STAND. COM. REP. NO. 542

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 961

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 961 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the Hawaiian Homes Commission to reduce from three to two the number of commissioners who are residents of the City and County of Honolulu, and increase from two to three the number of commissioners to represent the County of Maui, of whom one shall represent the Island of Lanai.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiian Homes Commission, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Kalamaula Homesteaders Association, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, and twelve individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homeland Assembly and one individual.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Council of Native Hawaiian Associations and one individual.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Hawaiian Homes Commission is currently composed of nine members, and at least one member is a resident of each island on which the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has land with the exception of Lanai.  The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands acquired fifty acres on Lanai in 1999, the Department has awarded twenty-nine leases on Lanai, and there are sixty-six applicants awaiting lease awards on Lanai.  However, there is no requirement that a member of the commission be a resident of Lanai.

 

     Your Committee is concerned that there are many boards and commissions that are Oahu centric, which voids direct representation of the other islands.  Public bodies should be fairly representative of the population of the State, with no one island dominating membership.  With remote electronic access to meetings, your Committee believes that there are no longer any barriers in place to exclude membership of neighbor islanders.

 

     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. 961 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

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

 

 

 

________________________________

MAILE S.L. SHIMABUKURO, Chair