Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 2, 1 February 2008 — OHA pushes for progress, cultural preservation [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA pushes for progress, cultural preservation

By Liza Simon | Public Affairs Specialist During the 2008 Legislature, the Offiee of Hawaiian Affairs will seek to introduee bills that would preserve Hawaiian culture and promote heahh, housing, education and social services for the agency's Native Hawaiian beneficiaries. This comes on the heels of recent legislative success. Lawmakers last year approved two OHA measures that provide increased funding for Alu Like Ine. and Nā Pua No'eau — community service organizations aligned with OHA's mission of bettering the quality of life for Native Hawaiian beneficiaries. OHA's hopes for progress this session may get some bolstering from the bipartisan Legislative Hawaiian Caucus, whieh convened Hawaiian agencies — including OHA, in early Ianuary, to "preview" their respective legislative

packages for the new year. In the past, Hawaiian Caucus members waited until the session was underway to prioritize bills for their own package drawn from agencies that advocate for Native Hawaiians. "By having a meaningful discussion at an early stage, we ean understand the eommon themes and bring them to the forefront of our various committees for further action," said caucus chair, Rep. Mele Carroll, (East Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i, Kaho'olawe). "So far we are seeing many eommon themes in bills that raise the question of how Native Hawaiians ean best preserve their precious quality of life," Carroll said. OHA Administrator Clyde Nāmu'o agreed Native Hawaiians have concerns about new and negative impacts of rapid development. To address this, OHA's 2008 legislative package is strongly focused

on creating a level playing field for new eeonomie and educational opportunities, while still perpetuating the traditions that help preserve the environment and perpetuate Hawaiian identity. "We heard from our partner nonprofits and our beneficiaries, and their

input gave us ideas for the 2008 OHA legislative package," said Nāmu'o. Nāmu'o presented highlights of the OHA package to the caucus at a mid-January meeting, including the following: • Two bills relate to child protection: both would make it easier

for the biological grandparents of children in foster care or state custody to assume responsibility for childcare. The bills cite research that says 'ohana placement promotes the nurturing bonds of the Native Hawaiian extended family system. • Two education bills aim directly at raising the bar for Native Hawaiian quality of life: one would increase funds for teaching positions in Hawaiian language immersion schools; the other would make it easier for medical services to thrive in underserved rural areas populated largely by Hawaiians by forgiving a portion of student loan debt for heahh professionals who agree to serve in these areas. • A housing hill would enahle OHA to develop affordable housing by exempting the agency's projects from county ordinances and rules that ean result in driving up cost of construction. • A hill that clarifies OHA's authority to create nonprofit entities, including limited hability corporations, seeks the same legal protections for assets afforded to the State of Hawai'i for its puhlie lands.

• Related to land management, two new OHA measures eall for protection of Hawai'i's biodiversity. One would protect the natural environmental resources on ceded lands, even if the lands are sold; the other would regulate bioprospecting. • Related to conservation of land

and tradition, OHA has drafted a new measure that would establish a cultural preserve commission that would manage the cultural treasures of Ha'ikū Valley. Nāmu'o also discussed with Hawaiian Caucus members a top OHA priority contained in a carryover hill from 2007 that is aimed at getting partial state funding for the construction of the agency's office building and Native Hawaiian cultural center on state land on the waterfront between Kaka'ako Park and Waterfront Harbor. Caucus members questioned why OHA preferred a downtown Honolulu location instead of areas of concentrated Hawaiian population such as the Leeward Coast or Waimānalo. "In addition to the important goal of consolidating staff, this could eventually heeome the seat of a new Hawaiian government, so we need the centralized loeahon near the urban core that would also be accessible by puhlie transportation to the greatest number of Native Hawaiians", Nāmu'o said, adding, "There is also the proximity to the oeean and the symbolism that holds for Hawaiians." I

AUPUNI • GŪVERNMENT

W - K i - Pictured in center: AAele Carroll, Chair of Hawaiian Caucus, flanked by Reps. James īokioka; Tommy Wafers (on leff); and Karen Awana and Angus McKelvey. - Photo: Courtesy of īony Moon