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Senate committees advance SB2799 to formalize Kalaupapa transition planning with community consultation
Summary
Senate committees heard broad public support and voted to pass SB2799, directing a May report from the interagency transition working group to include timeline, budget and procedures; supporters urged explicit inclusion of Hawaiian Homes beneficiaries and Molokai community leadership in transition planning.
A joint Senate committee hearing on Feb. 12 advanced SB2799, a bill relating to the Kalaupapa settlement, after multiple community members urged clearer requirements for community consultation and representation in transition planning.
Sybil Lopez, who identified herself as a County of Maui/Molokai planner testifying on her own time, told the committee: "I respectfully urge the committee to pass SB2799 with an amendment that clearly requires consultation with an inclusion of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, HHCA beneficiaries, and the Molokai Homestead Association's leadership in the transition planning and reporting process." De Grey Vanderbilt, a founding board member of Kahuana Kalapapa and a former chair of the Molokai Planning Commission, also said he supported the bill and proposed amendments to ensure community inclusion.
Department of Health representatives said in written testimony and oral remarks that they "stand on written testimony with comments" and cautioned that certain added reporting requirements might be unnecessary, describing the department's primary role as patient care. Committee members questioned DOH staff about earlier meetings and whether the working group had invited outside community and OHA representatives; DOH officials said some meetings had been internal and that they had convened a community meeting on Molokai earlier in the process.
Chair remarks during decision making instructed that the committee report due in May must include the interagency transition working group's timeline, proposed budget and proposed procedures. The committee adopted the chair's recommendation to pass the measure noting the presence of all members of the committee except one member who was excused.
The committee record also notes that companion bills remain active in the House, giving the lower chamber additional opportunities to adopt similar transitional language. The committee asked that DLNR, a principal landowner, be engaged in future transition discussions; some members expressed disappointment DLNR was not present for questioning.
The committee's action advances SB2799 out of committee with direction for more-detailed reporting and explicit instructions for the working group's deliverables; any statutory changes or final decisions would follow later legislative steps in the Senate and House.
