Bill Text: HI SCR7 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: OHA Package; Public Land Trust Revenues; Reporting

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-05 - Report adopted, referred to WAM. [SCR7 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-SCR7-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	7
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THAT THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH PROVIDE ACCURATE AND COMPLETE ACCOUNTING OF PUBLIC LAND TRUST REVENUES UNDER SECTION 5 OF ACT 178, SESSION LAWS OF HAWAII 2006.

 

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has fiduciary responsibilities as the trustee of the public land trust established by section 5(f) of the Admission Act; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Legislature has constitutional obligations and duties to the Native Hawaiian people, including, among others, to clarify the pro rata portion of revenues from the public land trust to which the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is entitled for the benefit of Native Hawaiians under Article XII, sections 4 and 6, of the Hawaii State Constitution; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 178, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006, which took effect on June 7, 2006, was enacted with the purpose of providing "interim measures to ensure that an adequate amount of income and proceeds is made available to the office of Hawaiian affairs from the pro rata portion of the public land trust, for the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians;" and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 178 carried out this interim purpose by requiring that:

 

[U]ntil further action is taken by the legislature for this purpose, the income and proceeds from the pro rata portion of the public land trust under article XII, section 6, of the state constitution for expenditure by the office of Hawaiian affairs for the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians for each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2005-2006 shall be $15,100,000[;]

 

and

 

     WHEREAS, another important purpose of Act 178 is to identify revenue-generating public trust lands by requiring that the Department of Land and Natural Resources provide an annual accounting of all receipts from those lands to the Legislature; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 5 of Act 178 requires that no later than January 1 of each year, the Department of Land and Natural Resources, with the cooperation of the Department of Budget and Finance and any other state department or agency that uses or manages public lands, provide an accounting of all receipts from lands described in section 5(f) of the Admission Act for the prior fiscal year; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 5 of Act 178 also requires that, with respect to each receipt, the Department of Land and Natural Resources shall identify:

 

     (1)  The total gross amount;

 

     (2)  The amount transferred to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs;

 

     (3)  The amount retained by the State;

 

     (4)  The account or fund in which the amount specified in paragraph (3) was transferred or deposited;

 

     (5)  The parcel of land subject to section 5(f) of the Admission Act that generated the receipt, whether by tax map key number, Department of Land and Natural Resources inventory number, or other recognizable description; and

 

     (6)  The state department or agency that received the total gross amount identified in paragraph (1); and

 

     WHEREAS, in its report to the Legislature for fiscal year 2011-2012 (dated November 2012), the Department of Land and Natural Resources reported total gross receipts for all departments and agencies in the amount of $150,939,203; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs retained an outside accounting consultant to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of the public land trust revenues reported for fiscal year 2011-2012 by the Department of Land and Natural Resources in its report to the Legislature; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' outside accounting consultant estimated that as much as $226,100,000 in public land trust revenues went unreported for fiscal year 2011-2012 in the Department of Land and Natural Resources' report to the Legislature; and

 

     WHEREAS, the amount of public land trust revenues subject to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' pro rata share requires further analysis; and

 

     WHEREAS, accurate and complete reporting of public land trust revenues is necessary to facilitate the analysis of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs' pro rata share; and

 

     WHEREAS, full compliance with the reporting requirements of Act 178 is critical to fulfilling the State's trust obligation regarding the public land trust and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; 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 Governor is requested to direct all state departments and agencies to comply fully with section 5 of Act 178 by providing annually to the Department of Land and Natural Resources an accurate and complete accounting of all receipts from lands described in section 5(f) of the Admission Act, as required by section 5 of Act 178, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Attorney General, the Chairperson of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Director of Finance, the heads of all state departments or agencies that use or manage lands described in section 5(f) of the Admission Act, and the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________
		By Request

Report Title:

OHA Package; Public Land Trust Revenues; Reporting