THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	738
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		H.D. 1

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that according to a survey conducted by the department of Hawaiian home lands in 2022, more than twenty-eight thousand native Hawaiian beneficiaries are currently on the homestead lease waiting list. The legislature further finds that when beneficiaries on the homestead lease waiting list pass away before receiving a lease award, the beneficiary also loses the ability to have their heirs succeed to a lease.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to allow the department of Hawaiian home lands to:

(1) Administer a lease award program for beneficiaries on the waiting list who are elderly or terminally ill and provide those beneficiaries with an option to designate a qualified successor; and

(2) Grant posthumous lease awards directly to qualified successors of elderly or terminally ill beneficiaries who were on the waiting list; provided that the successors file a claim for a lease award within four years of the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 2. (a) The department of Hawaiian home lands may administer a lease award program for beneficiaries on the waiting list who are:

(1) At least sixty years old; or

(2) Terminally ill;

provided that the beneficiary on the waiting list may designate a successor upon receipt of the lease award.

(b) Any qualified successor of a beneficiary who, at the time death, was:

(1) At least sixty years old or terminally ill; and

(2) On the waiting list,

shall have four years from the effective date of this Act to file a claim for a lease award in place of the named deceased beneficiary.

(c) The department of Hawaiian home lands shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to administer this Act within one year of the effective date of this Act.

(d) For the purposes of this Act, "terminally ill" means having a disease that cannot be cured and will cause death.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on March 22, 2075.

Report Title:

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Lease Awards; Successorship Claims

Description:

Authorizes the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to administer a lease award program for beneficiaries on the homestead lease waiting list who are at least sixty years old or terminally ill, under certain conditions. Authorizes qualified successors of certain beneficiaries on the waiting list who died before receiving a lease to file a claim for a lease award within a certain time. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to adopt rules by a certain date. Effective 3/22/2075. (HD1)

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