OHA previews $93.5 million core biennium budget, prioritizes grants, personnel and housing programs

Stacy Kealohalani Ferrera, CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, presented a preliminary fiscal-year 2026–27 biennium budget at a community meeting, outlining a $93.5 million core operating budget and roughly $122 million in total uses over the two-year period. The presentation set a biennium spending ceiling of about $101 million in core revenue sources and detailed proposed allocations across personnel, grants and programs.

Ferrera said consultation with beneficiaries is both a legal requirement and central to OHA's work, referencing “Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 10-14.5” as part of the agency’s consultation framework. “This budget we present today is more than just numbers and programs, it's a blueprint for our future,” Ferrera said.

The proposal relies on three core revenue streams: projections from the Native Hawaiian Trust Fund ($24.9 million in FY26 and $27.1 million in FY27), public land trust revenues (about $21.5 million annually), and State of Hawaii general fund appropriations ($3 million annually). Administration staff described a conservative spending approach: a 4.4% spending rate for the trust fund and a biennium core revenue projection of about $101 million that sets the annual spending ceilings for FY26 ($48.5 million) and FY27 ($52.5 million).

Top-line allocations in the core budget place personnel as the largest category at approximately $39.8 million (about 43% of the core budget), with beneficiary grants and services the second largest at roughly $33.4 million (36%). OHA staff said those two categories account for 79% of the core operating budget.

The beneficiary grants and services line is divided into three buckets: direct beneficiary aid (about $4.8 million over the biennium, including emergency financial assistance and a revamped access-to-homeownership program), organization impact funding (about $16.4 million, including state-funded community grants in housing, education and ʻāina work), and system-strengthening investments (about $12.2 million, including sustained support for Hawaiian-focused charter schools and a proposed native Hawaiian specialty court design effort). The proposal includes a new graduate/professional scholarship pool ($300,000) and increased funding for a loan program.

Staff identified several new or expanded initiatives: a renewed access to homeownership program (funded at $1.5 million per year), a restorative justice and Puʻuhonua planning effort, a missing-and-murdered Native Hawaiian women and girls–informed trafficking curriculum and law-enforcement training, a Hawaiian Community Developer fellowship, and funds dedicated to due diligence for potential land transfers from the State (phase 2 due diligence).

On overhead and operational categories, the budget shows roughly $7.1 million for overhead (including about $4.1 million in office leases supporting six offices statewide and a placeholder for a Washington, D.C., office), $4 million in contracts over the biennium (including approximately $788,000 for land planning due diligence), $3.7 million for programs (conferences, publications, training), $3.8 million for equipment and IT subscriptions, and $1.6 million for travel.

OHA staff emphasized a blended funding model that shifts some activity from open grants toward precision contracting to deliver defined strategic programs. Staff described ongoing obligations OHA honors, including matching provisos tied to State general-fund appropriations, a debt-service agreement with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) and an annual pledge of about $17 million to beneficiary grants and services.

The administration invited community feedback before the board takes final action. Ferrera said the final biennial budget will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for action in June 2025. OHA scheduled additional community briefings on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, and offered a web portal for remote testimony.

The presentation included repeated references to the agency’s strategic plan, Mana i Maoli Ola, and framed the budget as aligning internal investments (personnel and systems) with external program funding across education, health, housing and economic resilience. Ferrera and other presenters repeatedly framed the budget as preliminary, subject to change following beneficiary input and final Board approval.

Closing remarks reiterated next steps and public comment opportunities. The administration asked beneficiaries to submit testimony via www.oha.org/budget or attend the scheduled briefings on May 2 and May 3.