ACTION ALERT!!!
E-mail these legislators and ask that they KILL HB499:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Phone numbers and more details also provided below.
E-mail these legislators and ask that they KILL HB499:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Phone numbers and more details also provided below.
ACTION ALERT TO PROTECT "CEDED" LANDS
CALL AND EMAIL THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABOVE
Tell them to HOLD HB499 HD2 SD2
*Please share this alert!*
The "ceded" lands lease extension bill, HB499 HD2 SD2, has made it to conference. This bill would allow stolen Hawaiian Kingdom crown and government lands, taken during the 1893 insurrection and overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani, to be leased for a century at a time. More specifically, this bill would allow any industrial, commercial, resort, or government lease of public and "ceded" lands -- which already can be leased for 65 years at a time -- to be extended for an additional 40 years! By foreclosing Native Hawaiian claims to these lands for over a century at a time, this bill all but guarantees their permanent alienation.
Despite overwhelming opposition (see here and here), this bill has advanced through both chambers of the legislature. The House and Senate have now appointed conferees who have until Thursday, April 22, to decide the fate of this bad bill. Now is our last chance to stop HB499 HD2 SD2 from making it out of conference. Call and e-mail members of the conference committee above to express your concerns, and share this action alert to others who will stand up against century long leases of public and "ceded" lands!
TALKING POINTS
This bill has been pushed through by certain legislators despite overwhelming grassroots and organizational opposition and minimal support, almost exclusively from corporate interests seeking to profit from public and "ceded" lands. Legislators have been receiving over 20 times more testimonies in opposition than in support, and are still voting to pass the bill (for example, in its second to last hearing, 145 individuals and 9 community organizations testified in opposition to this bill, with only 5 corporations and the DLNR in support -- yet all but one member of the Senate Water and Land Committee voted to pass the bill anyway, without addressing any of the concerns raised). This bill is an affront to democracy.
This bill is tantamount to the sale of "ceded" lands and may forever foreclose Native Hawaiian claims to lands leased to corporations and the military
Long, multi-generational leases create a sense of entitlement which only gets worse as the length of the lease increases. Those who are leasing "ceded" land will continue to push for more lease extensions. This would pull the rug out from under Native Hawaiians efforts to engage in nation-building. 65 years is long enough!
This bill would continue the legacy of providing sweetheart deals in violation of the state's fiduciary duties as a trustee of our lands and natural resources.
As just one example, consider that in 1964 the state granted a 65-year lease of approximately 23,000 acres of "ceded" land at Pōhakuloa to the army for military purposes - for just $1! Recently, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court affirmed that the state has been violating its fiduciary duties by failing to inspect the land to ensure that the army is abiding by the terms of its lease. This bill would allow the state to extend such leases, even though we know the state has a history of engaging in shady land transactions. Enough already -- no more sweetheart deals!
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. This bill would break the promises of reconciliation with Native Hawaiians made repeatedly by the state!
Just a brief update on the other land-grab bills:
SB2 was recommitted to the House Committee on Finance, so it is dead for now. Hūlō!!!
HB902 (the house companion to SB2) is still alive, however conferees have not yet been assigned to it. We will continue to be makaʻala!
CALL AND EMAIL THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABOVE
Tell them to HOLD HB499 HD2 SD2
*Please share this alert!*
The "ceded" lands lease extension bill, HB499 HD2 SD2, has made it to conference. This bill would allow stolen Hawaiian Kingdom crown and government lands, taken during the 1893 insurrection and overthrow of Queen Lili'uokalani, to be leased for a century at a time. More specifically, this bill would allow any industrial, commercial, resort, or government lease of public and "ceded" lands -- which already can be leased for 65 years at a time -- to be extended for an additional 40 years! By foreclosing Native Hawaiian claims to these lands for over a century at a time, this bill all but guarantees their permanent alienation.
Despite overwhelming opposition (see here and here), this bill has advanced through both chambers of the legislature. The House and Senate have now appointed conferees who have until Thursday, April 22, to decide the fate of this bad bill. Now is our last chance to stop HB499 HD2 SD2 from making it out of conference. Call and e-mail members of the conference committee above to express your concerns, and share this action alert to others who will stand up against century long leases of public and "ceded" lands!
TALKING POINTS
This bill has been pushed through by certain legislators despite overwhelming grassroots and organizational opposition and minimal support, almost exclusively from corporate interests seeking to profit from public and "ceded" lands. Legislators have been receiving over 20 times more testimonies in opposition than in support, and are still voting to pass the bill (for example, in its second to last hearing, 145 individuals and 9 community organizations testified in opposition to this bill, with only 5 corporations and the DLNR in support -- yet all but one member of the Senate Water and Land Committee voted to pass the bill anyway, without addressing any of the concerns raised). This bill is an affront to democracy.
This bill is tantamount to the sale of "ceded" lands and may forever foreclose Native Hawaiian claims to lands leased to corporations and the military
Long, multi-generational leases create a sense of entitlement which only gets worse as the length of the lease increases. Those who are leasing "ceded" land will continue to push for more lease extensions. This would pull the rug out from under Native Hawaiians efforts to engage in nation-building. 65 years is long enough!
This bill would continue the legacy of providing sweetheart deals in violation of the state's fiduciary duties as a trustee of our lands and natural resources.
As just one example, consider that in 1964 the state granted a 65-year lease of approximately 23,000 acres of "ceded" land at Pōhakuloa to the army for military purposes - for just $1! Recently, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court affirmed that the state has been violating its fiduciary duties by failing to inspect the land to ensure that the army is abiding by the terms of its lease. This bill would allow the state to extend such leases, even though we know the state has a history of engaging in shady land transactions. Enough already -- no more sweetheart deals!
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. This bill would break the promises of reconciliation with Native Hawaiians made repeatedly by the state!
Just a brief update on the other land-grab bills:
SB2 was recommitted to the House Committee on Finance, so it is dead for now. Hūlō!!!
HB902 (the house companion to SB2) is still alive, however conferees have not yet been assigned to it. We will continue to be makaʻala!