LEO 'ELELE - TRUSTEE MESSAGES

OHA's 2009 legislative outlook

Colette Y. Machado Trustee, Moloka'i and Lāna'i

I am honored to have been reappointed as Chairperson of OHA's Committee on Beneficiary Advocacy and Empowerment (BAE), which considers policies and issues related to OHA's beneficiary programs and Native Hawaiian advancement. Our theme is that we Pūpūkahi I Holomua – Unite and Move Forward – in the New Year.

The 25th Legislature opened on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2009. This year the House of Representatives has reorganized itself to create a Hawaiian Affairs Committee with Rep. Mele Carroll as its Chair. On the Senate side, the Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee will preside in a parallel manner. Both committees will be instrumental toward the passage of legislation for Executive Branch consideration and will have to make tough choices when prioritizing and balancing the needs of OHA's beneficiaries.

OHA will be introducing a legislative package, which we believe shares the pulse of the people whom we serve. In the area of preservation, we seek to amend laws to better preserve Hawaiian architecture and protect historic properties, artifacts and burial sites. We propose measures that would involve our communities in protecting sacred sites in our state parks and that would protect our rights to fish. We also seek to advance committees or commissions to protect and sustain our taro, Mākua Valley and our 'aha moku.

In education, we seek to amend laws to allow charter schools to relocate into Department of Education facilities that are subject to closure, and we will continue to strongly support tuition waivers for Hawaiian students at the University of Hawai'i.

We also hope to confront conditions that disproportionately stigmatize us. Hawaiians are not homeless, but some just happen to be houseless. We will advocate for measures that seek resources enabling every Hawaiian to have a place on our Islands to call home. And I don't mean prisons! Indeed, the disparate treatment of Hawaiians in Hawai'i's criminal justice system has gone on far too long. We will support a measure to study this disparity in-depth.

Our other proposed measures deserving note will be a bill that establishes the right of publicity as a property right (a matter of concern to Hawaiian performers and others who wish to protect their name, voice, signature, photograph or likeness from exploitation) and a bill supporting local customs of caring for children outside the original family home.

To help establish the financial foundation for our operations, advocacy and programs, we will submit our biennium budget bill for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2010-11, which will include provisos that fund specific programs that advance the conditions of Native Hawaiians. OHA will also seek to clarify and strengthen its statutory bond authority so that we can build for the future.

Last but not least, we will advocate for two very important bills that we have drafted relating to the Public Land Trust. One bill would establish a moratorium on the State's sale of lands in the Public Land Trust. The other bill would enable the State to make progress toward meeting its constitutional obligations by conveying property to OHA that addresses the additional amount of income and proceeds that OHA is to receive from the public trust pursuant to Article XII, sections 4 and 6, of the Hawai'i Constitution, for the period from Nov. 7, 1978, to July 1, 2008.

As the economic crisis looms and budgets tighten, our legislators will be pressed to prioritize and deliberate policies to meet the needs of our State. OHA seeks your solidarity to strongly advocate that which is important to all of us. We must remind our elected officials that the economy is a temporary crisis compared to the injustices we intend to address. After all, by bettering the conditions of Native Hawaiians we will create a better Hawai'i. Hau'oli Makahiki Hou to you and your families, and may the change we seek be the change we make.