Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 1 March 1983 — LAND TRANSFERS URGED [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

LAND TRANSFERS URGED

remedy to a civil action filed by the Hou Hawaiians and others against the United States of America. To a\oid litigation. the Governor and the Secretary of the Interior agreed to establish a Federal-State Task Force to review the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (HHCA) and the programs carried out under the Act. Recommendations will be submitted to the Governor and the Secretary bv the Task Force at the end of its review.

The Task Force majority is comprised of Hawaii residents who possess expertise in law, financing, community relations and other technical areas. OHA Trustee Rod Burgess was one of the 11 Task Force members. Three members represent the Department of Interior. The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has totally subsidized the administration of the Task Force by granting S50,000 to hire the Task Force Coordinator, researchers and cleri-

eal assistance. The purpose of the Task Force is to make recommendations to the Governor of Hawaii and to the Secretary of Interior on ways to better carry out the purposes of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and to accelerate the distribution of benefits of the Act to the beneficiaries. Some of the other highlights of the report include recommendations that: * The goal of returning Hawaiians to the land ean be hastened by considering alternative innovative programs whieh recognize different lifestyles within the Hawaiian community. * Consideration be given to changing the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands from a state agency to a "public authority", a semi-autonomous government body with the power to float bonds to generate revenue. A public authority also provides more flexibility in operations. * Administrative services for the DHHL should be paid from money appropriated by the legislature, rather than the present practice of using ineome from DHHL lands. lf this recommendation is adopted it would mean that some $1.5 million clollars a year could go directly to programs for native Hawaiians. The public meetings, held during May throughout the islands, are intended to gather comments from the eommunity on the preliminary recommendations of the Task Force. lt is important to note that these are not just informational meetings. After the review period ends, the Task Force will revise its recommendations as appropriate, based on input from the Hawaiian community.

In 1930 a governor's executive order, now determined to be illegai, set aside 67 acres of Hawaiian Home Lands for W'aimanalo Beach Park.