interim revenue to OHA to be credited toward any sum owed by the state, whieh actually amounts to a loan that OHA will repay through a reduction of settlement claims. This, too, the Board of Trustees finds unacceptable. That is why OHA strongly urges you to veto this measure." See VETO on page 9

VETO

from page 1 As originally drafted, S.B.l635 would have established a joint legislative eommittee to study and make recommendations on all outstanding anticipated public

land trust issues. However, at the eleventh hour, the legislature decided to drop this provisions. The bill does appropriate $16,060,000 for OHA for fiscal year 2000. It also requires the state auditor to "coordinate resolution of the issue and controversies surrounding the public land trust" by identifying trust lands and resources and completing an inventory in

cooperation with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, OHA and other state agencies by Dec. 31, 2000. Topay for the inventory, the bill calls for $500,000 in state funds to be matched by OHA dofiar for dollar. At its Moloka'i meeting, the board also expressed disagreement with this requirement for matching funds. ■