OHA’s 2025 Legislative Package

OHA developed four measures for the 2025 Legislative Session on three foundational principles:

• Stop Native Hawaiian identity erasure,
• Elevate Native Hawaiian identity as an inseparable facet of the state’s identity,
• Uplift and empower our most vulnerable communities as a crucial component of Native Hawaiian self-determination.

The four measures in our Legislative Package are:

1. Funding: SB269 / HB410  Relating to the Budget of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs
OHA is requesting a $1,858,454 increase in FY26 and $1,996, 208 increase in FY27 in general fund appropriations (reflected in the FY26 and FY27 biennium budget totals of $4.8M and $4.9M). These increases are necessary to adjust for the cost of inflation since 2020 when OHA began implementing its strategic plan Mana i Mauli Ola and to fund the newly created 13-member Strategy and Implementation (S&I) Team. OHA’s S&I team will leverage their subject matter expertise to develop specific tactics to reduce disparities Native Hawaiians face in health, housing, education and economic development in line with OHA’s strategic plan, and provide concrete metrics for the public and elected officials to track the impact that OHA’s program funding is making in improving Native Hawaiian social conditions, among other initiatives vital to attaining OHA’s statutory mandates.  

2. Public Lands Inventory and Audit: HB1358 HD1 / SB1600 Relating to the Public Land Trust Working Group
In 2022, the legislature created the Public Land Trust Working Group (PLTWG) to: (1) account for all ceded lands in the public lands trust inventory; (2) account for all income and proceeds derived from the public land trust; and (3) determine the twenty per cent pro rata share of income and proceeds due annually to OHA from the public land trust. The PLTWG unanimously agreed to submit this bill to fund and hire an independent third party to audit and review the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Public Land Trust Inventory System and to assess the accuracy of the related land inventory and accounting systems, as necessary for the PLTWG to determine the twenty per cent pro rata share due annually to OHA.

3. Kaka‘ako Makai Bill: SB534 Relating to the Hawai‘i Community Development Authority 
In 2012, the legislature conveyed certain lands valued at approximately $200,000,000 from the State to OHA (Kaka‘ako Makai lands) as settlement of past due amounts. The valuation was based on residential development as the highest use of the Kaka‘ako Makai lands. This bill would repeal the residential development prohibition on certain land parcels allowing OHA to maximize the value of Kaka‘ako Makai lands consistent with the legislative intent. This bill would also raise the residential height limit along Ala Moana Boulevard to 400 feet, subject to the provision that 50% + 1 unit in any tower would be reserved for essential workforce housing (<140% AMI); dedicate a portion of residential association fees to the maintenance of open spaces and public infrastructure preserving public access and use of the shoreline areas; and require owner occupancy of all residential units.

4. Protection of Iwi Kūpuna: SB268 / HB409 Relating to Burial Council Composition
This bill would address longstanding quorum and composition issues by removing the designated landowner seat from the Island Burial Councils allowing the councils to meet with a quorum of seven members (with the exception of Moloka‘i which will remain at five members). OHA also anticipates supporting additional legislation to implement recommendations made by the Burial Sites Working Group convened in 2022.

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.

Stay Connected

Stay up-to-date on issues and legislation affecting OHA and the Lāhui throughout the 2025 Legislative Session. Continue to check this page for updates on these measures.
To receive alerts about opportunities to testify at upcoming hearings, please fill out the “STAY CONNECTED” form located in the sidebar to the right of this page.

Be an Advocate for the Lāhui in 2025

• Go to the Hawaii State Legislature website
• Register to set up a user account
• Sign up for hearing updates directly from the Legislature
• Submit Testimony on a bills (Testimony Instructions).
• Watch live or archived committee hearings and floor sessions
• Find your legislator
• Review 2025 Primer Sheets for House and 2025 Primer Sheets for Senate
• View important dates this session: 2025 Legislative Calendar.
• View OHA’s past legislative efforts for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
• Learn how a bill becomes law