Attorney General Mark Bennett, who is working with the state in its appeal of a ceded lands case to the U.S. Supreme Court, talks with UH law professor Jon Van Dyke in the walkway of the state Capitol, after they presented opposing arguments on the merits of moratorium bills at a Feb. 4 House committee hearing. – Photo: Lisa Asato

Ceded lands moratorium bills alive in Senate; appear stalled in House

By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola Loa

A ceded lands moratorium bill won't be passed into law by the time the U.S. Supreme Court hears a ceded lands case on Wednesday as some had hoped, but two measures are alive in the Senate, and the Kupu'āina Coalition is urging supporters to "give five minutes a day" to make their voices heard.

Three House bills on a moratorium appear to be stalled after passing unanimously out of the House Hawaiian Affairs Committee on Feb. 4, the same day the Senate Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee approved two moratorium bills, SB 1085 and SB 1677, which is the version that the Senate Majority has embraced.

The bills are being heard as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to review a case on the state's right to sell ceded lands before Native Hawaiian claims to the lands are resolved through a political process. Observers, including state Sen. Clayton Hee, had said that having law in place would send a message to the U.S. Supreme Court that two branches of state government were in agreement – and in opposition to the executive branch – that ceded lands should be kept intact until claims are resolved, as the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled in January.

SB1677 would require approval of two-thirds majority vote of both houses of the Legislature to adopt a concurrent resolution to sell or exchange certain public lands. The measure would sunset on Dec. 31, 2014.

SB 1085, on the other hand, calls for an outright ban until native claims are resolved.

Derek Kauanoe of Kupu'āina Coalition urges everyone to take 5 minutes a day to help protect ceded lands from sale or transfer. – Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

A ban is supported by Kupu'āina Coalition and state Rep. Mele Carroll, who is the chairwoman of the House Hawaiian Affairs Committee and the Legislative Hawaiian Caucus, which has placed passing a moratorium bill as their top priority this session.

"My position is to support a full moratorium," Carroll said on Wednesday, adding that she would be open to hear the two-thirds majority bill as well "if that was the will of the body." She said the three House bills that passed out of her committee – HB 1667, HB 1805 and HB 1841 – are expected to die in the House because Speaker Calvin Say "chooses to wait for the Senate version to come over."

"Because this issue is so important, I'm saddened that a person in our leadership such as the Speaker would hold back bills that the Hawaiian Affairs Committee has unanimously passed and (has) passed on the floor (of the House)," Carroll said.

After the Feb. 4 hearing Sen. Brian Taniguchi, chairman of the Judiciary and Government Operations Committee, wouldn't commit to hearing SB 1085, but said "chances are good" that he would.

The Kupu'āina Coalition has placed Taniguchi's photo on its home page, urging people to "both call and e-mail this guy!" to ask him to hear SB 1085 by Feb. 27.

Coalition spokesman Derek Kauanoe said, "If we don't see any more movement from his side, then it's going to die." But Kauanoe also said he believes that both bills will advance, judging from his conversations with Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and about 10 other senators.

In the meantime, Kauanoe asks the public to make their voices heard at the Legislature, as they did at the Jan. 17 Kū I ka pono March and Rally for ceded lands, when an estimated 5,000 people marched through Waikīkī.

"There's a lot that people can do in just five minutes a day," Kauanoe said, and it doesn't even require a trip to the Capitol. "They can call a lawmaker, email a lawmaker, they can let other people know what can be done," he said, referring people to the web site stopsellingcededlands.com to find out more.