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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
104 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 1 |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
URGING HAWAII'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO RE-INTRODUCE AND SUPPORT THE PASSAGE OF THE HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS PRESERVATION ACT, H.R. RES. 9614, 117TH CONG. (2ND SESS. 2022), TO LOWER THE REQUIRED MINIMUM BLOOD QUANTUM FOR CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS SUCCESSOR LESSEE BENEFICIARIES FROM ONE-QUARTER NATIVE HAWAIIAN BLOOD TO ONE THIRTY-SECOND.
WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, was passed by Congress and signed into law on July 9, 1921, and is meant for the rehabilitation of the native Hawaiian people through a government-led homesteading program; and
WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, provides benefits to native Hawaiians such as the offering of ninety-nine-year homestead leases at an annual rent of one dollar; and
WHEREAS, this important benefit is conferred to native Hawaiian individuals that can prove a minimum blood quantum of at least one-half native Hawaiian blood; and
WHEREAS, in the near future, the minimum blood quantum requirement of one-half native Hawaiian blood will essentially bar all new applicants and thus frustrate the purpose and intent of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended; and
WHEREAS, Congress and the State lowered the minimum blood quantum requirement for certain qualified lessee successors to one-quarter native Hawaiian blood; the State further reduced the minimum blood quantum requirement of certain lessee successors from one-quarter to one thirty-second by enacting Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017; and
WHEREAS, there are currently 28,700 beneficiaries still on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands waitlist for residential, agricultural, or pastoral leases; and
WHEREAS, in Kalima v. State, 148 Hawai‘i 129, 468 P.3d 143 (Haw. 2020), the Supreme Court found that all waitlisted native Hawaiian beneficiaries were entitled to damages due to the State's breach of trust in placing beneficiaries on the long waitlist instead of placing beneficiaries on homestead lots, resulting in a pending settlement of approximately $320,000,000 that was approved by the Legislature through Act 280, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022; and
WHEREAS, the United States and the State have a continuing fiduciary duty to support the rehabilitation of the Hawaiian people, in part by ensuring that long-term tenancies are available to beneficiaries and successors of beneficiaries under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended; and
WHEREAS, the passage of the Hawaiian Home Lands Preservation Act will align the federal minimum blood quantum requirement with that established by Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, and satisfy the legal requirement that Act 80 receives the consent of the United States Congress to become effective, which will help ensure that future successor lessees can continue to qualify as beneficiaries; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the House of Representatives concurring, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is urged to re-introduce and support the passage of the Hawaiian Home Lands Preservation Act, H.R. Res. 9614, 117th Cong. (2nd Sess. 2022), to lower the required minimum blood quantum for certain Department of Hawaiian Home Lands successor lessee beneficiaries from one-quarter native Hawaiian blood to one thirty-second; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii's congressional delegation.
Hawaiian Home Lands Preservation Act; Minimum Blood Quantum Requirement; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Successor Lessees; Homestead Leases