Lingle orders Gov. Linda Lingle has ordered state departments to immediately resume quarterly ceded-land revenue payments to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which stands to get $12.3 million in money owed since July 2001.
payment
of ceded-land
revenue
The state and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs
What are ceded lands?
reach agreement over undisputed revenues
By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com"We are very pleased all parties could come to an agreement, which is in the best interest of native Hawaiians and all the people of Hawaii," Lingle said in a statement issued by OHA yesterday.
The Lingle administration issued six checks worth $2.8 million to OHA yesterday, part of the $12.3 million total revenue payment due to OHA between July 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2002. The $9.5 million difference will be met through an emergency appropriation bill requested by the governor this session.
Both actions are part of the agreement reached between the state and OHA over undisputed revenue from ceded, or public trust, lands after a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling stopped all such payments in September 2001.
"We will continue to work every day toward resolving the state's obligation to native Hawaiians as we uphold our responsibility as leaders to address these types of issues expeditiously," Lingle said.
An emotional OHA Chairwoman Haunani Apoliona praised the governor, legislative leaders and especially Hawaiian beneficiaries for their support in helping the state agency regain revenue payments that have funded programs for Hawaiians and helped its native trust grow to a current $266.6 million.
"To you all we are humbly grateful, and our ancestors embrace you," she said.
The announcement yesterday ended a disagreement between the state and OHA that started Sept. 12, 2001, when the Hawaii justices invalidated a 1990 state law that defined revenue payments to OHA.
By striking down the law, the Hawaii court stopped payments for "disputed" ceded-lands revenue -- awarded to OHA in a 1996 Circuit Court case that is being appealed by the state -- and halted revenue payments not challenged or disputed, which OHA puts at about $2 million per quarter-year.
As a result, OHA sent a letter last November to then-Gov. Ben Cayetano, asking that he restore what was then $10.3 million in undisputed payments. Cayetano responded that OHA had to take up the issue with the Legislature, as the Hawaii court suggested in its ruling.
A month later, OHA sent the same demand letter to newly elected Gov. Linda Lingle, who had made a campaign promise to restore those funds. Lingle pledged to work closely and quickly to resolve the issue. Talks between the Lingle administration and OHA began Christmas Eve and ended yesterday with the announcement.
Apoliona said the remaining $9.5 million of the $12.3 million payment needs approval by the Legislature because those funds were from the previous, 2001-2002 fiscal year, while the $2.8 million could be immediately paid from the current, 2002-2003 fiscal year.
Opponents of the payments to OHA have warned that they may sue if such payments were restored because they claim it is racial discrimination.
That threat does not bother OHA board attorney Robert Klein, a retired Hawaii Supreme Court associate justice.
"We're not worried about lawsuits," he said.
On Tuesday, Lingle issued an executive order instructing all affected state departments to resume quarterly payments of 20 percent of all receipts derived from the public land trust to OHA, if it does not cause the departments to renege or breach existing contracts, obligations or other indebtedness.
Meanwhile, OHA continues to lobby for legislation this session for a state law that defines what portion of the nearly 2 million acres of ceded or former Hawaiian kingdom lands are subject to OHA revenue payments.
One possibility legislators are considering is the creation of an interim law while a task force considers a permanent solution.
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What are ceded lands?
Public trust, or ceded, lands make up about 1.8 million acres, or about 43 percent of the land in Hawaii. They were given, or ceded, to the United States after the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom.Upon statehood, Hawaii became trustee for about 1.4 million acres. The statehood act set aside five purposes for their use, including the betterment of native Hawaiians. In 1978 the state Constitution was amended to create the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and to fund it with ceded-land revenue. In 1980 the Legislature set that share at 20 percent.
A 1990 state law that calculated those payments was ruled moot by the Hawaii Supreme Court in September 2001.