HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	33
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the Office of Hawaiian Affairs AND OTHER STATE AGENCIES TO ASSIST THE LEGISLATURE BY GATHERING INFORMATION ON transitional planS for the creation of a sovereign nATIVE hAWAIIAN gOVERNING eNTITY.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, in 2011, the Legislature passed and Governor Neil Abercrombie signed Act 195 to recognize Native Hawaiians as the indigenous peoples of the Hawaiian Islands and create the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is in a unique position to start the process of building a sovereign Native Hawaiian government and bring people together to find common ground because of its available resources, including its capacity for consulting and providing technical assistance on conducting an election for delegates, a Native Hawaiian constitutional convention, the ratification of a constitution, and the election of the representatives of a Nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, in March of 2014, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs launched an ambitious plan to build a Hawaiian Nation that is funded independently of tax revenues; and

 

                WHEREAS, a consortium of groups, including the Lunalilo Trust, Hale O Na' Ali'i, and the 'Ahahui Ka'ahumanu, has been selected to be decision-makers within the Nation-building process, and shall address and decide the role that the descendants of the naturalized citizens of the Kingdom of Hawaii will take in the process, design, and implementation of an educational plan that covers different options for governance, determine an apportionment plan, and set the dates for the election of delegates, a constitutional convention, and the ratification of the proposed constitution; and

 

     WHEREAS, in addition to technical support, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has pledged to support the consortium financially but remain uninvolved in shaping the process or the outcome in order to truly reflect what the certified Native Hawaiian electors desire; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission has been mandated to create a roll of certified Native Hawaiian electors who will participate in the process of organizing a Native Hawaiian governing entity and who will become the founding members of the Nation's population; and

 

     WHEREAS, as of December 2014, an estimated 126,000 Native Hawaiians have enrolled in the Native Hawaiian Roll; and

 

     WHEREAS, Native Hawaiians have now created an internationally certifiable list and are entitled to restore a government of their choosing; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is requested to submit its transitional plan for the creation of a Native Hawaiian sovereign government to the Legislature, including but not limited to its plan for transferring all assets and resources to the political entity to be created by the electors; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is requested to contract with an independent third party for a forensic audit of the office to be submitted to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2016 Regular Session; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to conduct a study to determine the financial responsibilities of the State of Hawaii concerning the creation of a Native Hawaiian sovereign government to be submitted to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2016 Regular Session; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to perform a survey of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and currently operative Session Laws of Hawaii to determine whether certain state laws concerning the Office of Hawaiian Affairs or Hawaiian self-governance need to be modified or repealed in light of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' transitional plan; provided that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2016 Regular Session; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Chair of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, the Auditor, and the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Transitional Plan; Sovereignty