STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3209

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3359

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 3359, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish and appropriate moneys into and out of a Hawaiian home lands special fund, which shall be used by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to fulfill its fiduciary duties to beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Catholic Charities Hawaii, Partners In Care, League of Women Voters of Hawaii, Hawaii Alliance for Community-Based Economic Development, Chamber of Sustainable Commerce, Hui of Native Hawaiian Organizations, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, and six individuals.

Your Committee received written comments in opposition to this measure from the Center for Hawaiian Sovereignty Studies.

Your Committee received written comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance and Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Your Committee finds that because more than twenty-eight thousand applicants for Hawaiian home lands leases remain on the waitlist, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands must be provided with sufficient financial resources to ensure that it meets its fiduciary duty to provide funding for native Hawaiians to acquire residences.

Your Committee recommends that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands consider offering up to $100,000 to any applicant on the Hawaiian home lands residential waitlist, to be applied toward the purchase of a primary residence in the State, or to the applicant's existing mortgage on a primary residence; provided that the applicant agrees to the applicant's removal from the waitlist, and agrees to never reapply for Hawaiian home lands.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Correcting a reference to the Admission Act;

(2) Deleting all provisions and appropriations relating to the Hawaiian home lands special fund;

(3) Requiring the Department of Hawaiian Home lands to submit annual reports to the Legislature regarding expenditures from the native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund and the number of beneficiaries removed from the waitlist for Hawaiian home lands through the use of funds from the native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund;

(4) Inserting an appropriation of $600,000,000 from general revenues into the native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund;

(5) Inserting an appropriation of $487,614,000 from the native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund for Hawaiian home lands lots and related projects;

(6) Inserting an appropriation of $112,386,000 from the native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund for down payment assistance and mortgage payment assistance to Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries;

(7) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(8) Making technical nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

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. 3359, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3359, S.D. 2.

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

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair