Joint committee advances SB903 after OHA urges further work on public lands trust group

The Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, meeting jointly with the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, approved technical amendments to SB903 after hearing from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Lena Alalei, director of advocacy for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, told the committees she would “stand on our written comments,” and stressed that “the public lands trust working group [should] finish its scope of work before there's a baseline for settlement discussions,” adding she was available to answer further questions.

Committee leadership proposed technical amendments to blank the appropriation and to defect the effective date to June 30, 2059. With no further discussion, committee members moved to vote. The recommendation of the chair carried in the Hawaiian Affairs committee; the matter moved to Ways and Means where the chair recorded an affirmative vote and the measure was adopted by the committees.

The committees did not record a line-by-line roll call tally in the transcript beyond named acknowledgments during the vote. The transcript records Chair Richards voting aye in Hawaiian Affairs and indicates multiple members in Ways and Means voting aye; several members were recorded as excused.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs’ written testimony was referenced during the hearing and OHA indicated it would stand on that written testimony rather than provide extended oral remarks. The committees did not adopt additional policy language on settlement timing; instead the committees advanced SB903 with technical amendments and the deferred effective date noted above.

The committees proceeded to other agenda items and adjourned after adopting the motion on SB903.