The "Ceded" Lands Dispute: What does blood quantum have to do with it?

Itʻs been a while since there has been any public movement on the "ceded" lands issue. Many of you have been very supportive of Kupuʻainaʻs efforts earlier this year and last year. We wanted to share with you an update regarding a recently scheduled event that we think you might be interested in.

Most of the plaintiffs (Office of Hawaiian Affairs and four individuals) in the case that sought to stop the sale of so-called "ceded" lands have settled their claims with the State of Hawaiʻi. There is one sole plaintiff who is determined to have this case go all the way through, Dr. Jonathan Osorio.

On Thursday, October 1, 2009, Dr. Osorio will be joined by attorneys Naiwi Wurdeman and Yuklin Aluli in a panel discussion hosted by Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at 12:45 at the William S. Richardson School of Law. This discussion panel will also be live-streamed at www.KaHuliAo.com.

Because seating is limited, Ka Huli Ao requires RSVPs by 9/27/2009 to nhlawctr@hawaii.edu

For more information on Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, you can visit its blog at www.KaHuliAo.com or its law school website at www.law.hawaii.edu/kahuliao

Proceed with caution when reading/hearing some local media reports

You may have heard by now that the United States Supreme Court has ruled on the "ceded" lands case. Unfortunately, several local media outlets do not explain the Supreme Court ruling adequately and, in my opinion, may inadvertently mis-lead the public.

Upon first glance, anyone might come to the conclusion that the State of Hawai'i can sell ceded lands. But, Kupu‘āina reads the opinion differently. When the Hawai'i Supreme Court made its landmark ruling last year placing a moratorium on the sale of "ceded" lands, it did so using both the 1993 Apology Resolution AND relevant state law. When the U.S. Supreme Court came out with its ruling this morning, it only ruled on the 1993 Apology Resolution and not state law. In fact, at the end of its decision, the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that it has no authority to decide questions of Hawai'i state law or to provide redress for past wrongs except as provided for by federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court sent the case back down to the Hawai'i Supreme Court to proceed in a manner that is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling.

The Attorney General Mark Bennett, sought to take this "ceded" lands case out of the Hawai'i Supreme Court. Now, however, the U.S. Supreme Court has put the case back into the hands of the State Supreme Court.

This morning there are two good interviews on the KGMB website that is helpful to people who want to understand today's ruling.
There is an interview with

• Clyde Namuo (OHA Administrator) http://tr.im/Namuo090331 and


• Colleen Hanabusa (Hawaii Senate President http://tr.im/Hanabusa090331.

Clyde Namuo explains how this ruling is exactly what the Office of Hawaiian Affairs hoped for once the Supreme Court decided to take up the case. Generally, the reason is because the ruling puts the case back into State court. Senator Hanabusa also explains why, the State, still can't sell "ceded" lands at this time. Hanabusa's statements are contrary to today's Honolulu Advertiser headline which reads, "US Supreme Court says state can sell ceded lands." This headline was later changed to read, "U.S. Supreme Court rules state has authority to sell ceded lands."

Kupu‘āina encourages the public to read the U.S. Supreme Court's short opinion on this issue rather than rely only on media reports. You can access the opinion at www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08slipopinion.html

Kupu‘āina Live! Webcast #15

Webisode #15 2003-03-23 Kupu‘āina Live!

In today's Kupu‘āina Live! We explain why the recent SuperFerry ruling isn't something to necessarily worry about in drafting "ceded" lands legislation. We also talk about what we consider to be a "sneaky" change in the language of SB 1677, that most people don't know about.




Mahalo for your support.

The rumor was true!

Last week, we wrote about a rumor we heard regarding an unexpected change regarding Senate Bill 1677.

Finally, the information has been made available online. If you haven't read the original SB 1677, you might not notice the difference. SB 1677 originally required a two-thirds approval for the sale of "ceded" lands. Media reports and capitol insiders suggested that a two-thirds approval is difficult to achieve so a two-thirds approval effectively prevents the sale of "ceded" lands. But recently, the State House of Representatives' Water, Land & Ocean Resources Committee (WLO) and the Judiciary Committee (JUD) have changed the language of SB 1677. Instead of requiring a two-thirds approval for the sale of lands, now, a two-thirds dis-approval is needed to stop the sale of lands. Below is the relevant changed language.

     (2) Making proposed sales or exchanges of state lands subject to legislative disapproval by:
          (A) The adoption of a resolution by a two-thirds majority vote of either the senate or the house of representatives; or
          (B) The adoption of a concurrent resolution passed by simple majority vote of both houses of the legislature.

This change in the House, after SB 1677 already passed the Senate, means that this bill will most likely need to be brought to conference for the Senate and House to discuss the bill, assuming SB 1677 is passed out of the House Finance Committee (FIN).

It is very disappointing that the two committees, WLO and JUD, changed the language. A good amount (the majority actually) of testimony supported 1677 before the language of a two-thirds majority dis-approval was made.

As of the time of this posting, SB 1677 has not yet been scheduled for a hearing with the FIN committee. We will keep you updated.

What's going on at the capitol?

As we wrote last week, SB 1677 was heard in joint committee with Water, Land & Ocean Resources (WLO) and Judiciary (JUD).

Late last night, Kupu‘āina received a credible tip that the language of SB 1677 was being revised. Instead of requiring a two-third majority approval vote for the sale of "ceded" lands, reportedly, the revised version would allow sales but require a two-thirds dis-approval vote of the legislature.

A two-thirds dis-approval vote is a VERY BAD idea and the exact opposite of what is proposed in SB 1677. Local newspapers have reported, and legislative insiders have said, that a two-thirds approval is difficult to achieve. Acknowledging this, we can conclude that a two-thirds approval vote is difficult and therefore, sales of "ceded" lands will be difficult. However, if only a two-thirds disapproval is required to prevent sales of "ceded" lands, then we can conclude that, since a two-thirds majority vote is difficulty to achieve, then it will be difficult to stop a sale of "ceded" lands.

I spoke with a few people this morning. Apparently, a few others have heard the same thing. Information isn't available online yet. Mark Bennett testified in opposition to this bill, yet it was passed. No indication was given at the committee hearings on 3/13/09 that the changes made to Bill 1667 included a "two-thirds disapproval."

As we get more information, we'll be sure to keep you updated.

We Need You To Send E-mails to the House This Time

We previously asked you to send e-mails to the Senate. We now need you to send e-mails supporting SB 1085, to the State House of Representatives.

E-mails should be sent to HAWtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov and reps@capitol.hawaii.gov Please include kupuaina@gmail.com in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy). We'll appreciate it and it gives us some idea how many e-mails the Representatives get.

We have templates for you to use if you don't know what to write in an e-mail. Please pick ONE of the templates below.

     Template 1     Template 2     Template 3     

We also have a special template for our supporters who do not live in Hawai‘i. CLICK HERE for the special out-of-Hawai‘i template.

In addition, please do not forget about our Just 5 Minutes a Day Campaign. Learn more by CLICKING HERE.

Mahalo for your continued support. Please encourage family, friends and co-workers to support these efforts.

Lastly, don't forget to watch our Live-Streaming webcast, Kupu‘āina Live! at 5:30 pm Mondays at StopSellingCededLands.com

Legislative Updates Senate Bills 1085 and 1677

If you've been keeping up with us on Twitter, you may have seen that on Friday, the House Committees on Water, Land & Ocean Resources (WLO) and Judiciary (JUD) passed Senate Bill 1677. You can find the status of SB 1677 by going to tinyurl.com/SB1677stat or CLICKING HERE.

Three people spoke to the committee:

• UH West O‘ahu Chancellor Gene Awakuni,


• Attorney General Mark Bennet, and


• Derek Kauanoe of the Kupu‘āina Coalition

Chancellor Awakuni did not testify for or against SB 1677 but expressed concern that the current language of the bill was too broad and could affect the UH O‘ahu campus, which he says does not sit on ceded lands. He expressed a desire to see the language narrowed in such a way so as to not impact the West O‘ahu campus in a manner that was not intended.

AG Mark Bennett, testified in opposition of SB 1677. From what I can recall, he emphasized that in the history of the State of Hawai‘i, no governor has abused authority in a way that "ceded" lands have been sold in substantial portions. I also remember Mark Bennett describing support for the current method of selling "ceded" lands in the legislature. If I understand correctly, the current process requires a two-thirds opposition of the state legislature. SB 1677 would require a two-thirds majority vote for a sale of "ceded" lands. From what I remember, he also commented that as a practical matter, SB 1677 does not make sense.

Derek Kauanoe testified in support of SB 1677 but expressed concern that it did not adequately reflect the public policy of the Legislature as declared in Senate Concurrent Resolution 40 (SCR 40). You can check out SCR 40 at http://tinyurl.com/09SCR40stat. SCR 40 declared the public policy of the State of Hawai‘i is to honor the decision of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court. In addition, SCR 40 also provided that appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court "is detrimental to the interests of all of the people of Hawai‘i and to the ongoing reconciliation process between the State and the Native Hawaiian people." Kauanoe also urged the two committees to adopt key language in SB 1085. You can check out SB 1085 by going to tinyurl.com/09SB1085stat. Generally, Kauanoe asked that SB 1677 be revised to better reflect SB 1085.

The committees passed SB 1677 with amendments, however, we're still waiting to see what specific amendments are being added.

I noticed today, that some time in the late afternoon yesterday (3/13/09) that the House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs has scheduled a hearing for SB 1085 on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at 9am in room 329. Mahalo goes out to Representative Mele Carroll for scheduling a hearing and giving more than 48 hours notice on this. This prompt scheduling provides people with a good amount of time to write testimony, for or against the bill, and the opportunity to meet the deadline as well.

In our opinion, SB 1085 is a better bill than SB 1677 for a few reasons:

• SB 1085, unlike SB 1677, is a re-affirmation of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court's "ceded" lands case opinion


• SB 1085, unlike SB 1677, also re-affirms the need for reconciliation with Native Hawaiians


• SB 1085, unlike SB 1677, places an actual moratorium (freeze) on the sale of ceded lands


• SB 1085, unlike SB 1677, provides a comprehensive process for the sale of ceded lands once the moratorium (freeze) is lifted.


• SB 1085, unlike SB 1677, is consistent with the Hawai‘i Legislature's expressed public policy found in Senate Concurrent Resolution 40.

We urge everyone to send e-mail testimonials to HAWtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov in support of SB 1085. Over the next day or so, we will be putting together a more complete e-mail list in addition to a few templates for people to send through e-mail. Mahalo for your support and please don't forget to watch Kupu‘āina Live! on Monday at 5:30pm at our website stopsellingcededlands.com.

SB 1677 is scheduled for a hearing

Just a few moments ago, we learned that earlier today, the House of Representatives scheduled Senate Bill 1677 for a hearing THIS FRIDAY!

This scheduling occurred a day after the Senate passed Senate Bill 1085, which is a much better bill than SB 1677. Go to tinyurl.com/KupuCast09-03-09 to watch the webcast where we discuss why SB 1085 is better than SB 1677.

Anyway, it is important that you copy and paste the below e-mail addresses and send out the e-mail below to:
WLOtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov, JUDtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov, mailinglist@capitol.hawaii.gov, repito@capitol.hawaii.gov, rephar@capitol.hawaii.gov, repcabanilla@capitol.hawaii.gov, repchang@capitol.hawaii.gov, repchong@capitol.hawaii.gov, repcoffman@capitol.hawaii.gov, repherkes@capitol.hawaii.gov, repclee@capitol.hawaii.gov, repluke@capitol.hawaii.gov, repmorita@capitol.hawaii.gov, repsagum@capitol.hawaii.gov, repching@capitol.hawaii.gov, repthielen@capitol.hawaii.gov, repkaramatsu@capitol.hawaii.gov, repbelatti@capitol.hawaii.gov, repcarroll@capitol.hawaii.gov, repmckelvey@capitol.hawaii.gov, repmizuno@capitol.hawaii.gov, repboshiro@capitol.hawaii.gov, repsouki@capitol.hawaii.gov, reptsuji@capitol.hawaii.gov, repwakai@capitol.hawaii.gov, repmarumoto@capitol.hawaii.gov

Please BCC us at kupuaina@gmail.com

Please cut and paste the e-mail template below

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[Insert Name Here]
House Committee on Water, Land & Ocean Resources
House Committee on Judiciary
Friday, March 13, 2009 at 2:00pm
SB 1677


Dear Committee Chair Ken Ito, Madame Vice-Chair Sharon Har and members of the Committee on Water, Land, & Ocean Resources,

Dear Committee Chair Jon Karamatsu, Vice-Chair Ken Ito, and members of the Committee on Judiciary,

My name is [insert name]. I submit testimony in support of Senate Bill 1677 on the condition that SB 1677 be amended to better reflect the Hawai‘i Legislature’s policy as defined in Senate Concurrent Resolution 40, passed by the Senate and adopted by the House of Representatives last month.

Through Senate Concurrent Resolution 40, as members of the Legislature, you

• urged the Governor to “withdraw the appeal to the United States Supreme Court of the Hawai‘i State Supreme Court decision” in the “ceded” lands case, and


• declared “the public policy of the State of Hawai‘i is to honor the decision of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.”

Passing SB 1677, in its current form, does not reflect the public policy described in Senate Concurrent Resolution 40.

I urge you to add the language below to SB 1677:

      Chapter 171, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§171- Limitation on sale and transfers. The State shall not dispose of any lands in the public land trust, as described in subsection 171-18(a), whether by lease with option to purchase, sale, or exchange, except as provided in subsection 171-18(d); provided that the State may dispose of lands in the public land trust pursuant to subsection 171-18(c), if one of the following conditions is met:

      (1) The claims of the native Hawaiian people, as defined in the United States Apology Resolution, Pub. L. No. 103-150, 107 Stat. 1510 (1993), have been resolved;

      (2) The legislature finds pursuant to a concurrent resolution adopted by at least two-thirds majority vote of the members to which each house is entitled that the State no longer supports reconciliation between the State and the native Hawaiian people; or

      (3) The approval of the disposition of the public lands trust land by lease with option to purchase, sale, or exchange occurs after December 31, 2014."

In addition to the above language, I also urge you to add the language below:

      Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the State, its political subdivisions, boards, agencies, departments, and entities created pursuant to state law, may hold or manage public land trust lands, as described in subsection (a), by lease, permit, license, easement, exchange, or set aside. In addition, upon the occurrence of an event as described in section 171- (1), (2), or (3), the State, its political subdivisions, boards, agencies, departments, and any other state entity may dispose of public land trust lands, whether by lease with option to purchase, sale, or exchange, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

      (1) The State establishes a compelling state interest for the disposition;

      (2) There is no reasonable alternate means to accomplish the compelling state interest;

      (3) The disposition is limited to accomplishing the compelling state interest; and

      (4) The disposition is approved by the legislature by concurrent resolution adopted by at least two-thirds majority vote of the members to which each house is entitled.

     The conditions described in subsection (c)(1) to (4) shall not prevent the State from:

      (1) Disposing of remnants, as defined in section 171-52;

      (2) Providing easements to public utilities and government agencies pursuant to section 171-95; or

      (3) Engaging in land exchanges pursuant to sections 171-50 and 171-51."

The above proposed language better reflects the public policy of our Legislature. Any and all text in the current form of SB 1677 that contradicts this proposed language should be omitted/stricken so as to recognize that the proposed language above is the language recognized in the Bill.

I urge you to pass 1677 only with amendments. I also urge you to schedule a hearing for SB 1085 which better reflects the public policy declared by our legislature.

Thank you for this opportunity to submit testimony.

[Insert your name]

Hawaii State Senate Passes SB 1085

Media contacts:
Derek Kauanoe kupuaina@gmail.com
Davis Price kupuaina@gmail.com

For Immediate Release:
March 10, 2009


State Senate Passes “Ceded” Lands Moratorium Bill

HONOLULU, HI -- Today, the Hawai‘i Senate passed Senate Bill 1085, which places a 5-year moratorium on the sale of ceded lands and provides a process for the sale of “ceded” lands after the moratorium is no longer in effect.

SB 1085 was passed with 24 votes with 1 senator voting against it.

SB 1085 will now go to the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives.

Last week, SB 1677, which was also passed out of the Senate and crossed over to the House of Representatives, passed the House Hawaiian Affairs committee. SB 1677, does not provide a moratorium but instead requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate for “ceded” lands sales.

Derek Kauanoe, speaking for the Kupu‘āina Coalition, described SB 1085 as a bill that “is good for all of Hawai‘i generally. While SB 1085 acknowledges the unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians, it also provides a comprehensive process to protect the ceded lands for the general public.” Kauanoe continued to explain, “unlike the continental United States, in Hawai‘i, we have limited natural resources such as land. SB 1085 provides a process to ensure that proposed transfers of lands will be used for important purposes only. This process goes into effect when the moratorium is over.”

The Kupu‘āina Coalition is an organization, of current law school students and recent law school graduates of the William S. Richardson School of Law, that is dedicated towards the protection of “ceded” lands.

Support for SB 1085 from two Senators.

As we wait for the Senate vote on SB 1085, I thought I would share some of the e-mails coming from Senators that made its way to us. We expect there is much more support than from the two Senators we got e-mails from.

---

Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 21:13:27 -1000
From: "Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland"
Reply-To: "Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland"
Subject: RE: Support SB1085 moratorium on sale of "ceded" lands
To:

Hi Eileen:

Mahalo a nui loa for your support. I am very supportive.

Aloha,

Senator Susie Chun Oakland

---

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 4:12 PM, Sen. Donna Mercado Kim wrote:

Aloha,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding SB 1085. This measure will be on the Senate floor for final reading tomorrow and I will be supporting it as it goes over to the House for further consideration.


Mahalo,


Senator Donna Mercado Kim
Chair of Ways & Means Committee
State Capitol, Room 210
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808-587-7200 Fax: 808-587-7205

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Webcast. Why SB 1085 is better than SB 1677

SB 1085 will be voted on by the Senate tomorrow around 11:30 am. If the Senate passes SB 1085 and sends it to the State House of Representatives. The House of Representatives will then need to determine whether SB 1085 or SB 1677 should be passed. In our most recent webcast, Kupu‘āina Coalition Spokesperson Derek Kauanoe explains why the coalition says SB 1085 is better than SB 1677.



We strongly believe that SB 1085 is the better bill of the two for a number of reasons:

• Unlike SB 1677, SB 1085 is a reaffirmation of the Hawaii Supreme Court's landmark January 31, 2009, opinion.


• The mere description of the bills alone, SB 1085 specifically acknowledges the unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians. SB 1677 does not.


• Also unlike SB 1677, SB1085 also provides for a comprehensive process for a sale on ceded lands even if a two-thirds majority is reached.

Watch the video for more details of why SB 1085 is better.

We Need You To Send E-mails!

Now that SB 1085 passed out of the Senate Judiciary and Government Operations committee, the full senate will need to vote on it. We're asking you to send our senators e-mails urging them to pass SB 1085.

E-mails should be sent to sens@capitol.hawaii.gov if you can include us on the cc (or better yet the BCC) by putting kupuaina@gmail.com in that e-mail, we'd greatly appreciate it.

We have templates for you to use if you don't know what to write in an e-mail. Please pick one template only:

• Template 1


• Template 2


• Template 3

We also have a special template for our supporters who do not live in Hawai‘i. CLICK HERE for the special out-of-Hawai‘i template.

SENATE BILL 1085 passes

Senator Sam Slom was the only state lawmaker in the Judiciary and Government Operations (JGO) committee to vote NO on Senate Bill 1085 yesterday morning shortly before 10 am. The Committee chair, Brian Taniguchi and Vice-Chair, Dwight Takamine in addition to committee members Robert Bunda and Clarence Nishihara voted to pass SB 1085. Senator Mike Gabbard was not present for the vote.

When the vote was made, Senator Taniguchi noted that the bill would be passed with only technical amendments. We assume this means that non-substantive changes will be made.

The next step for Senate Bill 1085 is to be heard by the full senate. In a previous phone conversation with Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, it was suggested that SB 1085 will pass the Senate and be sent to the state House of Representatives.

Moments after the senate committee passed SB 1085, Kupu‘āina organizers met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Calvin Say. Calvin Say suggested that SB 1085 will be scheduled for hearings with different committees. He did express concern however about the senate passing two different bills addressing the same issue. The House can not do likewise. The other bill being SB 1677. The House will need to pass just one of those bills.

Speaker Say said that he would like to see both SB 1677 and SB 1085 heard together in committee so that the House can determine which of those two bills it will support and proceed forward with.

Between the two bills, coalition organizers prefer to see SB 1085 pass out of the legislature. SB 1085, in the coalition's opinion, is more of a re-affirmation of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court's January 31, 2008 landmark decision in OHA v. HCDCH.

Coalition organizers hope SB 1085 will be heard on the Senate floor by Tuesday, March 10. We will keep you updated. PAU.

SB 1085 is FINALLY scheduled for a hearing!!!

We have two different testimony/commentary templates for you to use by cutting and pasting. It is important that you submit this testimony/commentary no later than 9:30am March 4, 2009.

You can submit this by sending it via e-mail to JGOTestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov

It is also very important that you “cc” (carbon copy) this e-mail to the following e-mail addresses: sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov, sentakamine@capitol.hawaii.gov, senbunda@capitol.hawaii.gov, sengabbard@capitol.hawaii.gov, sennishihara@capitol.hawaii.gov, and senslom@capitol.hawaii.gov

We also encourage you to “cc” us on the e-mail by sending it to kupuaina@gmail.com

Please choose ONLY ONE of these templates only, copy and past the text in an e-mail and send it to the e-mail addresses listed above. You can choose a template by clicking on one below.

TEMPLATE 1 or TEMPLATE 2

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Senate Bill 1085 has finally been scheduled for hearing.

WHEN: March 5, 2009 at 9:45am
WHERE: State Capitol in Room 211
WHO: Senate Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations (JGO) and YOU!
WHY: To protect the so-called "ceded" lands from being sold.

SB 1085 is the only surviving piece of legislation that provides a moratorium on the sale of ceded lands. If the bill is going to move forward, it needs to be out of the JGO committee by 3/5/09.

For more information on the status of SB 1085 go to tinyurl.com/SB1085update3-3

Maoli Thursday, March 5, 2009

Click on image to enlarge.



A live stream will be used to broad cast this event. The webcast will be shown at both stopsellingcededlands.com and www.uhm-nativehawaiianlaw.blogspot.com.

Legislative efforts to protect ceded lands get slimmer.

Don't forget to watch our weekly live-streaming webcast today at 5:30pm Hawaii Standard Time.

WE NEED YOU TO SUBMIT TESTIMONY!
Senate Bill 1085 (which, with its amendments, provides a 5-year moratorium on the sale of ceded lands and then requires a two-thirds majority vote for sales) still has not been scheduled for a hearing by Senator Brian Taniguchi. If Senate Bill 1085 is not passed out of Taniguchi's Judiciary and Government Operations committee by March 5, it will die.

Currently, Senate Bill 1677 has passed out of the Senate and is currently in the House. It is scheduled for a hearing with the House Hawaiian Affairs committee this Wednesday. Senate Bill 1677, is not the preferred bill, but it is currently the only bill alive right now, that has also passed one chamber of the legislature, and would restrict the sale of ceded lands and make sales virtually impossible. Senate Bill 1677 requires a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate for a sale of ceded lands.

Sample testimony is provided at the end of this posting. You can cut and paste it, and submit via e-mail to HAWtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov We also encourage you to write your own testimony if you have additional thoughts or perspectives you would like to express to the House Committee.


JUST FIVE MINUTES A DAY
We still need just five minutes a day from people like you, your family and friends. Please go to our Just Five Minutes Calendar to see what you can do. You may also go to http://tinyurl.com/Just5Minutes. You can join our fight to protect Hawaiian lands by dedicating just five minutes a day.

We're receiving positive feedback from people about this Just 5 Minutes effort. We're hearing that we've made advocating for "ceded"/seized/stolen lands protection easy. We hope so and we're confident too that, you too can accomplish a lot in just 5 minutes. Please be sure to participate. Depending on what happens in the next week, we may be revising the calendar.


THE SUPREME COURT CASE
Last Wednesday, as you may know, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments from attorneys representing the Lingle Administration and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. A few commentaries have been floated around online about it. We read the transcripts last week Wednesday. The transcripts should be understood within the context of domestic U.S. law. If we were to make an assessment based only on the questions asked (which is not a complete assessment) it might be easy to assume that this case will find its way back to the Hawaii state court system. This is a state issue and is more properly addressed here rather than in Washington D.C. The Supreme Court justices asked very challenging questions of both attorneys, Attorney General Mark Bennett and OHA attorney Kannon Shanmugam.

Justice Samuel Alito surprised us though. A question he asked suggested that he was familiar with proposed moratorium legislation introduced in our legislature. His question was about legislation of a 5-year moratorium on "ceded" lands and wanting to promote a reconciliation process. This refers to Senate Bill 1085. Some commentators like to emphasize that OHA attorney admitted that "if the Hawaii Supreme Court based their ruling on the Apology Resolution, then that would be wrong." However, emphasizing this so-called admission as somehow being weak or "giving-up" on the case is incorrect and mis-placed. OHA's strategy was to emphasize that 1.) this is a state issue, and 2.) the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision was based primarily on State law. In reality folks, you can't argue that the State Supreme Court's decision was based on state law, that this is a state issue, AND ask the Supreme Court to not review the case while also saying the State Supreme Court's decision was based on federal law.

Questions asked by the Court suggested that it may hold that the Apology Resolution did not prevent the State from selling ceded lands, and that the Court might send it back to State court. The Court did express concerns however, that even if the Apology Resolution doesn't prevent the state from selling ceded lands, that state law may prevent such sales. However, they did raise the question that, if those state laws were inconsistent with federal law, then there may still be a federal issue. However, when Mark Bennett asked the Supreme Court to review the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision, he only asked the Court about the Apology Resolution. He didn't include in his question, inquiries about the Newlands Resolution (1898), the Organic Act (1900) or the Admission Act (1959). Justices served Bennett a bunch of questions and expressed concern that those other federal laws were not adequately raised before the Court.

We can expect a decision to come out before the end of June. We suspect an opinion may come out some time in May.


VIGIL AT CAPITOL
Mahalo nui loa to everyone who came out to the capitol. While it was a very political experience, it was also a very spiritual and cultural experience. Being in the presence of our brothers and sisters in solidarity, chanting and praying to ke Akua, and for others na akua and na aumakua was indeed spiritual. Mahalo to everyone across the United States who joined in on Kukulu Kumuhana and who generally support our struggle. Mahalo for the halau hula and kumu hulu who were present as well.


STOP SELLING CEDED LANDS STICKERS
More people are buying stickers. Sticker sales help to pay for printing our materials, website hosting, etc., costs associated with this effort. Although this is a 100% volunteer effort, postage, photocopies, papers, website hosting, website domain hosting all have costs. Mahalo to those who donated postage stamps, it helped tremendously.

Anyway, you can read more about our stickers by going to http://tinyurl.com/stick-um.


Testimony. We're providing the testimony for SB 1677 below. You can cut and paste it into your own e-mail and send it to HAWtestimony@capitol.hawaii.gov Testimony should be submitted by 9:30am tomorrow (Tuesday) March 3, 2009.

Name: (enter name here)
Committee: House Hawaiian Affairs Committee
Date/Time of hearing: March 4, 2009 at 9:30am
Re: Senate Bill 1677 - TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Madam Chair Carroll and Madam Vice-Chair Shimabukuro, and members of the House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs:

My name is (enter name here). I submit written testimony in strong support of Senate Bill 1677. Unfortunately, Senate Bill 1085, at the time of this writing, has not yet been passed out of all its Senate committees. Senate Bill 1085, apparently, is stalled at the Judiciary and Government Operations committee, chaired by Senator Brian Taniguchi.

Senate Bill 1677 may be our only hope this legislative session to protect the so-called ceded lands from being sold. It is important that the “ceded” lands be protected from sales so that the unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians can be resolved.

Senate Bill 1677 does not explicitly provide a moratorium, but its two-thirds requirement to sell ceded lands provides a mechanism for restricting the sale of such lands. We must support legislation that protects the “ceded” lands.

Recently, our legislature passed a resolution that urged Governor Lingle to withdraw the “ceded” lands case from U.S. Supreme Court. Perhaps more importantly, the resolution provided that “the Legislature declares the public policy of the State of Hawaii is to honor the decision of the Hawaii Supreme Court” in its January 31, 2008, landmark ruling. Although Senate Bill 1677 falls short of re-affirming our highest state court’s decision, Senate Bill 1677 in effect provides some protection of these lands.

Please pass Senate Bill 1677. Thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony.

Sincerely,


(enter name here)

400 postcards

Today, we mailed out over 400 postcards and expect these postcards to reach the capitol on Wednesday the day of the vigil.

State House of Representatives Adopts Resolution

We were somewhat surprised when we found out earlier today that the Hawaii State House of Representatives adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 40. This adoption can be interpreted as meaning the state legislature has taken a position on the ceded lands case.

Although this resolution is not binding, the Legislature

1. urges the Governor "to withdraw the appeal to the United States Supreme Court of the Hawai'i State Supreme Court decision" of the ceded lands case, and


2. "that the Legislature declares the public policy of the State of Hawai'i is to honor the decision of the Hawai'i Supreme Court.

In the resolution, the Legislature also expressed its belief that, pursuing the appeal "is detrimental to the interests of all of the people of Hawai'i and to the ongoing reconciliation process between the State and the Native Hawaiian people."

Kupu‘āina Coalition organizers spent a lot of time in January researching and drafting the resolution. Again, although it is not binding, the Legislature has adopted a specific policy on how it views the Hawai'i Supreme Court's landmark January 31, 2008, decision.

Lawmakers to visit during vigil at capitol

There are a few specific lawmakers supporters should visit while at the capitol on Wednesday. These lawmakers are:

• Rep. Calvin Say; room #431


• Sen. Brian Taniguchi; room #219


• Rep. Ken Ito; room #420


• Rep. Sharon Har; room #438


• Rep. Jon Riki Karamatsu; room #302


• Rep. Marcus Oshiro; room #306

Legislative Updates regarding ceded lands.

The Associated Press, via Maui News has an article that shows the riff between Democrats in the State House of Representatives and the relevance of that riff to the ceded lands issue.

Early into the article, House Speaker Calvin Say is identified as the reason why House bills designed to protect the ceded lands did not move forward. The article states, "Reps. Scott Saiki, Mele Carroll and Faye Hanohano, all Democrats, said it appears that House Speaker Calvin Say does not want the bills to progress . . . ." But the article does not end there. It further suggests that there is some sort of political "ping-pong" action going on. The AP article suggests that one politician points to another politician, who then either points back to the first politician or to a third politician. In the end, the ping-ponging however goes on between House committee chairs generally and the Speaker of the House, Calvin Say. Here's what the article also says,

"Saiki said the chairman of House Water, Land and Ocean Resources Committee (pictured left, Rep. Ken Ito), where the three bills are waiting after winning approval from Carroll's panel last week, has indicated that there will be no hearing on the measures any time soon."

The article also reports that, "A call for comment from Say was referred to House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro, who said that because the bills were referred to four committees, there is no way to complete the legislative process in time for the Supreme Court's oral arguments Feb. 25."

But the article also reports that perhaps it's the House Speaker, Calvin Say who decides which bills get heard. "Carroll said she asked Ito when his panel would hear the measures, and Ito replied that he'd have to check with Say." In one of our own meetings with Calvin Say, he told us that it was up to the individual committees as to which bills get heard in committee. If Representative Say is under the impression that Rep. Ken Ito is deciding which bills are being heard in Ito's committee, and Ito is under the impression that Say is going to tell him which bills to hear in Ito's committee, then it seems like someone doesn't know what the other is doing. Hopefully, this type of process is not indicative of how our state House of Representatives works.

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Bills and Resolutions.

The Senate Bill (SB 1677) introduced by Senate President Colleen Hanabusa was passed out of the Senate today. SB 1677 however, is not a moratorium bill. Senate Bill 1085 is a moratorium bill, even after its amendments. Senate Bill 1085, started off as a full-moratorium bill that re-affirmed the Hawaii Supreme Court's landmark ruling last year. The amended version has a limited 5 year moratorium and then after the expiration of 5 years, a two-thirds vote is necessary. Both the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin report today on the Senate's passage of SB 1677.

From here SB 1677 will now go to the House of Representatives. We presume that it will start off in the House Hawaiian Affairs Committee, then be also be referred to the same committees that the other moratorium bills were referred to. BUT, we hope that we're wrong.

What has not been reported in the two Honolulu dailies is that, the Senate today passed two resolutions. Senate Resolution 25 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 40.

These two resolutions urge the Governor to withdraw and establish that the senate (or Legislature for SCR 40) policy is to support the Hawaii Supreme Court's decision from January 31, 2008.
Not surprisingly, the two lawmakers who voted against the resolutions were Senators Fred Hemmings and Sam Slom.

Resolutions are not binding, but they do express the policy of the legislative body. it could be used to demonstrate to the U.S. Supreme Court that the government of the State of Hawai'i is actively dealing with the claims of Native Hawaiians.

How to Protect the Ceded Lands in Just 5 Minutes a Day!

Supporters can protect the "ceded" lands in just 5 minutes a day! Yes! You read that right! You can protect the "ceded" lands by spending just 5 minutes a day taking specific actions like:

1. calling key lawmakers


2. e-mailing key lawmakers


3. writing a letter to the editor


4. blogging


5. telling family and friends what you're doing in just 5 minutes a day


6. encouraging family and friends to support the efforts

Anyway, you can visit our site page on what you can do in just 5 minutes by going to http://tinyurl.com/Just5Minutes, but we'll paste the details below also. Unfortunately, you have to scroll down to see it though.

Just Five Minutes a day, goes a long way.
Our calendar makes fighting to PROTECT the ceded lands easy! Just click on the link for each day to find out what to do and how to do it!

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Feb. 15	Feb. 16	Feb. 17 Call Rep. Calvin Say	Feb. 18 E-mail Rep. Calvin Say	Feb. 19 Call Senator Brian Taniguchi	Feb. 20 E-mail Sen. Brian Taniguchi	Feb. 21 Write a Letter to the Editor
Feb. 22 Tell Family & friends what you have done.	Feb. 23 Call Rep. Ken Ito	Feb. 24 E-mail Rep. Ken Ito	Feb. 25 Call Rep. Sharon Har	Feb. 26 E-mail Rep. Sharon Har	Feb. 27 Tell Family & Friends they can help too!	Feb. 28 Stay Updated. Visit Site.
Mar. 1 Tell family & friends what you have done.	Mar. 2 Call Rep. Jon Karamatsu	Mar. 3 E-mail Rep. Jon Karamatsu	Mar. 4 Call Rep. Calvin Say again.	Mar. 5 E-mail Rep. Calvin Say again	Mar. 6 Stay Updated. Visit Site	Mar. 7 Write a Letter to the Editor
Mar. 8 Tell family & friends what you have done.	Mar. 9 Call Rep. Marcus Oshiro	Mar. 10 E-mail Rep. Marcus Oshiro	Mar. 11 Call Rep. Ken Ito Again	Mar. 12 E-mail Rep. Ken Ito Again	Mar. 13 Write about ceded lands on a blog	Mar. 14

Stickers are in! Senate Bill 1085 has been decked

Aloha mai kakahiaka kakou,

The stickers are in and people have already begun to e-mail us their orders. (See http://tinyurl.com/stick-um. Senate Bill 1085 has been decked. Click here for details.

In other news, Senator Hee made arrangements yesterday to have two proposed resolutions heard in his Senate Committee. Senate Resolution 25 and Senate Concurrent Resolution 40.

These proposed resolutions accomplish two goals:

1. urges Governor Lingle to withdraw the "ceded" lands case now pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, and


2. declares "the public policy of the State of Hawai'i is to honor the decision of the Hawai'i State Supreme Court."

These resolutions have been moved out of committee and will proceed to the Senate floor.

Although the resolutions are not binding, these resolutions will be expressions of our legislature that re-affirm the State Supreme Court's January 31, 2008, landmark decision.

SB 1085 Testimony 1

Name: (enter name here)
Committee: Senate Committee on Judiciary and Government Affairs
Date/Time of hearing: March 5, 2009 at 9:45am
Re: Senate Bill 1085 - COMMENTARY IN STRONG SUPPORT

Dear Chairman Taniguchi,

I submit testimony in strong support of Senate Bill 1085. SB 1085 provides a re-affirmation of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s landmark, January 31, 2008, decision in the case commonly known as Office of Hawaiian Affairs v. HCDCH.

Last month our state Senate passed two resolutions:

• Senate Resolution 25,


• Senate Concurrent Resolution 40.

These resolutions provide that the “Legislature declares the public policy of the State of Hawaii is to honor the decision of the Hawaii Supreme Court.” Senate Concurrent Resolution 40 was also adopted by the state House of Representatives. In other words, our legislature has decided to support our state judicial branch on this issue.

SB 1085 is legislation that fits within the public policy of the State of Hawaii through our legislature. Our legislature passed the resolution, now it is time to support the appropriate bill.

Sincerely,

[your name here]

I urge you to support and pass SB 1085.

SB 1085 Testimony 2

March 4, 2009
Chairman Brian Taniguchi
Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations
Thur. Mar. 4, 2009
Conf. Room 211, 9:45 am

Chair Taniguchi, Vice Chair Takamine, and Members, Robert Bunda, Mike Gabbard, Clarence Nishihara, and Sam Slom, of the Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations,

My name is [YOUR NAME HERE]. I am a resident of Hawaii and am deeply concerned about the future of the “ceded” lands. The actions of the Governor in appealing this case to the U.S. Supreme Court do not represent my views on this issue. For this reason I am submitting testimony in STRONG SUPPORT of SB 1085.

As the body of officials elected to represent the people of Hawaii, I ask that you please represent our voice and pass this bill out of your committee, unamended. The passage of this bill reasserts the power of the legislature to address, not only the issue of proposed sales of “ceded” lands, but it also reasserts the policy of the State, which has been to commit to reconciliation and self-determination for Native Hawaiian people.

I am deeply troubled by Linda Lingle’s attempt to take this issue beyond our shores and allow nine judges, that have no vested interest in or connection to Hawaii, to dictate the future of our lands and local issues. Her actions threaten the sovereign power of our State government. For that reason, I urge you to exercise your authority as State officials and as the legislative branch of government to harness control over these issues.

I also would like to remind you that Native Hawaiians have a special relationship to the land that differs from the American or Western relationship. This relationship is beyond any description through words. It is a relationship that connects them to their past, present, and their future. The state has long recognized that this relationship exists, and it is important to the future of all of Hawaii’s people that this relationship continue to be recognized. It is in large part because of the mana (spirit/power) and traditions of Hawaii’s first people that we have such a unique and beautiful society here.

Once the land is sold it will never be returned. Please carefully consider our future when reviewing this bill. I ask that you please pass this bill out of your committee. Mahalo for your time.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Stop Selling Ceded Lands stickers!

Today, in the mail, we got our StopSellingCededLands.com sticker (above). These stickers will be a great way to get the message out and around town. We know that there are a lot of people who want to protect the ceded lands and this is just one great way to show it. The stickers are 3 inches high and 10 inches long. When we get our full order of stickers in, we'll be sure to let you know. If you know right now that you're interested in buying one, feel free to send us an e-mail now at kupuaina@gmail.com and we'll put you on our list. Putting yourself on our list in no way obligates you to actually buy one, but it will help us out in calculating our inventory and in determining whether or not we need to order additional stickers. We will provide information on prices and distribution in a later posting and e-mail. So, if you're not yet on our e-mail list, please feel free to join it below.

Enter your email address below to subscribe to our Google groups e-mail list.

We will email you updates and let you know how you can help.

Email:

UPDATE on Stickers 2/17/09
Stickers cost $4 each. Cost includes postage/shipping. If you're ordering more than one sticker to be mailed to a single address the cost decreases.
1 sticker - $ 4
2 stickers - $ 7
3 stickers - $10
4 stickers - $13
5 stickers - $16

Federalist Society Debate on "Ceded"Lands

Aloha mai kākou,

Today, the law school had a packed room for a debate between Ilya Shapiro and Prof. Carl Christensen. Ilya Shapiro appears to be in town because he is touring California and Hawaii giving presentations. Anyway, the law school classroom was crowded with law school students, faculty, and a good number of visitors not affiliated with the law school in anyway. For example Aunty Leona Kalima was present. For those of you who don't know, Aunty Leona Kalima was a plaintiff in a lawsuit that sought to protect land claims for Native Hawaiians. Click here to read a Star-Bulletin article on the suit when the Hawaii Supreme Court found in favor of Native Hawaiian claimants. Video is available below.

Also in attendance were people who oppose Native Hawaiian programs, claims, and rights such as:

1. Bill Burgess


2. David Rosen


3. Grassroot Institute

A few hours after speaking with some law students, it seems as though the consensus is that Prof. Carl Christensen won the debate. Others have commented that Ilya Shapiro appeared condescending and as a result, it was difficult to want to agree with him. You'll notice in the video above that there are times when Ilya looks up into the air while he's talking and some seem to have interpreted this behavior as though Shapiro thought this was a topic not worth real discussion. Shapiro may have lost some credibility with the audience when he was talking about Hawaiian history and the Hawaiian Kingdom, but couldn't remember the name of Hawai'i's last Queen. Some members of the audience afterwards thought that someone who professes to be familiar with these local issues should at least be familiar with the history that give rise to these issues.

Ilya expressed the idea that to be Native Hawaiian, one must be 50% or more Native Hawaiian by blood or have a Hawaiian last name. A number of audience members had very little, if any at all, appreciation for this definition of Native Hawaiian. What may have been puzzling to many in attendance is that, a person, who does not appear to have ever lived in Hawaii and who does not currently live in Hawaii somehow feels he is in a position to define what a Native Hawaiian is or is not.

Professor Carl Christensen, immediately upon arriving at the lectern, clarified that the issues raised by Ilya have no place in this debate specifically because those 14th amendment issues have not been raised by the Lingle Administration nor the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. As such, the U.S. Supreme Court is not being asked whether or not programs benefitting Native Hawaiians discriminate on the basis of race. The only question that the Lingle Administration has asked the United States Supreme Court is basically, did the 1993 Apology Resolution, passed by the 103rd Congress, prevent the State of Hawai’i from selling ceded lands?” Somehow, Ilya seems to think it was appropriate to raise issues in this debate that the Supreme Court has not been asked by any of the disputing parties (Lingle Administration or OHA).

Unfortunately, we had some issues with one of our video cameras. You may have been able to tell from our video-stream that the camera on the left, at times, had better (louder) audio, but sometimes had some “weird” imagery like: shaking camera, cartoon-type curtains, words like “STAMINA” across the middle of the screen. We were not sure exactly what was happening with that video camera. We later realized that it was on “DEMO” mode. As we review the video now, we remember that there were times when the left video camera kept turning off unexpectedly. When we were recording-livestreaming and we noticed that the left-side video camera unexpectedly turned off, we immediately had to transfer to the right side video camera and unfortunately, there were times when Ilya’s comments were inadvertently interrupted. You can tell all the time on the video, but when this happened in real time, the screen went black. This pre-recording that you’re watching now however, doesn’t show that, instead it just skips to the next footage, and gives the appearance of blending one camera to another. Around 39:55 minutes or so, I realize now, (hours after the live-stream) that audio may not be heard. If there is a way to fix this, we will work towards doing that. Interestingly enough, we didn’t get any complaints via e-mail about internet viewers not being able to hear the audio.

We’ll be sure to work on these “bugs” for next time. For the most part, we'll let you develop your own opinion and hope you find the video useful. Thank you for visiting.

"Ceded" Lands Case Debate at Law School hosted by Federalist Society

We couldn't resist letting you know about an event that is happening today. An organization (often recognized as a conservative organization) at the law school known as the Federalist Society is hosting a debate on the "ceded" lands case at 12:45pm. The Federalist Society, despite being a law student organization, is not affiliated with the Kupu‘āina Coalition or ‘Ahahui o Hawai‘i (the Hawaiian law student organization). Attached is the flyer distributed by the Federalist Society. Participating in the debate is Ilya Shapiro and Honolulu attorney and law professor Carl Christensen.

The Kupu‘āina Coalition supports the Hawai'i Supreme Court's landmark January 31, 2008 ruling that placed a moratorium on the sale of ceded lands until the unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians are resolved. Our organization has also been active in the effort to have a moratorium passed by the Hawai'i legislature that would protect Hawaiian claims. We believe it is important for the Hawaiian community, and the general Hawaii community to witness for themselves what institutions exist that fiercely oppose Native Hawaiian programs and seek the demise of those programs and Native Hawaiian rights and claims.

We are up against more than just the "Grassroot Institute of Hawaii" or the "Pacific Legal Foundation." In our effort to show our supporters who some of the people and institutions are that seek to actively work against us, we will be live-streaming today's event from our website, www.stopsellingcededlands.com. However, we want you to know, that we are in complete disagreement with Ilya Shapiro and we want everyone to know that despite the fact that a law student (or two) have organized tomorrow's event, their views on the issue neither reflects the views of Kupu‘āina nor do their views (if any) discourage Kupu‘āina from proceeding with our efforts to protect the ceded lands. It may also be important for people to know that Kupu‘āina and Ahahui o Hawai'i were not consulted in anyway before this event was scheduled. We had no input for the decision making or determining who would be speaking/debating today.

While our views are in disagreement with Illya Shapiro, we are confident that this debate will show our community and our supporters what we are up against. We are streaming this event not because we agree with it, (we DO NOT AGREE with the anti-Hawaiian views that will be expressed in it) but we consider it useful just for the simple purpose of knowing our opponents. The event is scheduled to start at 12:45 pm today.

2009-02-09 Kupu'aina Webcast

You can watch this evenings webcast below.

In the webcast above, I send mahalo to people whose names I wrote on a piece of paper. I forgot to write the following two names:

Valentino Ching, and
Paul Gabriel

Mahalo to everyone for their support and encouragement.

Bond Ratings Have Not Been Affected By Ceded Lands Case

Attorney General Mark has said that the Hawai'i Supreme Court's landmark January 31, 2008, ruling, that the State of Hawai'i could not selling ceded lands until the unrelinquished claims of Native Hawaiians are resolved have affected the state's financial situation. He has specifically suggested that the state's bond ratings have been negatively affected. Below is a table of the State's bond ratings from three bond rating firms. The table covers the years between 2003 and 2008.

YEAR	S & P	Moody's	Fitch
2008	AA	Aa2	AA
2007	AA	Aa2	AA
2006	AA-	Aa2	AA
2005	AA-	Aa2	AA-
2004	AA-	Aa3	AA-
2003	AA-	Aa3	AA-

By clicking on each individual year, you will be taken to an individual News Release from the Governor's Office acknowledging the bond ratings.

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In other news, we're now listed at http://hawaii.alltop.com. I met Guy Kawasaki last year when he spoke to law students, MBA students, and engineering students last year who were enrolled in the law school's High Growth Entrepreneurship class. Guy's book, The Art of the Start is nothing short of awesome, and I highly recommend it to all who are considering their own start-up, working for or with a start-up or just interested in start-ups.

Anyway, check out alltop.com

Meetings with Representatives Calvin Say, Sylvia Luke, Jon Riki Karamatsu, Pono Chong and Ken Ito

On Friday, Kupu‘āina organizers met with the following state lawmakers:

• Calvin Say
  
• Sylvia Luke
  
• Jon Riki Karamatsu
  
• Pono Chong
  
• Ken Ito and Sharon Har together.

We had a meeting scheduled with Representative Corinne Ching's office, but for some reason, when we went to the office, we were not on the schedule. We will probably make arrangements to re-schedule that.

The effort to get a moratorium bill passed this session, to protect the "ceded" lands, requires more support from the community.

House Bill 1667 was passed out of the first committee. It now goes, "jointly, to the Water, Land, and Ocean Resources ("WLO") and Judiciary Committees, with WLO being the "lead" committee. What this means, is, the WLO committee has to choose to hear HB 1667 and that it's not up to the Judiciary Committee to hear it.

Upon discussing with the different law makers the need to hear House Bill 1667 in committee, we learned that:

• WLO only meets on Mondays and Fridays, (and it looks like their last meeting is 2/13)
  
• Committees must give a 48 hour notice for a bill to be heard,
  
• Bills that have a triple referral, such as HB 1667, need to leave the second committee by February 19, 2009 or the bill will die in committee
  

Because we don't have much time to act, this is very important information to know for several reasons:

• The next practical hearing for HB 1667 with the WLO is the week of February 15-21.
  
  
  
  • BUT, February 16, a Monday on which WLO meets is a holiday, so WLO will not hear the bill on that day.
  
  
• The only possible day that week is Friday, February 13, 2009.
  
• For there to be a hearing on HB 1667 with WLO on February 13, HB 1667 has to be scheduled for the hearing no later than Wednesday, February 11, 2009.
  

When we spoke with Calvin Say he informed us that it was up to the committee chairs to decide whether or not they're going to hear specific bills in their hearings. When we spoke with Representatives Ken Ito and Sharon Har, (who, respectively are chair and vice-chair of WLO)they said it was up to House Leadership to determine which bills get heard. Representative Calvin Say is the House Leader.

So, at this point, what needs to happen is that we need supporters to call the following and urge them to support having HB 1667 heard in the WLO/JUDIARY committees.
We need people to call the following:

Representative Calvin Say at 586-6100
Representative Joseph Souki at 586-9444
Representative Michael Magaoay at 586-6380
Representative Marcus Oshiro at 586-6200
Representative Cindy Evans at 586-8510
Representative Pono Chong at 586-9490
Representative Lynn Finnegan at 586-9470
Representative Kymberly Marcos Pine at 586-9730
Representative Cynthia Thielen at 586-6480
Representative Corinne Ching at 586-9415
Representative Gene Ward at 586-6420.

Calling 2-3 (or more) of these lawmakers and saying the following will be helpful:
"Representative __________________, because you're a part of House Leadership, I urge you to advocate to the rest of the House leadership and to the chairs and vice chairs of the Water, Land & Ocean Resources and the Judiciary Committees to schedule House Bill 1667 for a committee hearing on Friday, February 13, 2009."

Despite the confusion conveyed to us as to how things happen, we're confident in our understanding as to how things actually work. Calling these guys, listed above, will help us cover our bases. We need you to keep track of who you called, when you called them, and to confirm that you urged them to have House Bill 1667 scheduled for a hearing.

House Bill 1667 and Senate Bill 1085 pass out of committees today.

At 9am this morning, the House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs had a hearing on a number of bills including House Bill 1667 and heard testimony. The first person to give Testimony was the Attorney General Mark Bennett. In the photo to the left you can see Committee Chair Representative Mele Carroll, to her left is Committee Vice-Chair Representative Maile Shimabukuro, and to the left of Maile is Representative Gene Ward. Attorney General Mark Bennett was the first to give testimony. Shortly after him, University of Hawai'i law professor Jon Van Dyke (and OHA attorney) provided oral testimony as well while countering comments made by Mark Bennett. The committee brought the two opposing attorneys back together with Clyde Namu'o (OHA Administrator) for some questions. If you watch the brief 3 minute video below, you'll hear Representative Gene Ward describe the debate between these two as a Lincoln Douglas debate.

At any rate, House Bill 1667 passed the Hawaiian Affairs Committee unanimously without any changes to the language of the bill.

A good number of people submitted testimony for House Bill 1667. You can read the testimony by clicking here. If you click here, you can see the "late" testimony.

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WATER, LAND, AGRICULTURE AND HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Today at 2:45, Senator Clayton Hee called the hearing of the Water, Land, Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs Committee to order. To the right is a photo with Committee Chair Senator Clayton Hee and Vice-Chair Senator Jill Tokuda. The hearing included a discussion on Senate Bill 1085 that provides a moratorium on the sale of ceded lands.
The Attorney General Mark Bennett provided testimony again first. Attorney Sherry Broder, the "lead" attorney for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs also gave testimony. Republican Senator Fred Hemmings asked some very "interesting" questions of both Sherry Broder and former Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Chairman Kali Watson. Despite Senator Hemmings questions, the committee passed Senate Bill 1085. Unlike its House Bill counter-part however, SB 1085 was passed with amendments.

Watch the Vote

There were some younger generation folks out there today who also gave oral testimony to the committee.
- Brandee Aukai (and her two keiki),
- Kelly Anne Beppu, and
- Kanoe D. Enos.

Brandee, Kelly Anne, and Kanoe are graduate students at the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work. All three social work students also submitted written testimony. Click here to read written testimony. To read the "late" testimony, click here.

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We need everyone to both call and e-mail this guy!


This is Senator Brian Taniguchi. Senator Taniguchi is the Chairperson for the Judiciary and Government Operations Committee.

We need Senator Taniguchi to have a committee hearing on Senate Bill 1085, which is a moratorium bill on ceded lands. We need a committee hearing on Senate Bill 1085 by February 20, 2009 but no later than February 27.

You can call Senator Taniguchi at 586-6460. E-mail can be sent to sentaniguchi@capitol.hawaii.gov

Phone calls and e-mails should be in a civil and polite tone. The first sentence in an e-mail should read, "Please have a hearing on Senate Bill 1085 by February 20, 2009" or "I request a hearing on Senate Bill 1085 before the end of the month.")

If you do not know what to say in a phone call, click here to get a sample phone script.

Phone Script For Calling Senator Taniguchi.

Call Senator Taniguchi at 586-6460.


Hello, my name is ____________________. I'm calling Senator Brian Taniguchi because I want to urge him to hold a hearing for Senate Bill 1085. My family and I would like to see Senate Bill 1085 passed out of the Judiciary and Government Operations Committee. Please give Senator Taniguchi this message for me. If he has any questions, he can contact me at _________________.

Contact your legislators

We need you to call and e-mail your lawmakers.

To find out who your District Representative and Senator is, type the name of your street in the field below and click on submit. Be sure to choose the county you live in.

Find Legislators:

Honolulu (Oahu)
Hawaii
Maui
Kauai