ASSOCIATION OF HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUBS
A RESOLUTION
No. 2017 – 35
URGING THE STATE OF HAWAIʻI DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES TO REPORT ON THE PROGRESS MADE IN IMPLEMENTING THE PUBLIC LAND TRUST INFORMATION SYSTEM AND TO STUDY AND REPORT ON THE AMOUNT OF REVENUE ACCRUED FROM CEDED LANDS BELONGING TO THE PUBLIC LAND TRUST
WHEREAS, the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs passed Resolution 16-11, “Assessing the National Assets and Other Kuleana of the Native Hawaiian Nation,” and through Resolution 16-11 the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs recognizes that Act 54, Session Laws of Hawai‘i 2011 (“Act 54”), was meant to provide an inventory of ceded lands belonging to the public land trust; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 2, Senate Draft 2, House Draft 1, Conference Draft 1 was signed into law as Act 54 by Governor Neil Abercrombie on May 20, 2011, with an effective date of July 1, 2011; and
WHEREAS, Act 54 mandates the establishment of a comprehensive information system to inventory and maintain information about the lands of the public land trust as described in section 5(f) of the Admission Act and article XII, section 4 of the Hawaiʻi State Constitution; and
WHEREAS, due to resource issues, the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) requested and received an extension to launch the Public Land Trust Information System (PLTIS) by December 31, 2014, and DLNR has been working with a consultant to develop a Public Land Trust Information System to satisfy the requirements of Act 54; and
WHEREAS, the PLTIS will be a GIS-based system and aims for a complete inventory of all state-owned and county-owned lands, as well as a complete inventory of encumbrances issued by State and County agencies over these lands; and
WHEREAS, all State and County agencies that hold title to land were required to submit their entire parcel inventory, regardless of the public land trust status, whether or not there are any encumbrances on the land, and whether or not revenue is being generated on the land to be entered into the PLTIS, in order to have a central record system of all State-owned and County-owned land represented in the PLTIS; and
WHEREAS, the PLTIS, and its ability to allow for the management and accountability of the lands that are a part of the public lands trust, is critical for the long-term health and prosperity of the Native Hawaiian people, for whom the public lands are to be held in trust; and
WHEREAS, based upon state agencies own reporting between fiscal year 2014 and 2016, twenty percent of the average reported gross revenue was $34,598,888 more than the interim $15.1 million per year currently provided to the Native Hawaiian people; and
WHEREAS, based upon the state’s own reporting and the Office of Hawaiian Affair’s (OHA) financial review of the state’s public land trust revenue reports, the temporary $15.1 million per year pro rata share, is clearly not close to a 20 percent pro rata share due to the Native Hawaiian people; and
WHEREAS, a fair and accurate accounting of all lands in the public land trust is not dispositive in determining a fairer share of the public land trust that should be allocated to Native Hawaiians, but it can better inform long term discussions between the Native Hawaiian people and the state over the public land trust.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs at its 58th Annual Convention in Seattle, Washington, in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani, this 4th day of November 2017, urging the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources to report on the progress made in implementing the Public Land Trust Information System and to study and report on the amount of revenue accrued, from ceded lands belonging to the public land trust; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Governor of the State of Hawai‘i, President of the State Senate, Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Chair of the State Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the State House Committee on Ocean, Marine Resources & Hawaiian Affairs, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and all County Mayors.
The undersigned hereby certifies that the foregoing Resolution was duly adopted in the malama of ʻIkuwā and the rising of Māhealani on the 4th day of November 2017, at the 58th Annual Convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in Seattle, Washington.
Annelle C. Amaral, President
