Ceded land measure proceeds without amendment

A proposal to transfer about 25 acres in Kakaako to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to settle ceded lands claims was advanced Tuesday by two House committees that reversed course on making technical changes to the bill.

The Hawaiian Affairs and Water, Land and Ocean Resources committees approved the measure unanimously, after taking action to undo an amendment they had made to the bill earlier in the week.

The committees had made only cosmetic changes to the bill without altering its content, but the amendment still could have prompted the Senate to take the bill to conference committee, where additional changes could be made.

"This bill is one of the state’s priorities — the governor has made it a priority and wants it to move out as fast as possible and be resolved as quickly as possible," Rep. Chris Lee, vice chairman of the Hawaiian Affairs Committee, said after the hearing.

"If it goes to conference, it extends the process another couple months, potentially, and who knows what could happen between now and then?" said Lee (D, Lanikai-Waimanalo). "We think that this is a priority for the House and the Senate and we want to get it done today."

The settlement is intended to resolve a dispute over OHA’s share of revenue from former crown lands since 1978. Gov. Neil Abercrombie and OHA reached a tentative agreement in November to convey state-controlled land in Kakaako to OHA to satisfy the debt. The deal is subject to approval by the Legislature.

The measure, introduced by the Abercrombie administration, was passed without amendments by the Senate. House leadership held their version of the bill to wait and see what was approved by the Senate.

Any changes made by the House now would send the bill back to the Senate, where lawmakers could agree to the changes or take the bill to conference to negotiate differences.

The House amendment had added a bar code to the paper copy of the bill. Rep. Sharon Har (D, Maka­kilo-Kapolei), vice chairwoman of the land committee, acknowledged that the changes were "aesthetic" and not substantive.

Removing the amendment clears the way for the House to pass the bill unamended and send it to Abercrombie for signing. The bill still must pass the House Judiciary and Finance committees, but House leaders say the intent is to pass a "clean" bill on to the governor.

"The cleaner the bill, the faster it’ll get to the governor for signature," said OHA Chairwoman Colette Machado. "What I’m worried about really is — in this process in conference, where testimony is not permitted — that they will begin to look at adding more things in without a process for OHA to respond."