STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2223

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3336

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 3336 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC LAND,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to appropriate funds to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for the retention of third-party professionals with the necessary financial, accounting, and land inventory expertise to evaluate and address the completeness and accuracy of the public land trust information system, so that the Public Land Trust Working Group may complete its objectives pursuant to Act 226, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Public Land Trust Working Group; Hoʻomana Pono, LLC; and two individuals.

Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and State Procurement Office.

Your Committee finds that the Legislature must set right and fulfill its trust responsibilities to native Hawaiians. To this end, the Legislature passed Act 226, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, which established the Public Land Trust Working Group to account for ceded lands in the Public Land Trust Inventory, income and proceeds derived from the trust, and transfer moneys to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

However, the Public Land Trust Working Group cannot complete its objectives because the public land trust information system may not be complete or accurate. This measure will appropriate funds to provide assistance in assessing the completeness and accuracy of the public land trust information system.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing language that would have required purchases made with appropriated funds to be exempt from the State Procurement Code, to language requiring purchases made with appropriated funds to be in compliance with the State Procurement Code.

Your Committee notes the concerns raised by the Department of Land and Natural Resources that issues identified as potential errors or data gaps are not necessarily indicative of flaws in the public land trust information system and therefore if the Public Land Trust Working Group has any concerns about the accuracy or completeness of information contained in the public land trust information system, it must consult the relevant agency that has jurisdiction over the land in question, rather than the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The Department of Land and Natural Resources acknowledges the need to update and upgrade the public land trust information system, and to this end, has submitted its own appropriation request.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3336, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3336, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Hawaiian Affairs,

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MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair