New ceded lands bill offers viable solution
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The state House has made reasonable changes to legislation enabling the state to give Native Hawaiians a share of revenues from ceded lands — meeting its constitutional obligations.
HB 266, which faces a critical vote today, deserves to pass. It essentially endorses the agreement struck between the Lingle administration and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. That deal conveys certain parcels of land to the trust held for Native Hawaiians and sets an annual $15.1 million cash payment to the trust.
Discussion of virtually any aspect of ceded lands — property formerly owned by the Hawaiian kingdom and conveyed to the U.S. upon the annexation of Hawai'i — inevitably causes upheaval. This time, the talks concerned the state's commitment to dedicate some of the money made from ceded lands to Native Hawaiians, a commitment contained both in the federal Admissions Act and in the state Constitution.
The agreement is intended to close the books on ceded land revenue payments the state did not convey to OHA for years, when legal challenges over the payments shut off the cash-flow pipeline.
Democratic leaders in the House believe that the original bill needed amending in two key ways:
Both of these changes make practical sense; they set the deal on a solid footing, while allowing open discussion on the issue in future years.
This will not please those with broad, longstanding objections: Hawaiians who don't recognize OHA as authorized to negotiate for them and those who think Hawaiians are owed nothing at all.
But for those who prefer a thoughtful compromise to more years of bickering in the courts — well, they should be pleased.
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