HI HR145

Requests the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to establish a working group to study returning Crown Lands to Native Hawaiians.

Working group must identify which Crown Land tax map keys should be prioritized for return and which entity or entities should receive and manage the lands.

Working group composition includes nine members: Chairperson of Hawaiian Homes Commission, Chairperson of Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees, Director of Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law, a Native Hawaiian legal practitioner, and presidents/executives of ALU LIKE Inc., Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Native Hawaiian Education Association, and Papa Ola Lokahi Inc.

Working group must submit findings and recommendations, including proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the 2023 Regular Session.

Resolution acknowledges that 1.8 million acres of Crown and Government Lands were ceded to the United States without consent or compensation to Native Hawaiians following the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii.