Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 5, 1 May 2005 — OHA autonomy bill passes [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA autonomy bill passes

Several other OHA measures remain alive as Legislature winds down

By Derek Ferrar Abill that would give OHA greater fiscal autonomy has passed the Legislature and is awaiting Gov. Lingle's signature to become law. The measure will allow the agency to issue its own checks and payments, rather than having to go through the added bureaucracy of the state's financial system. OHA Chairperson Haunani Apolionia has named this kind of increased autonomy as a major goal for the agency. "Wherever legally permissible, OHA needs to begin to operate as the quasiindependent organization, the fourth arm of government, that was envisioned by the framers of the Hawai'i State Constitution in 1978," Apoliona said in her State of OHA address in December. "(We envision) an OHA with less statutory or regulatory constraintsretaining accountability and prudent decision-making, but moving closer to enabling the paradigm of native governance fashioned by Native Hawaiians." Other OHA-sponsored measures that remained alive at the Capitol as Ka Wai Ola went to press include: • OHA budget (SB 915, HB 450). Included in this request for the Legislature to authorize OHA's

$3 million-per-year state-funds budget for fiscal years 2006 and '07 is increased funding for the Hawaiian service organizations Alu Like, Nā Pua No'eau and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. • Conservation funding (SB 919, HB 452). Currently, there is no dedicated funding for management of many protected lands, including the state's Natural Area Reserve System, whieh contains many of the most intact native ecosystems under state control, and whieh are located primarily on ceded lands. This bill would assure funding by setting aside a permanent portion of the conveyance tax - whieh is paid whenever real estate is bought or sold. • Cultural "kīpuka" (SCR3, HCR25). This resolution encourages cultural perpetuation in rural Hawaiian communities. The proposed mea sures would urge county and state governments to treat rural Hawaiian communities, or "cultural kīpuka," as cultural heritage treasures. • Archaeology oversight (SCR2, HCR26). OHA's beneficiaries have been increasingly voicing concerns regarding the competency and cultural sensitivity of the archaeological profession in Hawai'i. These resolutions seek a proactive approach by analyzing the effectiveness of the state Historic Preservation Division's regulatory role and examining whether the Hawaiian community is being adequately protected in the important services that archaeologists render.

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