Editorials
Thursday, December 31, 1998

Ceded land revenues
settlement is needed

NEGOTIATIONS over the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' claims to hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenues from ceded lands are bogged down, and the state Supreme Court is losing patience. Chief Justice Ronald Moon warned attorneys for OHA and the Cayetano administration that the court couldn't wait indefinitely for them to reach an agreement and might be forced to issue a decision that could be "devastating to both parties."

The Supreme Court has held off ruling on the state's appeal from a 1996 Circuit Court decision on how much money the state must pay OHA under a law alloting the agency 20 percent of revenues from ceded lands to give the parties time to reach a settlement. The court had said it would not rule before Dec. 1, a date now past.

The state had strongly objected to the Circuit Court decision by then-Judge Daniel Heeley, arguing that the 20 percent requirement should not apply to developed lands such as the state airports. One problem: Federal law requires revenues from airports such as those from duty-free sales to be used only for airport-related purposes.

The big hangup in the negotiations is disagreement over their scope. The state seeks a settlement covering future claims by OHA as well as past claims. OHA's position is that the past claims should be settled first.

This is no trivial matter. Adoption of the OHA approach, Attorney General Margery Bronster said, could result in continuous litigation. The size of the OHA claim is especially difficult for the state to accept because of the state's tight fiscal situation.

The 20 percent requirement in the law was based on the fact that the welfare of native Hawaiians was one of five purposes stipulated in the 1959 Admissions Act to which public lands turned over to the state could be devoted.

One-fifth of the revenues would be 20 percent. But this is purely arbitrary. It appears that the Legislature did not anticipate that OHA's claim under the law would run into hundreds of millions of dollars. Moreover, Hawaiians like all other residents of the state benefit from the other permitted uses of ceded lands and their revenues - support of the public schools, development of farm and home ownership, making public improvements and provision of lands for public use.

If the negotiations fail and the Supreme Court rules in OHA's favor, the state will still have the option of asking the Legislature to revise the law to reduce OHA's future share of ceded lands revenue. But a negotiated settlement would be preferable, provided it covered future as well as past claims.

The year in Hawaii

WHATEVER explanation you prefer for the 41 percent drop in homicides on Oahu - the 20 homicides are a 30-year low - it's astounding. And it gives us a cheery note on which to end a year that otherwise wasn't that great.

Despite self-serving optimism from Governor Cayetano and his aides, the economy showed little improvement, failing to emerge from the trough it has been wallowing in for most of the decade. With Japan showing no sign of recovery from its worst recession since World War II, the outlook for Hawaii remains bleak.

One of the few impressive financial numbers of the year was the amount of money Cayetano spent to narrowly win re-election - $4.8 million to his Republican opponent Linda Lingle's $3.1 million. The elections left the Democrats and their labor union partners still firmly in control of state government 36 years after they first won the governorship.

In another endorsement of the status quo, voters rejected same-sex marriage, insisting that state law reflect their values rather than permit it to take a neutral position on the question.

By contrast, in football the state got a new leader as June Jones was named University of Hawaii head coach after a dismal no-win season. The H-3 freeway made life easier for Windward Oahu motorists and the new convention center promised to rejuvenate the flagging visitor industry. City Council approval of the Waikiki Natatorium restoration should end decades of neglect.

In the coming year, Oahu residents can look forward to higher property taxes and user fees and/or reduction of services as the city grapples with a $130 million budget shortfall. At the Legislature, more wrangling over economic reforms and domestic partnerships is in prospect.

But you can't knock a 30-year low in homicides. Even in a weak economy, Hawaii was a great place to live in 1998 and should be in 1999. Happy New Year!

Attacks on Christians

AS if to declare that religious hatred is alive and well as the world lurches into the new year, Hindu mobs in India have destroyed or damaged 17 Christian churches and schools since Christmas. No one has taken responsibility for the attacks, which have occurred in the state of Gujarat.

Christian activists blame several Hindu organizations, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), for instigating the attacks. The VHP has charged that Christian missionaries were converting the poor by force, but the Christians say they are only offering charity.

A Christian group in Gujarat says it has recorded more than 60 cases of violence such as burning Bibles and rape this year. Both the Vatican's ambassador and the U.S. ambassador have taken up the attacks with the Indian government.

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who heads the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, has assured Christians of protection. The prime minister must make certain that his government backs up his words with action.

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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO

John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

David Shapiro, Managing Editor

Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor