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

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 prior to 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) Grant lease awards to elderly or terminally ill beneficiaries on the waiting list 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) Sixty years or older; 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 passed away while 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.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Report Title:

Beneficiaries; Lease Award; Successors; Successorship Claims; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

Description:

Authorizes beneficiaries on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands waiting list, who are sixty years or older or terminally ill, to receive a lease award and to designate a qualified successor. Authorizes qualified successors of beneficiaries on the waiting list who died before receiving a lease to file a claim for a lease award within four years of the effective date. Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to adopt rules by a certain date. (SD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.