STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3902

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NO. 594

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Water and Land, to which was referred Governor's Message No. 594, submitting for study and consideration the nomination of: 

 

Deputy Director, Department of Land and Natural Resources

 

G.M. No. 594

RYAN KANAKA'OLE,

for a term to expire 12-31-2026. (Term expiration date amended to 12-07-26 by GM693),

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee reviewed the personal history, resume, and statement submitted by Ryan Kanakaʻole for service as the Deputy Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the appointment of Ryan Kanakaʻole from the Office of the Governor; Department of Budget and Finance; Department of Land and Natural Resources; Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; Department of Agriculture; Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Department of Transportation; Department of Taxation; Department of Law Enforcement; Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Department of Defense; Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Department of Health; Department of Accounting and General Services; Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation; Hawaii Public Housing Authority; Hawaiʻi State Energy Office; Agribusiness Development Corporation; Hawaii State Aha Moku; Division of State Parks of the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Office of Enterprise Technology Services; Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission; one member of the Hawaiʻi County Council; and fifty-four individuals.

 

     Your Committee received comments on the nomination for the appointment of Ryan Kanakaʻole from one individual.

 

     Upon review of the testimony, your Committee finds that Mr. Kanakaʻole's extensive experience in various state and county positions and community involvement qualify him for appointment to the position of Deputy Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

 

     Your Committee finds that Mr. Kanakaʻole has served as the interim Deputy Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources since January 2024 where he assumed the role of Legislative Coordinator, reviewing and weighing in on hundreds of bills that directly impact the Department.  Mr. Kanakaʻole previously served as a Deputy Attorney General, providing counsel for the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation, Mauna Kea Stewardship Oversight Authority, and Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.  In addition to his service in the Department of the Attorney General, Mr. Kanakaʻole served as General Counsel and as an analyst in the Office of the Auditor, as Deputy Corporation Counsel in the Office of the Corporation Counsel of Hawaiʻi County, and as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Steven S. Alm in the First Circuit Court of Hawaiʻi.  Mr. Kanakaʻole's legal expertise in real property, land use, Native Hawaiian law, civil litigation, trusts, contracts, and administrative law will enhance the effectiveness of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. 

 

     Your Committee further finds that Mr. Kanakaʻole is active in his community and served on the Board of Directors for Nā Mamo o Kāwā, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides cultural and environmental stewardship for seven hundred eighty‑five acres of undeveloped shoreline in the Kaʻū District of Hawaiʻi Island from 2017 to 2020.  While there, he created the group's coastal and dryland forest revegetation program and secured over $250,000 in grant funding.  Your Committee notes that Mr. Kanakaʻole served as the Oʻahu Director for the Young Lawyers Division of the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association from 2020 to 2021.  Mr. Kanakaʻole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with Highest Honors from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and a Juris Doctor and Certificate in Native Hawaiian Law from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's William S. Richardson School of Law.

 

     Testifiers frequently highlight Mr. Kanakaʻole's calmness and even temperament, his cultural foundation growing up in Kaʻū, and work with community stakeholders who share a similar mission to the Department of Land and Natural Resources that benefits both the Department and the people of Hawaii.  Mr. Kanakaʻole's experience, effective leadership, and utmost dedication to his job and his community will be assets to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.  Your Committee therefore recommends that Ryan Kanakaʻole be appointed to the position of Deputy Director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources based on his experience, knowledge, and commitment to public service.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Water and Land that is attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominee, has found the nominee to be qualified for the position to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nomination.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Water and Land,

 

 

 

____________________________

LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair