Modified Action Alert from the Kupuʻāina Coalition, dated April 12, 2021:
*Please share!*
ACTION ALERT TO PROTECT "CEDED" LANDS
CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS!
Tell them to vote "NO" on HB499, HB902, and SB2 BY TUESDAY MORNING!
Despite over a hundred pages of testimony opposing each measure, all three of these blatant land-grab bills are scheduled for floor votes on Tuesday, 4/13. These bills are an affront to citizen participation and the legislative process, would serve to deplete the "ceded" lands corpus (which are already stolen Hawaiian Lands), and would render the state's repeated commitments to reconciliation with the Native Hawaiian community as mere lip service at best.
Although it is disheartening, remember the words of our Mōʻī Wahine: Never cease to act because you fear you may fail. We must be vigilant and we must take action to protect our claims to our ancestral lands. We can still stop these bad bills. Call and e-mail your legislators; tell them to vote NO on HB499, HB902, and SB2 (find your Senator and Representative here, or see the full roster of legislators here).
NOTE: You can easily e-mail legislators using these forms as well!
HB499: https://form.123formbuilder.com/5816039/vote-no-on-the-senate-floor-on-house-bill-499
SB2: https://form.123formbuilder.com/5871029/vote-no-on-the-house-floor
HB902 (counterpart to SB2) -- no form available but the e-mail addresses for all Senators (this list can also be used for HB499) can be copy and pasted from the below:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
TALKING POINTS
(feel free to use as a script or copy and paste in an e-mail to legislators)
1. Pushing these bills forward undermines the value of citizen participation as well as the entire legislative process
These bills are undemocratic; they easily advanced through the legislative process despite overwhelming opposition and minimal testimony in support:
HB499 HD2 SD1 - 123 individuals and 8 organizations OPPOSED; 2 individuals and 4 organizations in support.
HB902 HD1 SD1 - 126 individuals and 8 organizations OPPOSED; 2 individuals and 7 organizations in support.
SB2 SD2 HD1 - 76 individuals and 8 organizations OPPOSED; 1 individual and 4 organizations in support.
2. These bills, which are tantamount to the sale of "ceded" land, would forever foreclose Native Hawaiian claims to these lands
This would pull the rug out from under Native Hawaiians efforts to engage in nation-building
The assurances that "HHFDC will continue to hold these lands in trust" or that "the lands are only being leased, not sold" ring hollow. Once these lands are in someone else's hands for 99 years, it is unlikely that they will ever be returned to the "ceded" lands corpus
3. The state's repeated promises of reconciliation require understanding and addressing all of the impacts of historic injustice on Native Hawaiians, including and especially the root cause -- the loss of lands and governance.
The illegal theft of lands and governance -- which led to generations of cultural suppression, entire communities being cut off from their resources and self-sustaining lifeways, and the eviction and displacement of Native Hawaiians throughout the islands, continue to impact Native Hawaiians in areas such as housing needs, educational outcomes, criminal justice, socioeconomic status, physical and mental health, etc.
The state cannot claim to be in favor of reconciliation while at the same time ignoring Hawaiians' claims and rights to unjustly stolen lands and self-governance, and the particular and wide-ranging impacts of this historic injustice on Native Hawaiians today.
These bills would break the promises of reconciliation with Native Hawaiians made repeatedly by the state.
4. Re: SB2 HD2 - the limited "preference" language in the HD amendment is not meaningful
It isn't clear what a "preference" for DHHL waitlisters means.
The "preference" for DHHL waitlisters only applies to "ceded" land lease of 99 years -- HHFDC can simply offer 98 year leases to avoid having to give "preference" to DHHL waitlisters and the legal challenges this would raise.
This amendment does not address all the other concerns that Native Hawaiians have consistently voiced over and over again.
5. Re: HB902 & SB2 - these bills would allow public lands to be used for un-"affordable" housing that is priced far above what most residents can afford.
The state housing development agency, HHFDC, currently considers a $1 million, two-bedroom home as “affordable.” These bills would vastly expand the amount of public lands that the HHFDC could lease to private developers for 99-plus years at a time, for the development of “affordable” housing units that are priced far above what the majority of island residents can actually afford.
There should be no giveaway of public lands to private developers for a century at a time, to build housing units that local residents won’t be able to afford.
--
Kupu‘āina Coalition
As well, we know we must address the sense of betrayal that many in our Native Hawaiian community feel on the issue of ceded lands, and in particular the case now pending before the United States Supreme Court. We will not turn a deaf ear to these questions, as difficult as they may be. We have heard the call of the people and we must respond. -- Colleen Hanabusa January 21, 2009
*Please share!*
*Please share!*
ACTION ALERT TO PROTECT "CEDED" LANDS
CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS!
Tell them to vote "NO" on HB499, HB902, and SB2 BY TUESDAY MORNING!
Despite over a hundred pages of testimony opposing each measure, all three of these blatant land-grab bills are scheduled for floor votes on Tuesday, 4/13. These bills are an affront to citizen participation and the legislative process, would serve to deplete the "ceded" lands corpus (which are already stolen Hawaiian Lands), and would render the state's repeated commitments to reconciliation with the Native Hawaiian community as mere lip service at best.
Although it is disheartening, remember the words of our Mōʻī Wahine: Never cease to act because you fear you may fail. We must be vigilant and we must take action to protect our claims to our ancestral lands. We can still stop these bad bills. Call and e-mail your legislators; tell them to vote NO on HB499, HB902, and SB2 (find your Senator and Representative here, or see the full roster of legislators here).
NOTE: You can easily e-mail legislators using these forms as well!
HB499: https://form.123formbuilder.com/5816039/vote-no-on-the-senate-floor-on-house-bill-499
SB2: https://form.123formbuilder.com/5871029/vote-no-on-the-house-floor
HB902 (counterpart to SB2) -- no form available but the e-mail addresses for all Senators (this list can also be used for HB499) can be copy and pasted from the below:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
TALKING POINTS
(feel free to use as a script or copy and paste in an e-mail to legislators)
1. Pushing these bills forward undermines the value of citizen participation as well as the entire legislative process
These bills are undemocratic; they easily advanced through the legislative process despite overwhelming opposition and minimal testimony in support:
HB499 HD2 SD1 - 123 individuals and 8 organizations OPPOSED; 2 individuals and 4 organizations in support.
HB902 HD1 SD1 - 126 individuals and 8 organizations OPPOSED; 2 individuals and 7 organizations in support.
SB2 SD2 HD1 - 76 individuals and 8 organizations OPPOSED; 1 individual and 4 organizations in support.
2. These bills, which are tantamount to the sale of "ceded" land, would forever foreclose Native Hawaiian claims to these lands
This would pull the rug out from under Native Hawaiians efforts to engage in nation-building
The assurances that "HHFDC will continue to hold these lands in trust" or that "the lands are only being leased, not sold" ring hollow. Once these lands are in someone else's hands for 99 years, it is unlikely that they will ever be returned to the "ceded" lands corpus
3. The state's repeated promises of reconciliation require understanding and addressing all of the impacts of historic injustice on Native Hawaiians, including and especially the root cause -- the loss of lands and governance.
The illegal theft of lands and governance -- which led to generations of cultural suppression, entire communities being cut off from their resources and self-sustaining lifeways, and the eviction and displacement of Native Hawaiians throughout the islands, continue to impact Native Hawaiians in areas such as housing needs, educational outcomes, criminal justice, socioeconomic status, physical and mental health, etc.
The state cannot claim to be in favor of reconciliation while at the same time ignoring Hawaiians' claims and rights to unjustly stolen lands and self-governance, and the particular and wide-ranging impacts of this historic injustice on Native Hawaiians today.
These bills would break the promises of reconciliation with Native Hawaiians made repeatedly by the state.
4. Re: SB2 HD2 - the limited "preference" language in the HD amendment is not meaningful
It isn't clear what a "preference" for DHHL waitlisters means.
The "preference" for DHHL waitlisters only applies to "ceded" land lease of 99 years -- HHFDC can simply offer 98 year leases to avoid having to give "preference" to DHHL waitlisters and the legal challenges this would raise.
This amendment does not address all the other concerns that Native Hawaiians have consistently voiced over and over again.
5. Re: HB902 & SB2 - these bills would allow public lands to be used for un-"affordable" housing that is priced far above what most residents can afford.
The state housing development agency, HHFDC, currently considers a $1 million, two-bedroom home as “affordable.” These bills would vastly expand the amount of public lands that the HHFDC could lease to private developers for 99-plus years at a time, for the development of “affordable” housing units that are priced far above what the majority of island residents can actually afford.
There should be no giveaway of public lands to private developers for a century at a time, to build housing units that local residents won’t be able to afford.
--
Kupu‘āina Coalition
As well, we know we must address the sense of betrayal that many in our Native Hawaiian community feel on the issue of ceded lands, and in particular the case now pending before the United States Supreme Court. We will not turn a deaf ear to these questions, as difficult as they may be. We have heard the call of the people and we must respond. -- Colleen Hanabusa January 21, 2009
*Please share!*
