Bill Text: HI SCR60 | 2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Supporting The Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Beneficiaries By Affirming Their Right To Require The Department Of Hawaiian Home Lands, Department Of Land And Natural Resources, And Department Of Transportation To Come To A Resolution And Fair Compensation For Past, Present, And Future Use Of The Land Beneath The Mauna Kea Access Road And Other Department Of Hawaiian Home Lands Parcels In The Surrounding Area.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Report adopted, as amended (SD 1) and referred to JDC/WAM. [SCR60 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-SCR60-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
60 |
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THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
SUPPORTING THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST BENEFICIARIES BY AFFIRMING THEIR RIGHT TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS, DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES, AND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO COME TO A RESOLUTION AND FAIR COMPENSATION FOR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE USE OF THE LAND BENEATH THE MAUNA KEA ACCESS ROAD AND OTHER DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS PARCELS IN THE SURROUNDING AREA.
WHEREAS, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is governed by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, enacted by the United States Congress to protect and improve the lives of native Hawaiians; and
WHEREAS, the Act created a Hawaiian Homes Commission to administer certain public lands, called Hawaiian home lands, for homesteads (Trust lands); and
WHEREAS, native Hawaiians are defined as individuals having at least fifty percent Hawaiian blood; and
WHEREAS, in 1995, the State of Hawai‘i enacted legislation, known as Act 14, to resolve and satisfy all claims stemming from its improper and uncompensated use of Trust lands that arose between August 21, 1959, and July 1, 1988; and
WHEREAS, to resolve all controversies and claims regarding the improper and uncompensated use of lands for state roads and highways, Act 14 contemplated "the initiation of a land exchange" between the State and the Hawaiian Homes Commission; and
WHEREAS, twenty-four years after the law was passed, there is no evidence that either entity has initiated any land exchange pursuant to Act 14 to resolve the State's prior improper and uncompensated use of trust lands for roads and highways, including for the use of the Mauna Kea Access Road; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Homes Commission, under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and the Hawaii State Constitution, has an obligation to protect the Trust lands and exercise exclusive loyalty to its beneficiaries pursuant to Ahuna v. Dep't of Hawaiian Home Lands, 64 Haw. 327 at 340 (1982); and
WHEREAS, consultation between the Hawaiian Homes Commission and the beneficiaries has not commenced for land exchanges; and
WHEREAS, as of December 31, 2017, there were 28,418 beneficiary applicants on the waitlist for Hawaiian home lands leases, and annually, a large number of these beneficiaries die while still waiting for a land award while non-Hawaiian interests are afforded access to land for the "greater good" of the community; and
WHEREAS, it is the right and responsibility of the native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to provide input and to be consulted in matters of land disposition, yet they have not been afforded the venue to do so; and
WHEREAS, previous resolutions of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs have affirmed the sacredness of Mauna Kea; and
WHEREAS, the County of Hawai‘i Mayor met with members of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs Hawai‘i Council on October 17, 2019, and the Council brings forward these issues as a result of this meeting; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the House of Representatives concurring, that this body supports the Hawaiian home lands trust beneficiaries by affirming their right to require the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Department of Land and Natural Resources, and Department of Transportation to come to a resolution and fair compensation for past, present, and future use of the land beneath the Mauna Kea Access Road and other Department of Hawaiian Home Lands parcels in the surrounding area; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Director of Transportation, and Mayors of each county.
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Beneficiaries; Mauna Kea Access Road
