Message from the Chairman

< Return to: Administrative Rules Update 2011

 

Aloha kākou:

The department’s Administrative Rules are important tools to implement the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and other laws, as well as describe our procedures, organization, requirements, and the relationship between the Hawaiian Home Lands trust and our beneficiaries.

Chairman Nahale-a

Updating our Administrative Rules is a priority for both the Hawaiian Homes Commission and department.  We will be going through a process over the next several months to examine our rules and recommend changes, and this process requires a strong working relationship among the commission members, beneficiaries, and department staff.

There are several opportunities for beneficiaries to provide mana‘o for amendments to our rules that could improve our department’s operations, and service to beneficiaries.  Starting at the Hawaiian Homes Commission meeting on September 19, 2011, the commission will have monthly discussions on various issues and policies that will shape the Administrative Rules.  We encourage you to submit testimony to the commission and weigh in on these issues.

Once the commission makes a policy decision on a specific issue, staff will begin to draft rules based on the decision.  When this drafting phase is complete, the department will conduct a statewide beneficiary consultation on these draft rules.

In addition to this process, the department will be completing the rulemaking process that was started by the previous chairman.  This set of amendments are technical in nature and more information can be found here: https://wp.me/P131TD-ox

In this section of our website, you will find a number of tools and resources to help you better understand our Administrative Rules and the rulemaking process.  Please check back regularly as we will frequently update the information here as this process moves forward.

We look forward to engaging with you in this effort to make our department more responsive to your needs.

Mahalo nui loa,

Albert “Alapaki” Nahale-a, Chairman
Hawaiian Homes Commission