Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 5, 1 May 2016 — PHHL needs sufficient funding [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PHHL needs sufficient funding

Submitted by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. When it comes to the budget of this state, the people of this state, via constituhonal amendment, confirmed that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) is the only state agency entitled to sufficient sums to carry out and fulfill its solemn obligation. In 1920, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole testified before the full U.S. House of Representatives that "The Hawaiian race is passing. And if conditions continue to exist as they do today, this splendid race of people, my people, will pass from the face of the earth." Today's leaders have a moral responsibility to plaee the Hawaiian people back upon the soil whieh, as Kūhiō stated, is "the only method in whieh

to rehabilitate the race." Kūhiō's tireless fight led to the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in 1921. In 1959, as a condition of statehood, the Hawai'i Admission Act required the State of

Hawai'i to adopt the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. The responsibility of fulfilling Kūhiō's legacy was then accepted by the people of Hawai'i at this time. Prior to 1978, the State of Hawai'i had the discretion to fund or not fund DHHL. However, as a result of the 1978 Constitutional Convention, the electorate of the

State of Hawai'i voted to amend the state Constitution to instruct that the legislature shall provide sufficient sums to DHHL. Every year since at least 1992, the Legislature has failed to appropriate sufficient sums to DHHL. In 20 1 6, a judge noted that this finding was consistent with the findings of the Supreme Court that the State has failed, "by any reasonable measure" to provide sufficient funding to DHHL and that the State's track record in supporting DHHL's success "is poor, as evidenced by the tens of thousands of qualified applicants on the waiting lists and the decades-long wait for homestead lots." With sufficient funding, DHHL ean begin to complete a social contract with the Hawaiian people whieh is a condition of statehood, supported by the constitution and reaffirmed by the courts. ■

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole. - Photo: KWO File