Comment Sought On Proposed Rule Changes

Aloha kakou:

At its regular meeting of February 21, 2012, the members of the Hawaiian Homes Commission considered two policy proposals that would become the basis for new administrative rules. After hearing testimony from beneficiaries, the commission voted to defer decision-making on these proposals to its regular meeting on March 19 to allow for beneficiaries and community members to submit policy alternatives to the proposals considered by the commission.

  • The comment period is now closed.
  • Your proposals must be submitted via the form below no later than 4:30 p.m. on March 1, 2012.

Subsequent Leases

The first policy examines an existing administrative rule (HAR §10-3-23) that describes how a DHHL applicant who has previously been a Hawaiian Home Lands lessee should be treated in the process of being awarded a subsequent lease. The recommendation to the commission is a policy that allows a native Hawaiian to apply for each type of homestead lease (residential, agricultural, and pastoral) once for his or her lifetime. The proposal also includes a recommendation that a previous lessee who has succeeded to a family member’s application interest should not be treated as a previous lessee when offered an award by Hawaiian Homes. The full policy proposal and submittal to the commission is available here:  [DOWNLOAD THE SUBMITTAL PDF]

Waiting Period After Lease Transfer

The second policy considers how many DHHL leases a native Hawaiian may hold over a lifetime. The recommendation to the commission is a policy that requires a previous lessee to wait a specified period of time (e.g., 15 years), from the time he/she relinquishes interest in a lease to the time he/she may acquire another of the same kind of lease. For example, if a lessee holds a residential lease and transfers it to another native Hawaiian, this lessee may not acquire another residential lease (through a transfer, successorship, or new application) for a period of 15 years. The full policy proposal and submittal to the commission is available here:  [DOWNLOAD THE SUBMITTAL PDF]

Sale of Homestead Leases

A third policy that has not yet been presented to the commission is one on the sale of homestead leases. While a proposal has not been presented, it is useful to consider this issue when considering policy alternatives to the previous two issues. If you are interested in proposing a policy on the sale of homestead leases, please consider the following questions:

  • Should the sale of leases be permitted?
  • Should sellers of a lease be prohibited from re-applying for an award?
  • Should there be a fee to process a lease sale?
  • Should sales be restricted to limited circumstances (i.e., only if a lessee can demonstrate a medical emergency, or financial hardship)?
  • Should the department be permitted to recover infrastructure costs from a profit made by a lessee from a sale of a lease?
  • Should leases be only sold to native Hawaiians on the waitlists?
[A submittal for this rule change has not been generated yet. We are seeking your comments in advance of preparing our submittal to the commission.]

Deadline for Comments

Mahalo for your interest and for engaging in this policy development process with us. Your proposals must be submitted via the form below no later than 4:30 p.m. on March 1, 2012.

  • The comment period is now closed.