Bill Text: HI SCR112 | 2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Concurrent Resolution 112 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Urging The Governor To Comply With The Hawaii Supreme Court Ruling In Kalima V. State Of Hawaii And Stop Opposing The Payment Of Damages To Beneficiaries Harmed By The State's Breach Of Trust.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-16 - Referred to HWN/JDC. [SCR112 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2022-SCR112-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	112
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

urging the governor to comply with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in Kalima v. State of Hawaii and stop OPPOSING the payment of damages to beneficiaries harmed by the State's breach of trust.

WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Individual Claims Review Panel (Panel) was established in 1991 pursuant to chapter 674, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaii Home Lands Program to pursue their claims for breach of trust through administrative and judicial venues; and

WHEREAS, the Panel did not complete its work by 1999 and the legislative action to extend the Panel's work was vetoed by the Governor that same year, leaving over four thousand claims by 2,721 claimants in limbo; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, a lawsuit brought by beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust was filed in the First Circuit Court, titled Kalima v. State of Hawaii, which was affirmed by the First Circuit Court as a class action case in 2000 and that order was appealed by the State in 2001; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court in Kalima v. State of Hawaii ruled in 2006 that claimants have a right to sue for monetary damages in circuit court for breaches of trust that occurred between 1959 through 1998; and

WHEREAS, in 2007, the claimants' motion for certification of subclasses was granted with the largest subclass for those on the waiting list, comprising of nearly seventy percent of all class members; and

WHEREAS, in 2009, the First Circuit Court ruled that the State had breached its trust obligations to Hawaiian home lands beneficiaries on the waiting list and was financially liable for the delays in beneficiaries receiving homesteads; and

WHEREAS, in 2011, the First Circuit Court determined that a waiting list subclass-wide damages model would be adopted that would measure each applicants damages by the length of time that they waited for a homestead; and

WHEREAS, in 2018, the First Circuit Court's final judgment ruled in favor of the waiting list subclass of native Hawaiian beneficiaries and the State immediately appealed the decision contending that it did not breach its trust obligations to claimants and therefore should not be liable for damages; and

WHEREAS, in 2020, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the State breached its duties as trustee of the Hawaii Home Lands Trust, that the fair market value model is an adequate method for approximating actual damages from the time beneficiaries applied to be on the waitlist, and that the State bears the burden of proving if an individual beneficiary is entitled to reduced damages for any reason; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court stated that, "[i]t is clear to us that the State, by mismanaging the Trust, failing to keep adequate records, and continuing to litigate this case for decades, is creating a situation in which it would be difficult to accurately assess damages"; and

WHEREAS, Kalima v. State of Hawaii is still being contentiously litigated in the First Circuit Court because the State seems unwilling to amicably and responsibly settle any outstanding issues about administering the claims process and calculating the damages for eligible claimants; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Governor is urged to expeditiously comply with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in Kalima v. State of Hawaii and stop opposing the payment of damages to beneficiaries harmed by the State's breach of trust; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor.