Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 6, 1 June 1994 — lt's a wrap [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

lt's a wrap

Legislature finishes on mixed note for Hawaiians

by Patrick Johnston The 1994 Legislature wrapped up its business May 2, passing some important bills for Hawaiians, rejecting many others, and, ūi the confusion of the final days, nearly forgetting to sign legislation critical for the eleanun of Kaho'olawe.

Highlighting the session was passage of Senate Bill 2261, legislation authorizing OHA to issue revenue bonds to raise monies for projects for native Hawaiians. (See story page 4.) "The potential for this is amazing." says Trustee Frenchy DeSoto, Chairman of OHA"s lobby team. "lt gives OHA the ability to leverage its money by floating tax-free bonds. This is really exciting." (OHA's lobby team includes Trustees

Abraham Aiona and Kūia'u Kamali'i.) Also passed - although just barely - was a bill that creates a trust fund for receipt of funds from the federal govemment for the rehabilitation of Kaho'olawe. It also provides money for the operation of the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission, and appropriates funds to compIete negotiations on a memorandum of understanding with the United States Navy. Senate Bill 3012 got "lost" in the confusion of the final days of the session and was not decked in time for final Continued on page 6

A. Frenchy DeSoto

The crimson colored 'apapane: one of the living jewels that adorn Hawaiian forests. Painting by Patrick Ching

Legislative session ends

from page 1 reading. In a last-minute effort to save the bill, legislators resurrected an earlier house draft and voted on it. However, the resurrected house draft had not appropriated any monies for the bill and it is now up to the Governor to find the necessary funding. "To say that I was incensed would be to put it mildly," said DeSoto, who is on the Kaho'olawe Island Reserve Commission. She added, "For a bill that important to get lost it makes you wonder whether it was lost on purpose."

A supplemental budget bill passed by the Legislature maintains funding for OHA programs passed in last year's biennium budget. The legislation restores funding for an evaluation of OHA's programs, and provides new monies for workshops on the 999-year homestead lease program. The original bill introduced by OHA - House Bill 2780 - had asked for funding for a number of job positions, adjustments in salaries, and expenses for rent and equipment. In the final version passed by legislators, there were no funds given for these added positions with the exception of the restoration of the programs evaluation money. The money for the homestead lease workshops was originally part of a separate bill that was tagged on to the OHA bill later in the session.

The conference committee report on the budget bill acknowledged that the programs OHA supported for native Hawaiians were important and should continue to be funded despite diminished revenues caused by the slow business climate. However, the Legislature chose not to grant OHA's request for funding increases. "We didn't get all we wanted, but these days who does?" DeSoto said. Legislation to provide more funding for, and reform the overall mission of, the Hawaiian Sovereignty Advisory Commission was passed although its overall funding has yet to be resolved (see story, page 3). House Bill 3630 changes the Hawaiian Sovereignty Commission from an advisory body to an implementing agency, giving ihe commission authority to conduct a plebiscite on selfdetermination and, if the plebiscite is favorable, providing a process, such as a constitutional convention to resolve issues related to the form, structure and status of a Hawaiian nation. In conference committee the bill was amended,

renaming the commission the "Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council" and pushing the date for the plebiscite back to 1995. Conference committee amendments also included requiring that half the $1.8 million funding for the bill eome from OHA. According to OHA's government affairs officer Scotty Bowman, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has accepted the committee's amendment but notes any expenditure of funds must be passed by the Board of Trustees. OHA staff and trustees are now looking over the council's budget to ensure that they agree with all of its recommendations. Bills rejected by the Legislature included House Bill 2700, legislation that would have reverted certain kuleana lands acquired by escheat to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Also rejected was House Bill 2798, whieh would have streamlined payment to OHA by state departments of OHA's 20 percent share of ceded lands revenue. Despite failure to pass these important bills, OHA staff and trustees were generally upbeat about the 1994 session.

"Eaeh year now," says Bowman, "Hawaiian legislation is being better understood by the politicians. I don't fmd a lot of resistance on the part of legislators." DeSoto agrees but recognizes that legislators have their hands tied by financial and political considerations. "My own feeling is that legislators want to support the Hawaiian community but they are strapped." DeSoto was generally impressed by the general attimde of legislators in the Hawaiian committees. "I was very appreciative of the House and Senate Committees. They were enthusiastic and seemed committed to our cause. And the most important thing is that they were accessible."

House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs