STAND. COM. REP. NO.697

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 610

S.D. 2

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 610, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS RESOLUTION UNDER THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS TRUST,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to resolve existing Hawaiian home lands trust individual claims by replacing the expired panel with a new special master.

The Legislature has recognized that the administration of the Hawaiian home lands trust has resulted in some grievous errors to claimants, which need to be rectified. The Legislature established the Hawaiian home lands trust individual claims review panel in 1991 to review all claims between statehood and June 30, 1988. Many claims were timely filed, but the panel was unable to review them all before its dissolution in 1999. The Legislature had passed a bill to extend the work of the panel, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Benjamin Cayetano. Some of the claimants filed a class action suit, State v. Kalima, in which the trial court ruled in the claimants’ favor. The class action is now pending before the Hawaii Supreme Court.

Your Committee finds that the work of the panel was terminated prematurely and that the intent of the law needs to be carried out through the appointment of a special master to resolve all timely-filed claims. The special master will review and evaluate the individual claims that were received by the panel and that have not been either rejected by the panel or settled under this chapter. The special master will make findings and recommendations, estimate the total amount of damages to resolve all claims, and report to the Legislature by December 5, 2003. The special master will then disburse claimant funds appropriated by the Legislature.

Your Committee has amended this bill by removing the provision that allowed for double recovery under both the class action lawsuit and any disbursement recommended by the special master and funded by the Legislature. Your Committee finds that one recovery for the same set of acts is appropriate.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 610, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 610, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair