On March 17, three Senate committees decided that instead of increasing the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' asset base by approximately $200 million — almost 50 percent — OHA will instead get nothing this year for what is past due. We disagree with this decision.

In 1959, through the Hawai'i State Admission Act, the United States transferred approximately 1.4 million acres of crown and government lands of the Kingdom of Hawai'i — also known as ceded lands — to the state.

The Admission Act required Hawai'i to hold 1.2 million acres and their income and proceeds as a public trust for one or more of five purposes, including supporting public schools, making public improvements, developing home ownership, bettering the conditions of native Hawaiians, and providing lands for public use.

OHA was created by the 1978 Constitutional Convention in part to receive a portion of income and proceeds from the ceded lands. The Legislature was responsible for determining and specifying how much was to go to OHA.

Since 1980, the Legislature has passed laws to spell out OHA's portion and the method of calculation; however, the Hawai'i Supreme Court has said that the legislation was so imprecise that the total amount to be paid to OHA cannot be accurately determined.

The court made clear that it is the responsibility of the Legislature to decide how much is to be paid. Sadly, that never happened in a way that allows this issue to be put to rest. As a result, the amounts have been the subject of divisive lawsuits for 30 years.

The Lingle administration, like previous administrations, has attempted to agree with OHA on income and proceeds amounts to be paid to OHA dating from 1978. Since 2003, we have informed the Legislature that we would attempt to negotiate this issue.

In 2008, the state and the OHA trustees came to a proposed resolution of the disputed amount of the income and proceeds from the ceded lands from 1978 to the present to be paid OHA. The proposed settlement provides about $200 million in land and cash to OHA (since 1978, OHA has received about $430 million in income and proceeds). OHA methodically selected land that would provide both income and growth. In addition, OHA would receive a minimum of $15.1 million per year in the future with the provision for legislative reexamination. The lowest annual payment OHA has received is $0, when Gov. Ben Cayetano suspended all payments; the highest is $15.1 million.

The House found the basic terms fair, but reminded us that the Legislature was not a party to any settlement and that the final decision was one of policy for the Legislature. The House passed a bill with which we agreed.

The Senate president introduced a resolution, adopted by the Legislature, requesting that OHA and the attorney general conduct statewide informational meetings, solicit input, and provide a report to the Legislature by March 26, 2008. We took this very seriously and spent many hours listening and discussing this matter at more than 40 meetings throughout Hawai'i.

The Senate's three committees, however, did not even wait for our report to be filed before making their March 17 decision.

While many comments were received from the more than 1,400 attendees at these meetings, not a single person who spoke suggested that Hawaiians were due nothing from the state for these past amounts.

Some felt the waiver language was too broad. OHA and the state, however, did not negotiate or resolve any issue other than the disputed amount of the income and proceeds from the ceded lands from 1978 to the present to be paid OHA, and the amount going forward — no other historic grievances of Hawaiians and nothing relating to the 1893 overthrow or to the state's ability to sell ceded lands to third parties. To make this absolutely clear and respond to concerns, the waiver language has been revised.

Some have said that there are unresolved questions. However, during the March 17 hearing, not one senator asked a question of any witness, nor offered any plan or resolution. If there is a Senate plan, it is a secret.

It is not pono to kill legislation that fairly resolves this 30-year-old controversy while failing to offer any alternative. It is not pono to direct us to solicit input and then not even consider our report of the voices we heard before acting.

To those who tell us to continue waiting, our response is that 30 years is long enough. Even if what we propose is not perfect, it is fair, and it is our best hope for resolution, especially given economic trends.

The Legislature will not adjourn for at least another six weeks, and thus the Senate still has an opportunity to act in this legislative session. That would be pono. Leadership involves decision-making that offers solutions, and not just hollow criticism.

Haunani Apoliona is chairwoman of OHA's Board of Trustees. Mark J. Bennett is the attorney general for the state of Hawai'i. They wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.