Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 6, 1 June 1995 — Legislature wraps up on good note for Hawaiians [ARTICLE]

Legislature wraps up on good note for Hawaiians

A tight fiscal environment meant curtailed expectations but OHA and Hawaiians generally got through the 1995 Legislative session without having to take too many hits. Important for OHA was the passage of its hiennium budget. While not completely

spared the Legislator's axe, most of the office's current operational costs were funded. "In the final analysis, we did quite well," says OHA government affairs officer Scotty Bowman. However. some Alu Like projects and the Wai'anae Diet - programs that get moneys from both the state and OHA - did receive some cuts. (See story page 4.) Other OHA legislation that passed was Senate Bill 828. This will establish a genealogy program within OHA to help those who believe they have a elaim to lands commonly referred to as 999-year homestead leases. The most important legislation for native Hawaiians as a whole was the passage of H.B. 1828/S.B. 1629 whieh, in its final form, appropriates 30 million a year over 20 years to resolve state breaches of the Hawaiian homelands trust. (See story page I.) The final bill - supported by OHA - was ironed out in conference committee and resembled a settlement bill first proposed by the Senate. A House proposal to increase the state excise tax by 1 percent to pay for the settlement was rejected. Legislation that would maintain funding for the Hawaiian Sovereignty Elections Council for another year also got through the legislature. HSEC legislation was eventually tagged on to H.B. 1909 (A general spending bill) and extended the time the sovereignty eouneil had to use unspent moneys — approximately half of its appropriation - from funding provided by last year's Legislature. Under the legislation, the eouneil will be given until the end of

fiscal year 1995-1996 to spend the money. (Because the Governor had held up the unspent half of the first year's funding, the eouneil would not have been able to spend all of it - mostly for their educational and information campaign - by the end of the this fiscal year.)

The Legislature also passed Senate B i 1 1 596, authorizing the Department of Land and Natural Resources to start discussion regarding the transfer of the Maunalaha subdivision in Makiki to OHA. The bill arose from complaints by tenants that the state was not being very responsive to tenant requests for housing and infrastructure improvements. The bill, however, only authorizes the start of discussions; it does not allocate any money. "If OHA is willing. it ean put in the infrastructure" says Bowman, "But the burden is on OHA." The legislation also provides that the Maunalaha subdivision be exempt from all state and county subdivision and housing development standards. Significant legislation that didn't make it through the Legislature included H.B. 2071, whieh would have required OHA to pay 20 percent of the cost of state eapūol improvement projects on ceded lands, a proposal that eventually would have bankrupted OHA's portion of the ceded lands trust.

Also getting nowhere in the session was S.B. 374 - legislation supported by OHA - that would have banned the exchange or sale of ceded lands by state agencies for public, federal or other non-Hawaiian uses. (Editor's note. At press time, due to a pro-

cedural error, the Legislature had called a special session to revote on budget- and money-related bills. These include Hawaiian-related legislation such as OHA' s budget and the DHHL settlement.)