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Left to right, Sens. Sam Slom, Mike Gabbard, Russell Kokubun, Brian Taniguchi, Jill Tokuda and Clayton Hee hear testimony for and against HB 266, which sought to approve a settlement agreement between the state and OHA over back-due payments from ceded lands revenues collected by the state. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom |
Senate panels shelve ceded lands bill; OHA continues push for approval
After three Senate committees voted to shelve House Bill 266, curtailing hope for immediate approval of the court-mandated negotiated settlement between the state of Hawai'i and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, OHA leadership said they will continue to work for its approval this session.
“This session is not over, and (we'll) continue to seek consideration on this measure, the substance of this measure, … and are striving toward having a conferencing toward the end of session,” OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona said at a March 20 news conference attended by Trustees, OHA lawyers and supporters, including former Trustee Roy Benham, who said that without a settlement, OHA will be “handicapped with their efforts to further help our Native Hawaiian people.”
On March 17, after hearing five hours of testimony and following months of lobbying by those for and against passage, three Senate committees: Water and Land, Judiciary and Labor, and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs voted to halt movement of the bill through the Senate, effectively killing it for this session. Sens. Clayton Hee, Jill Tokuda, Brian Taniguchi, Russell Kokubun and Mike Gabbard voted unanimously against moving the bill out of committee.
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At a press conference near the Queen Lili'uokalani statue just before the Senate committees were to meet over the bill, members of Hui Pū express opposition to HB 266. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom |
The bill would have approved a $200 million mix of land and cash to OHA to resolve past claims to revenue from the Public Land Trust from 1978 to 2008. The bill would have also set future annual amounts to OHA at $15.1 million subject to review and possible adjustments. As of this writing, a companion bill was still moving through the state House.
“OHA will review all the legislative and legal options available before deciding on the next course,” OHA Administrator Clyde Nāmu'o said after the hearing. At the news conference, he said OHA leadership wants to “meet with as many Senators as we possibly can” to see whether they would reconsider their action or agree to a conference committee – a joint committee – with the House, which would have to send a bill to the Senate.
Nāmu'o and Wayne Panoke of 'Īlio'ulaokalani Coalition both expressed disappointment that the Senate committees' action preceded the Legislature's March 26 deadline to seek community input on the settlement and submit reports. “We're deeply disappointed in their behavior, and we feel it's a disrespect to not only the idea of the community meetings but certainly a disrespect to the people that came to share their mana'o from their na'au,” said Panoke, a facilitator for the 21 Kū I Ka Pono meetings held statewide. OHA also sought input at scores of community meetings statewide, through surveys and an insert in the Honolulu Advertiser, Nāmu'o said, adding that OHA did its “very best” to answer the Legislature's request and that the community meetings were held “at great expense to our beneficiaries.” OHA and 'Īlio'ulaokalani will submit their reports to the Legislature despite the vote, they said.
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Ikaika Hussey of Hui Pū led the press conference opposing passage of HB266. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom |
Prior to the Senate's March 17 hearing, groups opposed to the settlement gathered at the Lili'uokalani statue for a press conference. Led by Ikaika Hussey of Hui Pū, they expressed outrage at the settlement and called for a stop to the bills.
Hussey demanded that “all versions of the bill be killed, that there be no further movement on this legislation.” He added, “It is very dangerous for our people now, and for future generations,” though he did not elaborate further.
Former OHA Trustee Moanikeala Akaka, who helped negotiate the first settlement agreement with the Waihe'e administration, asked of the proposed settlement, “Why so little?”
She said that in 1996, the Circuit Court had ruled that the state owed OHA $1.2 billion. The ruling was overturned in 2001, negating that figure, but Akaka insisted that OHA should have held out for a much larger sum from the state at this time.
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Moanikeala Akaka, Mililani Trask, Clarence Ching and Andre Perez spoke, all opposing passage of HB266. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom |
“We went from $1.2 billion to settle issues up to 1990, to $200 million today. And we're not even talking about 1990 to 2008, resources and revenues owed to the Hawaiian people.”
Former OHA Trustee Mililani Trask charged that the current Trustees of OHA “have not exercised their fiduciary obligations in this matter.”
“As of the year 2000, the Trustees who were elected at OHA were not elected by the Hawaiian people to represent them. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is an elected body whose members are elected by the public and accountable solely to the public.
“In this instance, we have the public state governor negotiating a settlement with a public state agency, for four years, behind closed doors … who are now bringing it to the state Legislature for rubber stamping.”
She charged that the settlement is “supported by former Gov. George Ariyoshi and certain state unions, but certainly not the Hawaiian people.”
Clarence Ku Ching, another former OHA Trustee, asked, “Where did these lands come from?”
“These lands were stolen, not paid for by the U.S. government. Now they are attempting to move these stolen lands into the hands of another state agency, OHA.
“Why is OHA accepting stolen lands?
“The state, according to this last (Hawai'i Supreme Court) decision, cannot give these lands, sell these lands to a third party. My argument is that OHA is a third party and OHA can't accept them.”
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William Meheula, left, attorney for OHA, announced that a contested section of HB266 language had been rewritten to clear ambiguity; Bumpy Kanahele announced, "Nobody settles for Bumpy Kanahele!" - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom |
That January 2008 Hawai'i Supreme Court decision – which allows for ceded lands to be transferred to state agencies like OHA – was argued and won by OHA attorney Sherry Broder and William Meheula, attorney for beneficiaries Pia Thomas Aluli, Jonathan Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio, Charles Ka'ai'ai and Keoki Kamaka Ki'ili.
In the Capitol auditorium, Meheula spoke on behalf of the bill. “In the fringes, there is strong opposition, but in the middle there is strong support.”
“We have gone out to more than 42 public forums on the settlement,” he said. We “heard from many in the community who expressed concern” over the language in the settlement agreement, which appeared to indemnify the state against lawsuits brought by third parties on future ceded lands issues.
“The attorney general and I both looked at it,” and both agreed that the language did not extend beyond the proposed settlement,” Meheula said. “But we heard enough concern that this past weekend, the attorney general and I sat down” and reworded that portion of the agreement to specifically confine the terms to these parties and this agreement. Copies of the new language were distributed to legislators.
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Left to right, Tasha Kama, Anna Waiolama and her husband, Wayne, Charlotte Kahalewai and her husband, Sol, and Leah Perreira all traveled from Maui to testify against HB266. They were concerned about language that might have prevented future claims against the state over ceded lands.- Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom |
But the new information did not satisfy attendees.
Bumpy Kanahele scolded OHA and the state, “Shame! Hewa!”
He added, “You cannot negotiate on my behalf. You cannot settle for Bumpy Kanahele!”
In the crowd of about 100 was a group who traveled from Maui specifically to attend the hearing and to have a chance to testify. Tasha Kama did not like the language in the agreement that appeared to indemnify the state from future ceded lands lawsuits. Kama's group held yellow signs saying, “Please vote NO,” and “Protect our future rights, vote NO to HB266 HD2.”
The group sat near the podium, patiently waiting their turn to speak. “We have to make the plane back to Maui tonight,” Kama said. “I even caught ride with somebody from the airport to here. I gotta hitchhike back, after! It cost me $200 to be here! That's a commitment.”
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