STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2383

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2702

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2702 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish a limited right of first refusal for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands with respect to county real property tax sales;

(2) Require advance notice from the counties to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands of qualifying properties; and

(3) Amend the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to authorize the conveyance of certain tax-delinquent properties.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and one individual.

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

Your Committee finds that thousands of qualified native Hawaiian beneficiaries remain on the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands waitlist for residential, agricultural, and pastoral leases, in part due to the limited availability of developable land and the high cost and complexity of acquisition. Your Committee further finds that county real property tax sales may include parcels suitable for housing or community uses, and that enabling the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to strategically acquire such properties may accelerate housing production and better leverage existing infrastructure.

Your Committee acknowledges the concerns raised in testimony by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands that the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, does not need to be amended to allow for acquisition of properties. Therefore, this measure needs to be amended to address this matter.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Removing language that would have amended the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to allow the Department to acquire certain real property; and

(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

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. 2702, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2702, 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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HERBERT M. RICHARDS, III, Chair