Bill Text: HI SB3203 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To The Department Of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-26 - Referred to EET/HWN, WAM. [SB3203 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SB3203-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3203
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that tourism is the State's top industry due to Hawaii's natural and cultural amenities.  The legislature further recognizes that a strong visitor industry may also bring higher population growth, greater external housing demand, and higher housing prices.  An increase in visitor arrivals, the pressure of visitor demand for units outside of resort areas, and the advance of Internet booking sites have all contributed to decreasing the available residential housing stock.  Further, vacation rental units increase rents and decrease affordability of units, thereby driving up rents and inflating demand for investment properties at the high end of the market.

     The legislature finds that planning for an economy dominated by tourism undermines planning for native Hawaiian communities.  In part, due to vacation rentals and domestic migration, the percentage of native Hawaiian homeownership has decreased, and the percentage of native Hawaiian renters increased.  The legislature also finds that the greatest disparity in income is per capita income between native Hawaiians and the state population, leading to higher poverty rates for native Hawaiians.  Thirty-two per cent of native Hawaiian households are considered at risk for homelessness compared to twenty-three per cent of non-native Hawaiian households.

     The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, created a land trust intended to enable displaced native Hawaiians to lease residential, agriculture, or pastoral homestead land from the trust for one dollar per year.  To date, more than two thousand native Hawaiian beneficiaries have died while on the Hawaiian homes waiting list for a home land lease, and twenty-eight thousand beneficiaries currently remain on the list.  The department of Hawaiian home lands recently estimated that to house all beneficiaries on the waitlist, cost projections range between $4,000,000,000 to $12,000,000,000 for infrastructure alone.  Further, the department of Hawaiian home lands' shift to more expensive housing development may have exacerbated the problem of people staying on the waiting list for extended periods of time, and beneficiaries have been unable to secure the necessary financing for homes on the property.

     Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to provide the opportunity for incoming travelers to make a voluntary contribution toward the development of infrastructure and residential lots intended to improve the general welfare and conditions of native Hawaiian beneficiaries as defined by the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 201B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§201B-    Voluntary Hawaiian home lands infrastructure contribution.  (a)  The authority shall provide to each passenger of any aircraft or vessel originating from outside the State a form with information regarding the department of Hawaiian home lands and its mission of rehabilitating native Hawaiians and Hawaiian homestead communities.  The form shall include an option for the passenger to make a voluntary contribution to the department of Hawaiian home lands for the building of infrastructure and residential lots on Hawaiian home lands.  The option shall be conspicuously printed on the form and the language of the option shall clearly state that the option is voluntary.  The department of Hawaiian home lands shall approve the information to be printed on each form.

     (b)  The authority shall collect and keep all records of all contributions collected pursuant to this section and shall provide receipts to all passengers who elect to contribute.

     (c)  The authority shall remit all contributions collected pursuant to this section to the department of Hawaiian home lands.  The department of Hawaiian home lands shall deposit the contributions at the end of each fiscal year into the native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund established under section 213 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended.

     (d)  The authority may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to implement this section."

     SECTION 3.  Section 213 of the Hawaii Homes Commission Act of 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (i) to read as follows:

     "(i)  Native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund.  Pursuant to Article XII, Section 1, of the Hawaii Constitution, thirty per cent of the state receipts, derived from lands previously cultivated as sugarcane lands under any other provision of law and from water licenses, and contributions collected pursuant to section 201B-  , Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be deposited into this fund.  The department shall use this money for the rehabilitation of native Hawaiians, native Hawaiian families, and Hawaiian homestead communities, which shall include the educational, economic, political, social, and cultural processes by which the general welfare and conditions of native Hawaiians are thereby improved and perpetuated.

     The native Hawaiian rehabilitation fund shall be subject to the following conditions:

     (1)  All moneys received by the fund shall be deposited into the state treasury and kept separate and apart from all other moneys in the state treasury;

     (2)  The director of finance shall serve as a custodian of the fund.  All payments from the fund shall be made by the director of finance only upon vouchers approved by the commission;

     (3)  The commission shall develop guidelines for the investment of moneys in the fund;

     (4)  The commission may invest and reinvest in investments authorized by chapter 88, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  The commission may hold, purchase, sell, assign, transfer, or dispose of any securities and investments in which any of the moneys shall have been invested, as well as the proceeds of such investments; and

     (5)  The commission may pay out of any of the moneys held for investment, a reasonable amount to any person for supplying investment advisory or consultive services; and to meet such other costs incident to the prudent investment of moneys as the commission may approve.

     Any payment of principal, interest, or other earnings arising out of the loan or investment of money from this fund shall be credited to and deposited into this fund.

     Sections 214, 215, 216, and 217 shall not apply to administration of this fund.  The department is authorized to adopt rules under chapter 91, Hawaii Revised Statutes, necessary to administer and carry out the purposes of this fund."

     SECTION 4.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 5.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Infrastructure; Optional Contribution; Tourism

 

Description:

Requires the Hawaii Tourism Authority to prepare a form to be distributed to all travelers to Hawaii informing them of the mission of the department of Hawaiian home lands and including an option to contribute a sum earmarked for the development of infrastructure and residential lots on Hawaiian home lands.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.