The House Water and Land Committee will hear HB2103 on Tuesday, February 10, at 9:00 a.m. Support this OHA package bill to empower the Land Use Commission (LUC) to better protect wai and traditional and customary practices threatened by development. HB2103 requires at least one member to have water management expertise and designates OHA to nominate candidates for the traditional Hawaiian land usage seat.
Sample testimony is provided below.
Submit Testimony by Monday, February 9 at 9:00 a.m.
Testimony received after the deadline will be accepted but considered late. Those who wish to testify via videoconference (Zoom) must also submit written testimony.
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY ON HB2103
How to create a legislative account | How to testify
For the 2026 legislative session, OHA’s trustees have approved the following six bills for our team to champion. We hope the lāhui will join us in supporting these bills.
The five Island Burial Councils (IBCs) play an integral role in implementing the state’s Historic Preservation Law (HRS Chapter 6E) and protecting iwi kūpuna, including by approving burial treatment plans and recognizing lineal and cultural descendants. Currently, several IBCs have been limited in their ability to carry out these essential functions due, in part, to difficulties recruiting candidates and meeting quorum requirements for voting. This bill proposes reducing static quorum requirements, authorizing OHA to provide per diem stipends for regional members, and extending the timeline for filling mid-term vacancies from 30 to 75 days.
Act 293 (signed in July 2025) expanded an existing loophole in the state’s Historic Preservation Law by exempting projects on residential properties in “nominally sensitive areas” from review. This term could be interpreted to cover large developments in areas known to contain a high concentration of iwi (such as jaucus sands or sand dunes) where work commenced prior to the enactment of legal mandates to survey or inventory properties for burials. This bill would close this loophole by removing the “nominally sensitive” language and defining the residential exemption consistent with planning and archaeological best practices for protecting cultural sites and iwi kūpuna.
The Land Use Commission (LUC) was created in 1961 as a direct response to the conversion of prime agricultural lands into residential use. The LUC is responsible for classifying all land in Hawai‘i into one of four categories (conservation, rural, agricultural, urban), and ruling on petitions to reclassify land, usually from a lower classification to a higher classification to enable development. During reclassification, the LUC can put important conditions on projects, including conditions that ensure the protection of natural and cultural resources (including exercise of traditional and customary practices), mandate affordable housing requirements are met, and require early planning around issues like water. This bill amends the composition requirements for the LUC to mandate that at least one member have expertise in water resource management and designates OHA to nominates candidates for the existing Hawaiian land use and cultural practice seat.
The extraction of reef fish for commercial sale in the aquarium trade removes important species needed for subsistence and our nature-based tourism economy from nearshore ecosystems. This bill would permanently prohibit extraction of Hawaiʻi’s reef life for commercial sale as aquarium pets and ornamental aquarium displays, without limiting permitted collection for scientific and educational institutions, aquaculture and fishpond stocks, bait, and subsistence fishing practices. The proposed ban is consistent with OHA’s existing duties to advance Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights under Article XII, section 7 of the Hawaiʻi State Constitution as aquarium collection is associated with the decline of targeted fish species, including those used by Native Hawaiians for cultural and subsistence purposes.
Under existing military leases, state owned public land trust lands—- comprised primarily of former crown and government lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom—- are used for live-fire military drills. This bill proposes a constitutional amendment that would ban live-fire military training on public trust land. If passed, this bill will put on the 2026 ballot a question asking: “Shall the Constitution of the State of Hawaiʻi be amended to prohibit destructive live fire military training – defined as the discharge of large caliber munitions employing standard, incendiary, high explosive or inert rounds, whether portable, crew-served, or vehicle- mounted – from occurring on the public trust lands identified in Article XII, section 4?”.
Unaffordable housing is a primary driver for the out-migration of residents and decreases the quality of life for the 52.5% of Native Hawaiian families in Hawaiʻi that spend more than 30% of their income on housing.1 Since 2019, rents have increased statewide, with Hawai‘i County and Kau‘i County seeing particularly unsustainable rent increases of ~50%.2 This bill will establish a 3% cap on annual rent increases, consistent with the average annual cost of living increase received by wage workers. The bill proposes exemptions for owner-occupied properties, kuleana parcels, and regulated affordable properties, to minimize impacts on non-investment properties used by ‘ohana as their primary residence.
As part of its mandate to advocate for Native Hawaiians, each year OHA submits a package of proposed bills to the Hawaii State Legislature, and the agency’s Board of Trustees also votes to take positions on a wide variety of legislation impacting the Hawaiian community.
OHA remains the principal public agency in the state responsible for the performance, development, and coordination of programs and activities relating to Native Hawaiians.
Advocacy can take place anywhere – from the lo’i to the White House!
Advocacy is an integral part of what we do at OHA. During the 1978 State of Hawai’i Constitutional Convention that created OHA, convention delegates envisioned an agency that would not only provide Native Hawaiians with a form of self-determination, but one would also advocate on behalf of Native Hawaiians to address historical injustices and challenges arising out of those circumstances. Chapter 10 of the Hawai’i Revised Statute outlines OHA’s duties and purposes, including promoting and protecting the rights of Native Hawaiians.
Eō! Let Your Voice Be Heard! – Engaging the Legislature
Find your Hawai’i senator & representative – https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/fyl/
Senator & representative info – https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/members/legislators.aspx?chamber=all
How to register for an account – (See Below)
Video courtesy of the Legislative Reference Bureau
How to testify – (See Below)
Video courtesy of the Legislative Reference Bureau
How a bill becomes a law – (See Below)
