The state House has complied with an emergency request from Gov. Linda Lingle by approving a $9.5 million payment to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for undisputed revenues from ceded lands. House OKs
$9.5 million payment
to OHA
By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com
The payment is part of a $12.3 million agreement Lingle made with OHA to restore its share of funding from revenue generated from public trust lands, after a September 2001 ruling by the Hawaii Supreme Court voided a 1990 state law that defined those payments.
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Earlier this month, the Lingle administration issued six checks worth $2.8 million to the state agency that is supposed to help Hawaiians.
The governor also ordered all state departments to resume quarterly payments of 20 percent of all receipts derived from the public land trust to OHA.
The House approved House Bill 1307, HD1, yesterday. The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.
"I would like to express my deepest appreciation on behalf of the Hawaiian community that this body has seen fit to fulfill that commitment, as difficult as it is," said Ezra Kanoho (D, Lihue-Koloa), chairman of the Water, Land and Hawaiian Affairs Committee.
The appropriation request comes at a time when state legislators are bracing for a possible downturn in the economy as a result of a possible U.S. war against Iraq, and demands for more state funding for health and social services and education continue to grow.
The bill takes $2 million from the state general fund, $5.5 million from the harbors special fund, $975,801 from the boating special fund and $456,124 from the state parks special fund. It also taps other funds to make up the $9,553,876 payment to OHA.
House Transportation Chairman Joseph Souki (D, Wailuku-Waikapu) said on the House floor that he is worried the $5.5 million taken from the harbors fund will make it more difficult for the state to maintain and improve its waterways facilities.
"I don't know the kind of impact that this is going to have on the harbors," he said.
Souki also questioned whether it was proper for the Legislature to approve ceded-land appropriations to OHA when it has yet to craft a new law to replace the one struck down by the Hawaii Supreme Court.
He believes there should first be enabling legislation that spells out where OHA's share of ceded-land revenue will come from before such appropriations are made.
"I'm not opposed to giving the funds to OHA, but we should follow the letter of the law," Souki said.
Kanoho, however, said the court ruling did not affect language in the state Constitution that states OHA should get a share of revenue from ceded lands.
Office of Hawaiian Affairs
