THE SENATE

THE THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2021

 

COMMITTEE ON HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS

Senator Maile S.L. Shimabukuro, Chair

Senator Jarrett Keohokalole, Vice Chair

 

NOTICE OF HEARING

 

 

DATE:

Thursday, February 4, 2021

TIME:

1:00pm – 2:30pm

PLACE:

Via Videoconference

 

THE STATE CAPITOL IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC DURING THE ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

To comply with social distancing requirements, only written and videoconference testimony will be accepted. 

If you wish to testify via videoconference you must also submit written testimony.

 

A live stream of all Senate Standing Committee meetings will be available on the Senate YouTube Channel.

 

Click here for more information about Live and On-Demand Video options.

 

A G E N D A

 

SB 1021

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO BURIALS.

Prohibits selling, transferring, conveying, or otherwise disposing of or offering for sale any plots, crypts, or niches having an authorized capacity limit of fewer than ten sets of cremated human remains or burials prepared consistent with traditional Hawaiian cultural customs and practices.

 

HWN, CPN

SB 981

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS.

Changes the maximum amount of public funds available to each candidate running for the Office of State Senator, State Representative, County Council, and the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to an unspecified per cent of the expenditure limit established for each election.  Amends the amount each Office of Hawaiian Affairs candidate must raise in order to qualify for public funds.

 

HWN, JDC/WAM

SB 890

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS.

Requires that, beginning 1/1/2024, of the four seats on the OHA board of trustees without an island residency requirement, two shall require residency in an urban district and two shall require residency in a rural district.  Requires one urban district candidate and one rural district candidate to be elected in any election cycle.  Limits voting for board of trustees seats with a residency requirement to voters who have residency on the same island or in the same district.  Changes the term of the member who receives the lowest number of votes in the 2022 general election to serve a term of two years and a term of four years after the general election of 2024.

 

HWN, JDC

SB 717

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT.

Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to digitize its applicant, beneficiary, and lessee records and create a usable digital database no later than 7/1/2022.

 

HWN, WAM

SB 715

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS TO ASSIST PUEO DEVELOPMENT, LLC.

Authorizes the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds for a master planned development proposed by Pueo Development, LLC, on Hawaiian Home Lands.

 

HWN, WAM

SB 1121

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO HOUSING.

Exempts any housing development for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands from general excise taxes.

 

HWN, WAM

SB 877

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION.

Allows the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to retain independent legal counsel as needed.  Authorizes the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to use the services of the Attorney General as needed and when the interests of the State and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands are aligned.  Provides that funds owed to independent legal counsel shall be paid by the State.

 

HWN, JDC

SB 978

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO PRINCE JONAH KUHIO KALANIANAOLE.

Requires certain public buildings on Hawaiian home lands to display portraits of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole.

 

HWN, WAM

SB 884

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT.

Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act to require appraisals of improvements to identify the replacement cost or the leasehold market value.  Grants authority to DHHL, to authorize second position loans on homestead leases by approved lenders.  Requires DHHL to develop and implement a loan servicing manual, subject to commission approval, to standardize loan loss mitigation policies, procedures, and methods.  Clarifies that DHHL shall not cancel a lease solely based on a loan default or delinquency unless all loan loss mitigation procedures are exhausted pursuant to the loan services manual.

 

HWN, JDC

SB 891

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT.

Requires that a majority of the members of the Hawaiian Homes Commission be beneficiaries and on the waitlist.  Requires quarterly reporting to the legislature and beneficiaries on land dispositions made during the quarter.  Authorizes the governor to establish an inter-agency council.  Requires a full accounting of Act 14, Special Session Laws of Hawaii 1995, expenditures within one year.  Allows the Hawaiian Homes Commission to retain separate counsel from the attorney general to provide service to the Commission and beneficiaries.  Requires the Legislative Reference Bureau to conduct a study on the implications of creating a position for the director of the department of Hawaiian home lands that is separate from the chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

 

HWN, JDC

SB 892

      Status & Testimony

RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT.

Defines "beneficiary consultation".  Prohibits the department of Hawaiian home lands from disposing or extending a general lease to non-beneficiaries, unless there are no applicants seeking to enter into a general lease to the use and occupancy of a tract of Hawaiian home lands.  Requires the department to notify beneficiaries through beneficiary consultation prior to the disposition of Hawaiian home lands.  Adds language to require Section 204 lessees mandate Homestead Beneficiary Agreements. Prohibits the department from establishing additional criteria to enter into a general lease with an applicant, under certain conditions.  Specifies that the department may grant a license or enter into a general lease, under certain conditions.  Allocates the interest or other earnings from the Hawaiian home loan fund and Hawaiian home general loan fund into their respective funds, under certain conditions.  Requires the department to submit a quarterly report to the legislature and beneficiaries.  Authorizes the department to negotiate with homestead association governed water agencies to maintain water systems prior to other service providers, under certain conditions.

 

HWN, JDC

 

 

 

Decision Making to follow, if time permits.

 

All testimony received by the Hawai‘i Senate is posted on the Hawai‘i Legislature's website, which is accessible to the public. Please do not include private information that you do not want disclosed to the public.

 

Persons wishing to submit written testimony or request to testify via videoconference may do so up to 24 hours prior to the hearing.

Click here to submit written testimony.

 

If you wish to testify via videoconference during the hearing, please sign in to your account on the Legislature's website, then click on the "Testimony" icon on the home page. Detailed step-by-step instructions are available on the testimony submittal page. They are also posted on the Legislature's website here.

Please note the following:

·         The number of videoconference testifiers and/or time allotted to each testifier may be limited by the Chair when necessary to adhere to the committee hearing schedule. We may not be able to accommodate everyone who requests to testify remotely.

·         Videoconference testifiers for this hearing will be limited to 2 minutes each.

 

For general help navigating the committee hearing process, please contact the Public Access Room at (808) 587-0478 or [email protected]. You can also visit their website at https://lrb.hawaii.gov/par/.

 

For special assistance: The cable TV broadcast and/or live stream of this meeting will include closed captioning. If you require other auxiliary aids or services to participate in the public hearing process (i.e., interpretive services (oral or written) or ASL interpreter), or are unable to submit testimony via the website due to a disability, please contact the committee at [email protected] at least 24 hours prior to the hearing.

 

For amended notices: Measures that have been deleted are stricken through and measures that have been added are underscored.  If a measure is both underscored and stricken through, that measure has been deleted from the agenda.

 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL THE COMMITTEE CLERK AT (808) 586-7793

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________

Senator Maile S.L. Shimabukuro

Chair