HR10

WHEREAS, one of the primary responsibilities of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is to administer the Department's homesteading program and provide its native Hawaiian beneficiaries with 99-year homestead leases for residential, agricultural, or pastoral purposes; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' homestead waitlist currently has more than twenty-eight thousand individuals, with many beneficiaries languishing on the waitlist for decades; and

WHEREAS, Act 279, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022 (Act 279), appropriated a historic $600,000,000 to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to address the needs of native Hawaiians on the Department's waitlist; and

WHEREAS, Act 279 required the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to submit a strategic plan, including findings, recommendations, and any proposed legislation, to the Legislature by December 10, 2022; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has until June 30, 2025, to encumber all funds for specific purposes; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, that a legislative working group be established to oversee the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands' execution of the funds appropriated pursuant to Act 279, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, to address the beneficiary waitlist; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group consist of the following members designated as follows:

(1) The Honorable Troy N. Hashimoto, Representative from the Tenth District, who shall serve as Chair;

(2) The Honorable David A. Tarnas, Representative from the Eighth District;

(3) The Honorable Daniel Holt, Representative from the Twenty-Eighth District;

(4) The Honorable Scott Y. Nishimoto, Representative from the Twenty-Third;

(5) The Honorable Mahina Poepoe, Representative from the Thirteenth District; and

(6) The Honorable Gene Ward, Representative from the Eighteenth District; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives no later than twenty days prior to the commencement of the Regular Session of 2024; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report include an analysis of topics, including:

(1) The leveraging or maximization of the $600,000,000 appropriated;

(2) Alternative financing mechanisms for beneficiaries and developers; and

(3) Alternative housing development options, other than homestead lot development; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Legislative Working Group to Oversee Appropriation to Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	10
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII