HB 2309: HHCA; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Eligible Transferees and Successors to Homestead Leases
- Session Year: 2025-2026
- House: House
- Latest Version Date: 2026-04-29
Current Status:
Passed
(2026-06-26: Act 164, on 06/26/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1266).)
Introduced
In Committee
First Chamber
In Committee
Second Chamber
Final Decking
Enacted
What does this bill do?
The bill lets Hawaiian homestead lessees transfer their lease or name successors to include a sibling's child (a niece or nephew) as an eligible transferee or successor, treated the same as spouses, children, grandchildren, and siblings. This change affects Native Hawaiian lessees and their family members who may inherit or receive homestead lease rights.
The summary is provided by generative AI which can make mistakes. For original language, please view the details in the table below.
Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to include children of a sibling as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship, in the same manner currently allowed for spouses, children, grandchildren, and siblings. (CD1)
Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to include sibling's children as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship, in the same manner currently allowed for spouses, children, grandchildren, and siblings. Effective 3/22/2075. (SD1)
Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to include sibling's children as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship, in the same manner currently allowed for spouses, children, grandchildren, and siblings. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
Amends sections 208 and 209(a) of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, to include nieces and nephews who are at least one-quarter Native Hawaiian as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2309 |
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THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 1 |
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C.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 208, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended to read as follows:
"§208. Conditions of leases. Each lease made under the authority granted to the department by section 207 of this Act, and the tract in respect to which the lease is made, shall be deemed subject to the following conditions, whether or not stipulated in the lease:
(1) The original lessee shall be a native Hawaiian, not less than
eighteen years of age. In case two
lessees either original or in succession marry, they shall choose the lease to
be retained, and the remaining lease shall be transferred, quitclaimed, or
canceled in accordance with the provisions of succeeding sections[.];
(2) The lessee shall pay a rental of $1 a year for the tract and the
lease shall be for a term of ninety-nine years; [except] provided
that the department may extend the term of any lease; provided further
that the approval of any extension shall be subject to the condition that the
aggregate of the initial ninety-nine year term and any extension granted shall
not be for more than one hundred ninety-nine years[.];
(3) The lessee may be required to occupy and commence to use or
cultivate the tract as the lessee's home or farm or occupy and commence to use
the tract for aquaculture purposes, as the case may be, within one year after
the commencement of the term of the lease[.];
(4) The lessee thereafter, for at least such part of each year as the
department shall prescribe by rules, shall occupy and use or cultivate the
tract on the lessee's own behalf[.];
(5) The lessee shall not in any manner transfer to, or otherwise hold
for the benefit of, any other person or group of persons or organizations of
any kind, except a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, and then only upon the
approval of the department, or agree so to transfer, or otherwise hold, the
lessee's interest in the tract; [except] provided that the
lessee, with the approval of the department, also may transfer the lessee's
interest in the tract to the following qualified relatives of the lessee who
are at least one-quarter Hawaiian: [husband,
wife,] spouse, child, [or] grandchild[.], or
sibling's child. A lessee who is at
least one-quarter Hawaiian who has received an interest in the tract through
succession or transfer may, with the approval of the department, transfer the
lessee's leasehold interest to a [brother or sister] sibling who
is at least one-quarter Hawaiian. Such
interest shall not, except in pursuance of such a transfer to or holding for or
agreement with a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians or qualified relative who is at
least one-quarter Hawaiian approved of by the department or for any
indebtedness due the department or for taxes or for any other indebtedness the
payment of which has been assured by the department, including loans from other
agencies where such loans have been approved by the department, be subject to
attachment, levy, or sale upon court process.
The lessee shall not sublet the lessee's interest in the tract or
improvements thereon; provided that a lessee may be permitted, with the
approval of the department, to rent to a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, lodging
either within the lessee's existing home or in a separate residential dwelling
unit constructed on the premises[.];
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (5), the lessee, with the consent and approval of the commission, may mortgage or pledge the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon to a recognized lending institution authorized to do business as a lending institution in either the State or elsewhere in the United States; provided that the loan secured by a mortgage on the lessee's leasehold interest is insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, which are authorized to insure or guarantee such loans, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance as approved by the commission. The mortgagee's interest in any such mortgage shall be freely assignable. Such mortgages, to be effective, must be consented to and approved by the commission and recorded with the department.
Further,
notwithstanding the authorized purposes of loan limitations imposed under
section 214 of this Act and the authorized loan amount limitations imposed
under section 215 of this Act, loans made by lending institutions as provided
in this paragraph, insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration,
Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their
respective successors and assigns, or any acceptable private mortgage
insurance, may be for such purposes and in such amounts, not to exceed the
maximum insurable limits, together with such assistance payments and other
fees, as established under section 421 of the Housing and Urban Rural Recovery
Act of 1983 which amended Title II of the National Housing Act of 1934 by
adding section 247, and its implementing regulations, to permit the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development to insure loans secured by a mortgage executed
by the homestead lessee covering a homestead lease issued under section 207(a)
of this Act and upon which there is located a one to four family single family
residence[.];
(7) The lessee shall pay all taxes assessed upon the tract and
improvements thereon. The department may
pay such taxes and have a lien therefor as provided by section 216 of this Act[.];
and
(8) The lessee shall perform such other conditions, not in conflict with any provision of this Act, as the department may stipulate in the lease; provided that an original lessee shall be exempt from all taxes for the first seven years after commencement of the term of the lease."
SECTION 2. Section 209, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one-quarter Hawaiian[, husband, wife,]: spouse, children, grandchildren, [brothers,
or sisters,] siblings, or sibling's children, or (2) native Hawaiian[,
father and mother, widows or widowers]:
parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows or widowers
of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews,] or surviving
spouses of the siblings,--the lessee shall designate the person or persons
to whom the lessee directs the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts to vest
upon the lessee's death. The Hawaiian
blood requirements shall not apply to the descendants of those who are not
native Hawaiians but who were entitled to the leased lands under section 3 of
the Act of May 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3 of
the Act of July 9, 1952 (66 Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that person or persons need not
be eighteen years of age. The
designation shall be in writing, may be specified at the time of execution of
the lease with a right in the lessee in similar manner to change the
beneficiary at any time and shall be filed with the department and approved by
the department in order to be effective to vest the interests in the successor
or successors so named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) [Husband or wife;] Spouse; or
(2) If there is no [husband
or wife,] spouse, then the children; or
(3) If there is no [husband,
wife,] spouse or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no [husband, wife,] spouse, child, or
grandchild, then [brothers or sisters;] siblings; or
(5) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling, then sibling's children; or
[(5)] (6) If there is no [husband,
wife,] spouse, child, grandchild, [brother, or sister,] sibling,
or sibling's child, then from the following relatives of the lessee who are
native Hawaiian: [father and mother,
widows or widowers] parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows
or widowers of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews.] or
surviving spouses of the siblings.
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of
a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, [husband, wife,]
spouse, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of
Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as
unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land
to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 3. Section 209, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, as amended by section 2 of Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, and pending consent of the United States Congress, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one thirty-second Hawaiian[,]: spouse, children, grandchildren, [brothers,
or sisters,] siblings, or sibling's children, or (2) native Hawaiian[,
father and mother, widows or widowers]:
parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows or widowers
of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews,] or surviving
spouses of the siblings,--the lessee shall designate the person or persons to whom the
lessee directs the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts to vest upon the lessee's death. The Hawaiian
blood requirements shall not apply to the descendants of those who are not
native Hawaiians but who were entitled to the leased lands under section 3 of
the Act of May 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3 of
the Act of July 9, 1952 (66 Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that person or persons need not
be eighteen years of age. The designation
shall be in writing, may be specified at the time of execution of the lease
with a right in the lessee in similar manner to change the beneficiary at any
time and shall be filed with the department and approved by the department in
order to be effective to vest the interests in the successor or successors so
named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) Spouse; or
(2) If there is no spouse, then the children; or
(3) If there is no spouse or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no spouse,
child, or grandchild, then [brothers or sisters;] siblings; or
(5) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling, then sibling's children; or
[(5)] (6) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, [brother,
or sister,] sibling, or sibling's child, then from the following
relatives of the lessee who are native Hawaiian: [father and mother, widows or widowers]
parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows or widowers of
the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews.] or surviving spouses
of the siblings.
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, spouse, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval pursuant to section 16 of article III of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; provided that sections 1, 2, and 3 shall take effect pursuant to title 43 Code of Federal Regulations part 48 on either:
(1) The date of the United States Secretary of the Interior's notification letter to the Congressional Committee Chairpersons that this Act meets none of the criteria in title 43 Code of Federal Regulations section 48.20; or
(2) The date on which approval by the United States Congress becomes law.
Report Title:
HHCA; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Eligible Transferees and Successors to Homestead Leases
Description:
Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to include children of a sibling as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship, in the same manner currently allowed for spouses, children, grandchildren, and siblings. (CD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2309 |
|
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 1 |
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|
|
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 208, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended to read as follows:
"§208. Conditions of leases. Each lease made under the authority granted the department by section 207 of this Act, and the tract in respect to which the lease is made, shall be deemed subject to the following conditions, whether or not stipulated in the lease:
(1) The original lessee shall be a native Hawaiian, not less than
eighteen years of age. In case two
lessees either original or in succession marry, they shall choose the lease to
be retained, and the remaining lease shall be transferred, quitclaimed, or
canceled in accordance with the provisions of succeeding sections[.];
(2) The lessee shall pay a rental of $1 a year for the tract and the
lease shall be for a term of ninety-nine years; [except] provided
that the department may extend the term of any lease; provided further
that the approval of any extension shall be subject to the condition that the
aggregate of the initial ninety-nine year term and any extension granted shall
not be for more than one hundred ninety-nine years[.];
(3) The lessee may be required to occupy and commence to use or
cultivate the tract as the lessee's home or farm or occupy and commence to use
the tract for aquaculture purposes, as the case may be, within one year after
the commencement of the term of the lease[.];
(4) The lessee thereafter, for at least such part of each year as the
department shall prescribe by rules, shall occupy and use or cultivate the
tract on the lessee's own behalf[.];
(5) The lessee shall not in any manner transfer to, or otherwise hold
for the benefit of, any other person or group of persons or organizations of
any kind, except a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, and then only upon the
approval of the department, or agree so to transfer, or otherwise hold, the
lessee's interest in the tract; [except] provided that the
lessee, with the approval of the department, also may transfer the lessee's
interest in the tract to the following qualified relatives of the lessee who
are at least one-quarter Hawaiian: [husband,
wife,] spouse, child, [or] grandchild[.], or
sibling's child. A lessee who is at
least one-quarter Hawaiian who has received an interest in the tract through
succession or transfer may, with the approval of the department, transfer the
lessee's leasehold interest to a [brother or sister] sibling who
is at least one-quarter Hawaiian. Such
interest shall not, except in pursuance of such a transfer to or holding for or
agreement with a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians or qualified relative who is at
least one-quarter Hawaiian approved of by the department or for any
indebtedness due the department or for taxes or for any other indebtedness the
payment of which has been assured by the department, including loans from other
agencies where such loans have been approved by the department, be subject to
attachment, levy, or sale upon court process.
The lessee shall not sublet the lessee's interest in the tract or
improvements thereon; provided that a lessee may be permitted, with the
approval of the department, to rent to a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, lodging
either within the lessee's existing home or in a separate residential dwelling
unit constructed on the premises[.];
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (5), the lessee, with the consent and approval of the commission, may mortgage or pledge the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon to a recognized lending institution authorized to do business as a lending institution in either the State or elsewhere in the United States; provided that the loan secured by a mortgage on the lessee's leasehold interest is insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, which are authorized to insure or guarantee such loans, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance as approved by the commission. The mortgagee's interest in any such mortgage shall be freely assignable. Such mortgages, to be effective, must be consented to and approved by the commission and recorded with the department.
Further,
notwithstanding the authorized purposes of loan limitations imposed under
section 214 of this Act and the authorized loan amount limitations imposed
under section 215 of this Act, loans made by lending institutions as provided
in this paragraph, insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration,
Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their
respective successors and assigns, or any acceptable private mortgage
insurance, may be for such purposes and in such amounts, not to exceed the
maximum insurable limits, together with such assistance payments and other
fees, as established under section 421 of the Housing and Urban Rural Recovery
Act of 1983 which amended Title II of the National Housing Act of 1934 by
adding section 247, and its implementing regulations, to permit the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development to insure loans secured by a mortgage executed
by the homestead lessee covering a homestead lease issued under section 207(a)
of this Act and upon which there is located a one to four family single family
residence[.];
(7) The lessee shall pay all taxes assessed upon the tract and
improvements thereon. The department may
pay such taxes and have a lien therefor as provided by section 216 of this Act[.];
and
(8) The lessee shall perform such other conditions, not in conflict with any provision of this Act, as the department may stipulate in the lease; provided that an original lessee shall be exempt from all taxes for the first seven years after commencement of the term of the lease."
SECTION 2. Section 209, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one-quarter Hawaiian[, husband, wife,]: spouse,
children, grandchildren, [brothers, or sisters,] siblings, or
sibling's children, or (2) native Hawaiian[, father and mother, widows
or widowers]: parents, surviving
spouses of the children, [widows or widowers of the brothers and
sisters, or nieces and nephews,] or surviving spouses of the siblings,--the
lessee shall designate the person or persons to whom the lessee directs the
lessee's interest in the tract or tracts to vest upon the lessee's death. The Hawaiian blood requirements shall not
apply to the descendants of those who are not native Hawaiians but who were
entitled to the leased lands under section 3 of the Act of May 16, 1934 (48
Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3 of the Act of July 9, 1952 (66
Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that
person or persons need not be eighteen years of age. The designation shall be in writing, may be
specified at the time of execution of the lease with a right in the lessee in
similar manner to change the beneficiary at any time and shall be filed with
the department and approved by the department in order to be effective to vest
the interests in the successor or successors so named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) [Husband or wife;] Spouse; or
(2) If there is no [husband
or wife,] spouse, then the children; or
(3) If there is no [husband,
wife,] spouse or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no [husband, wife,] spouse, child, or
grandchild, then [brothers or sisters;] siblings; or
(5) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling, then sibling's children; or
[(5)] (6) If there is no [husband,
wife,] spouse, child, grandchild, [brother, or sister,] sibling,
or sibling's child, then from the following relatives of the lessee who are
native Hawaiian: [father and mother,
widows or widowers] parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows
or widowers of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews.] or
surviving spouses of the siblings.
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of
a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, [husband, wife,]
spouse, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of
Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as
unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land
to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 3. Section 209, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, as amended by section 2 of Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, and pending consent of the United States Congress, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one thirty-second Hawaiian[,]: spouse, children,
grandchildren, [brothers, or sisters,] siblings, or sibling's
children, or (2) native Hawaiian[, father and mother, widows or widowers]:
parents, surviving spouses of the
children, [widows or widowers of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and
nephews,] or surviving spouses of the siblings,--the lessee shall designate
the person or persons to whom the lessee directs the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts to vest upon the lessee's death. The Hawaiian
blood requirements shall not apply to the descendants of those who are not
native Hawaiians but who were entitled to the leased lands under section 3 of
the Act of May 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3 of
the Act of July 9, 1952 (66 Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that person or persons need not
be eighteen years of age. The designation
shall be in writing, may be specified at the time of execution of the lease
with a right in the lessee in similar manner to change the beneficiary at any
time and shall be filed with the department and approved by the department in
order to be effective to vest the interests in the successor or successors so
named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) Spouse; or
(2) If there is no spouse, then the children; or
(3) If there is no spouse or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no spouse,
child, or grandchild, then [brothers or sisters;] siblings; or
(5) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling, then sibling's children; or
[(5)] (6) If
there is no spouse, child, grandchild, [brother, or sister,] sibling,
or sibling's child, then from the following relatives of the lessee who are
native Hawaiian: [father and mother,
widows or widowers] parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows
or widowers of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews.] or
surviving spouses of the siblings.
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, spouse, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on March 22, 2075, pursuant to section 16 of article III of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; provided that sections 1, 2, and 3 shall take effect pursuant to title 43 Code of Federal Regulations part 48 on either:
(1) The date of the United States Secretary of the Interior's notification letter to the Congressional Committee Chairpersons that this Act meets none of the criteria in title 43 Code of Federal Regulations section 48.20; or
(2) The date that the United States Congress's approval becomes law.
Report Title:
HHCA; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Eligible Transferees and Successors to Homestead Leases
Description:
Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to include sibling's children as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship, in the same manner currently allowed for spouses, children, grandchildren, and siblings. Effective 3/22/2075. (SD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2309 |
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THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 208, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended to read as follows:
"§208. Conditions of leases. Each lease made under the authority granted the department by section 207 of this Act, and the tract in respect to which the lease is made, shall be deemed subject to the following conditions, whether or not stipulated in the lease:
(1) The original lessee shall be a native Hawaiian, not less than
eighteen years of age. In case two
lessees either original or in succession marry, they shall choose the lease to
be retained, and the remaining lease shall be transferred, quitclaimed, or
canceled in accordance with the provisions of succeeding sections[.];
(2) The lessee shall pay a rental of $1 a year for the tract and the
lease shall be for a term of ninety-nine years; [except] provided
that the department may extend the term of any lease; provided further
that the approval of any extension shall be subject to the condition that the
aggregate of the initial ninety-nine year term and any extension granted shall
not be for more than one hundred ninety-nine years[.];
(3) The lessee may be required to occupy and commence to use or
cultivate the tract as the lessee's home or farm or occupy and commence to use
the tract for aquaculture purposes, as the case may be, within one year after
the commencement of the term of the lease[.];
(4) The lessee thereafter, for at least such part of each year as the
department shall prescribe by rules, shall occupy and use or cultivate the
tract on the lessee's own behalf[.];
(5) The lessee shall not in any manner transfer to, or otherwise hold
for the benefit of, any other person or group of persons or organizations of
any kind, except a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, and then only upon the
approval of the department, or agree so to transfer, or otherwise hold, the
lessee's interest in the tract; [except] provided that the
lessee, with the approval of the department, also may transfer the lessee's
interest in the tract to the following qualified relatives of the lessee who
are at least one-quarter Hawaiian: [husband,
wife,] spouse, child, [or] grandchild[.], or
sibling's child. A lessee who is at
least one-quarter Hawaiian who has received an interest in the tract through
succession or transfer may, with the approval of the department, transfer the
lessee's leasehold interest to a [brother or sister] sibling who
is at least one-quarter Hawaiian. Such
interest shall not, except in pursuance of such a transfer to or holding for or
agreement with a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians or qualified relative who is at
least one-quarter Hawaiian approved of by the department or for any
indebtedness due the department or for taxes or for any other indebtedness the
payment of which has been assured by the department, including loans from other
agencies where such loans have been approved by the department, be subject to
attachment, levy, or sale upon court process.
The lessee shall not sublet the lessee's interest in the tract or
improvements thereon; provided that a lessee may be permitted, with the
approval of the department, to rent to a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, lodging
either within the lessee's existing home or in a separate residential dwelling
unit constructed on the premises[.];
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (5), the lessee, with the consent and approval of the commission, may mortgage or pledge the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon to a recognized lending institution authorized to do business as a lending institution in either the State or elsewhere in the United States; provided that the loan secured by a mortgage on the lessee's leasehold interest is insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, which are authorized to insure or guarantee such loans, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance as approved by the commission. The mortgagee's interest in any such mortgage shall be freely assignable. Such mortgages, to be effective, must be consented to and approved by the commission and recorded with the department.
Further,
notwithstanding the authorized purposes of loan limitations imposed under
section 214 of this Act and the authorized loan amount limitations imposed
under section 215 of this Act, loans made by lending institutions as provided
in this paragraph, insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration,
Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their
respective successors and assigns, or any acceptable private mortgage
insurance, may be for such purposes and in such amounts, not to exceed the
maximum insurable limits, together with such assistance payments and other
fees, as established under section 421 of the Housing and Urban Rural Recovery
Act of 1983 which amended Title II of the National Housing Act of 1934 by
adding section 247, and its implementing regulations, to permit the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development to insure loans secured by a mortgage executed
by the homestead lessee covering a homestead lease issued under section 207(a)
of this Act and upon which there is located a one to four family single family
residence[.];
(7) The lessee shall pay all taxes assessed upon the tract and
improvements thereon. The department may
pay such taxes and have a lien therefor as provided by section 216 of this Act[.];
and
(8) The lessee shall perform such other conditions, not in conflict with any provision of this Act, as the department may stipulate in the lease; provided that an original lessee shall be exempt from all taxes for the first seven years after commencement of the term of the lease."
SECTION 2. Section 209, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one-quarter Hawaiian, [husband, wife,] spouse,
children, grandchildren, [brothers, or sisters,] siblings, or
sibling's children, or (2) native Hawaiian, [father and mother, widows
or widowers] parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows
or widowers of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews,] or
surviving spouses of the siblings,--the lessee shall designate the person
or persons to whom the lessee directs the lessee's interest in the tract or
tracts to vest upon the lessee's death. The
Hawaiian blood requirements shall not apply to the descendants of those who are
not native Hawaiians but who were entitled to the leased lands under section 3
of the Act of May 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3
of the Act of July 9, 1952 (66 Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that person or persons need not
be eighteen years of age. The
designation shall be in writing, may be specified at the time of execution of
the lease with a right in the lessee in similar manner to change the
beneficiary at any time and shall be filed with the department and approved by
the department in order to be effective to vest the interests in the successor
or successors so named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) [Husband or wife;] Spouse; or
(2) If there is no [husband
or wife,] spouse, then the children; or
(3) If there is no [husband,
wife,] spouse or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no [husband, wife,] spouse, child, or
grandchild, then [brothers or sisters;] siblings; or
(5) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling, then sibling's children; or
[(5)] (6) If there is no [husband,
wife,] spouse, child, grandchild, [brother, or sister,] sibling,
or sibling's child, then from the following relatives of the lessee who are
native Hawaiian: [father and mother,
widows or widowers] parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows
or widowers of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews.] or
surviving spouses of the siblings.
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of
a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, [husband, wife,]
spouse, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of
Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as
unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land
to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 3. Section 209, Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, as amended by section 2 of Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, and pending consent of the United States Congress, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one thirty-second Hawaiian, spouse, children, grandchildren, [brothers,
or sisters,] siblings, or sibling's children, or (2) native
Hawaiian, [father and mother, widows or widowers] parents, surviving
spouses of the children, [widows or widowers of the brothers and
sisters, or nieces and nephews,] or surviving spouses of the siblings,--the lessee shall designate
the person or persons to whom the lessee directs the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts to vest upon the lessee's death. The Hawaiian
blood requirements shall not apply to the descendants of those who are not
native Hawaiians but who were entitled to the leased lands under section 3 of
the Act of May 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3 of
the Act of July 9, 1952 (66 Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that person or persons need not
be eighteen years of age. The designation
shall be in writing, may be specified at the time of execution of the lease
with a right in the lessee in similar manner to change the beneficiary at any
time and shall be filed with the department and approved by the department in
order to be effective to vest the interests in the successor or successors so
named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) Spouse; or
(2) If there is no spouse, then the children; or
(3) If there is no spouse or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no spouse,
child, or grandchild, then [brothers or sisters;] siblings; or
(5) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling, then sibling's children; or
[(5)] (6) If
there is no spouse, child, grandchild, [brother, or sister,] sibling,
or sibling's child, then from the following relatives of the lessee who are
native Hawaiian: [father and mother,
widows or widowers] parents, surviving spouses of the children, [widows
or widowers of the brothers and sisters, or nieces and nephews.] or
surviving spouses of the siblings.
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, spouse, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 3000, pursuant to section 16 of article III of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; provided that sections 1, 2, and 3 shall take effect pursuant to title 43 Code of Federal Regulations part 48 on either:
(1) The date of the United States Secretary of the Interior's notification letter to the Congressional Committee Chairpersons that this Act meets none of the criteria in title 43 Code of Federal Regulations section 48.20; or
(2) The date that the United States Congress's approval becomes law.
Report Title:
HHCA; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Eligible Transferees and Successors to Homestead Leases
Description:
Amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to include sibling's children as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship, in the same manner currently allowed for spouses, children, grandchildren, and siblings. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
|
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2309 |
|
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 |
|
|
|
STATE OF HAWAII |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Section 208 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, is amended to read as follows:
"§208. Conditions of leases. Each lease made under the authority granted the department by section 207 of this Act, and the tract in respect to which the lease is made, shall be deemed subject to the following conditions, whether or not stipulated in the lease:
(1) The original lessee shall be a native Hawaiian, not less than eighteen years of age. In case two lessees either original or in succession marry, they shall choose the lease to be retained, and the remaining lease shall be transferred, quitclaimed, or canceled in accordance with the provisions of succeeding sections.
(2) The lessee shall pay a rental of $1 a year for the tract and the lease shall be for a term of ninety-nine years; except that the department may extend the term of any lease; provided that the approval of any extension shall be subject to the condition that the aggregate of the initial ninety-nine year term and any extension granted shall not be for more than one hundred ninety-nine years.
(3) The lessee may be required to occupy and commence to use or cultivate the tract as the lessee's home or farm or occupy and commence to use the tract for aquaculture purposes, as the case may be, within one year after the commencement of the term of the lease.
(4) The lessee thereafter, for at least such part of each year as the department shall prescribe by rules, shall occupy and use or cultivate the tract on the lessee's own behalf.
(5) The lessee shall not in any manner transfer to, or otherwise hold
for the benefit of, any other person or group of persons or organizations of
any kind, except a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, and then only upon the
approval of the department, or agree so to transfer, or otherwise hold, the
lessee's interest in the tract; except that the lessee, with the approval of
the department, also may transfer the lessee's interest in the tract to the
following qualified relatives of the lessee who are at least one-quarter
Hawaiian: husband, wife, child, [or] grandchild[.], niece, or
nephew. A lessee who is at least
one-quarter Hawaiian who has received an interest in the tract through
succession or transfer may, with the approval of the department, transfer the
lessee's leasehold interest to a brother or sister who is at least one-quarter
Hawaiian. Such interest shall not,
except in pursuance of such a transfer to or holding for or agreement with a
native Hawaiian or Hawaiians or qualified relative who is at least one-quarter
Hawaiian approved of by the department or for any indebtedness due the
department or for taxes or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has
been assured by the department, including loans from other agencies where such
loans have been approved by the department, be subject to attachment, levy, or
sale upon court process. The lessee
shall not sublet the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon;
provided that a lessee may be permitted, with the approval of the department,
to rent to a native Hawaiian or Hawaiians, lodging either within the lessee's
existing home or in a separate residential dwelling unit constructed on the
premises.
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (5), the lessee, with the consent and approval of the commission, may mortgage or pledge the lessee's interest in the tract or improvements thereon to a recognized lending institution authorized to do business as a lending institution in either the State or elsewhere in the United States; provided the loan secured by a mortgage on the lessee's leasehold interest is insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, which are authorized to insure or guarantee such loans, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance as approved by the commission. The mortgagee's interest in any such mortgage shall be freely assignable. Such mortgages, to be effective, must be consented to and approved by the commission and recorded with the department.
Further, notwithstanding the authorized purposes of loan limitations imposed under section 214 of this Act and the authorized loan amount limitations imposed under section 215 of this Act, loans made by lending institutions as provided in this paragraph, insured or guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or any other federal agency and their respective successors and assigns, or any acceptable private mortgage insurance, may be for such purposes and in such amounts, not to exceed the maximum insurable limits, together with such assistance payments and other fees, as established under section 421 of the Housing and Urban Rural Recovery Act of 1983 which amended Title II of the National Housing Act of 1934 by adding section 247, and its implementing regulations, to permit the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to insure loans secured by a mortgage executed by the homestead lessee covering a homestead lease issued under section 207(a) of this Act and upon which there is located a one to four family single family residence.
(7) The lessee shall pay all taxes assessed upon the tract and improvements thereon. The department may pay such taxes and have a lien therefor as provided by section 216 of this Act.
(8) The lessee shall perform such other conditions, not in conflict with any provision of this Act, as the department may stipulate in the lease; provided that an original lessee shall be exempt from all taxes for the first seven years after commencement of the term of the lease."
SECTION 2. Section 209 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one-quarter Hawaiian, husband, wife, children, grandchildren,
brothers, [or] sisters, nieces, or nephews, or (2) native
Hawaiian, father and mother, widows or widowers of the children, or
widows or widowers of the brothers and sisters[, or nieces and nephews,]——the
lessee shall designate the person or persons to whom the lessee directs the
lessee's interest in the tract or tracts to vest upon the lessee's death. The Hawaiian blood requirements shall not
apply to the descendants of those who are not native Hawaiians but who were
entitled to the leased lands under section 3 of the Act of May 16, 1934 (48
Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3 of the Act of July 9, 1952 (66
Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that
person or persons need not be eighteen years of age. The designation shall be in writing, may be
specified at the time of execution of the lease with a right in the lessee in
similar manner to change the beneficiary at any time and shall be filed with
the department and approved by the department in order to be effective to vest
the interests in the successor or successors so named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) Husband or wife; or
(2) If there is no husband or wife, then the children; or
(3) If there is no husband, wife, or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no husband, wife, child, or grandchild, then brothers or sisters; or
(5) If there is no husband, wife, child, grandchild, brother, or sister, then nieces or nephews; or
[(5)] (6) If there is no
husband, wife, child, grandchild, brother, [or] sister, niece, or
nephew, then from the following relatives of the lessee who are native
Hawaiian: father and mother, widows or widowers of the children, or widows
or widowers of the brothers and sisters[, or nieces and nephews].
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, husband, wife, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 3. Section 209 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended by section 2 of Act 80, Session Laws of Hawaii 2017, and pending consent of the United States Congress, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Upon the death of
the lessee, the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts and the improvements
thereon, including growing crops and aquacultural stock (either on the tract or
in any collective contract or program to which the lessee is a party by virtue
of the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts), shall vest in the relatives
of the decedent as provided in this paragraph. From the following relatives of the lessee who
are (1) at least one thirty-second Hawaiian, spouse, children, grandchildren, brothers,
[or] sisters, nieces, or nephews, or (2) native Hawaiian, father
and mother, widows or widowers of the children, or widows or widowers of
the brothers and sisters[, or nieces and nephews,]——the lessee shall designate
the person or persons to whom the lessee directs the lessee's interest in the tract or tracts to vest upon the lessee's death. The Hawaiian
blood requirements shall not apply to the descendants of those who are not
native Hawaiians but who were entitled to the leased lands under section 3 of
the Act of May 16, 1934 (48 Stat. 777, 779), as amended, or under section 3 of
the Act of July 9, 1952 (66 Stat. 511, 513). In all cases that person or persons need not
be eighteen years of age. The designation
shall be in writing, may be specified at the time of execution of the lease
with a right in the lessee in similar manner to change the beneficiary at any
time and shall be filed with the department and approved by the department in
order to be effective to vest the interests in the successor or successors so
named.
In case of the death of any lessee, except as hereinabove provided, who has failed to specify a successor or successors as approved by the department, the department may select from only the following qualified relatives of the decedent:
(1) Spouse; or
(2) If there is no spouse, then the children; or
(3) If there is no spouse or child, then the grandchildren; or
(4) If there is no spouse, child, or grandchild, then brothers or sisters; or
(5) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, brother, or sister, then nieces or nephews; or
[(5)] (6) If there is no spouse, child, grandchild, brother,
[or] sister, niece, or nephew, then from the following relatives
of the lessee who are native Hawaiian: father and mother, widows or widowers of
the children, or widows or widowers of the brothers and sisters[, or
nieces and nephews].
The rights to the use and occupancy of the tract or tracts may be made effective as of the date of the death of the lessee.
In the case of the death of a lessee leaving no designated successor or successors, spouse, children, grandchildren, or relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, the land subject to the lease shall resume its status as unleased Hawaiian home lands and the department is authorized to lease the land to a native Hawaiian as provided in this Act.
Upon the death of a lessee who has not designated a successor and who leaves a spouse not qualified to succeed to the lease or children not qualified to succeed to the lease, or upon the death of a lessee leaving no relative qualified to be a lessee of Hawaiian home lands, or the cancellation of a lease by the department, or the surrender of a lease by the lessee, the department shall appraise the value of all the improvements and growing crops or improvements and aquacultural stock, as the case may be, and shall pay to the nonqualified spouse or the nonqualified children as the lessee shall have designated prior to the lessee's death, or to the legal representative of the deceased lessee, or to the previous lessee, as the case may be, the value thereof, less any indebtedness to the department, or for taxes, or for any other indebtedness the payment of which has been assured by the department, owed by the deceased lessee or the previous lessee. These payments shall be made out of the Hawaiian home loan fund and shall be considered an advance therefrom and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved. If available cash in the Hawaiian home loan fund is insufficient to make these payments, payments may be advanced from the Hawaiian home general loan fund and shall be repaid by the successor or successors to the tract involved; provided that any repayment for advances made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund shall be at the interest rate established by the department for loans made from the Hawaiian home general loan fund. The successor or successors may be required by the commission to obtain private financing in accordance with section 208(6) to pay off the amount advanced from the Hawaiian home loan fund or Hawaiian home general loan fund."
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval pursuant to section 16 of article III of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii; provided that sections 1, 2, and 3 shall take effect pursuant to title 43 Code of Federal Regulations part 48 on either:
(1) The date of the United States Secretary of the Interior's notification letter to the Congressional Committee Chairpersons that this Act meets none of the criteria in title 43 Code of Federal Regulations section 48.20; or
(2) The date that the United States Congress's approval becomes law.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
_____________________________ |
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BY REQUEST |
Report Title:
HHCA; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Eligible Transferees and Successors to Homestead Leases
Description:
Amends sections 208 and 209(a) of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, to include nieces and nephews who are at least one-quarter Native Hawaiian as qualifying relatives of lessees for the purposes of lease transfer and lease successorship.
The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
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Date
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Status
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|---|---|
| Jun 26, 2026 | Act 164, on 06/26/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1266). |
| Jun 26, 2026 | Act 164, 06/26/2026 (Gov. Msg. No. 1266). |
| May 8, 2026 | Received notice of passage on Final Reading in House (Hse. Com. No. 888). |
| May 7, 2026 | Transmitted to Governor. |
| May 6, 2026 | Received notice of Final Reading (Sen. Com. No. 816). |
| May 6, 2026 | Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). |
| May 6, 2026 | Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none. |
| Apr 29, 2026 | 48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 05-06-26 |
| Apr 29, 2026 | Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 68-26). |
| Apr 29, 2026 | Forty-eight (48) hours notice Wednesday, 05-06-26. |
| Apr 29, 2026 | Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 68-26) as amended in (CD 1). |
| Apr 28, 2026 | The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Richards, Gabbard, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none. |
| Apr 28, 2026 | The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 5 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Kusch, Kahaloa, Poepoe, Garcia; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 0 Excused: none. |
| Apr 27, 2026 | Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-28-26 3:00PM; Conference Room 325. |
| Apr 24, 2026 | Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-27-26 3:15PM; Conference Room 325. |
| Apr 20, 2026 | Received notice of Senate conferees (Sen. Com. No. 713). |
| Apr 20, 2026 | Senate Conferees Appointed: Richards Chair; Gabbard Co-Chair; DeCorte. |
| Apr 20, 2026 | Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 786). |
| Apr 20, 2026 | House Conferees Appointed: Tarnas, Kusch Co-Chairs; Kahaloa, Poepoe, Garcia. |
| Apr 17, 2026 | Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 780). |
| Apr 16, 2026 | House disagrees with Senate amendment (s). |
| Apr 14, 2026 | Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 678) in amended form (SD 1). |
| Apr 14, 2026 | Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House. |
| Apr 10, 2026 | 48 Hrs. Notice 04-14-26. |
| Apr 10, 2026 | Reported from JDC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3771) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). |
| Apr 7, 2026 | The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in JDC were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Rhoads, Gabbard, Chang, San Buenaventura; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa. |
| Apr 1, 2026 | The committee(s) on JDC will hold a public decision making on 04-07-26 10:15AM; Conference Room 016 & Videoconference. |
| Mar 30, 2026 | Report adopted; Passed Second Reading and referred to JDC. |
| Mar 30, 2026 | Reported from HWN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3377) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading and referral to JDC. |
| Mar 24, 2026 | The committee(s) on HWN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes in HWN were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Richards, Lamosao, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Ihara, Keohokalole. |
| Mar 19, 2026 | The committee(s) on HWN has scheduled a public hearing on 03-24-26 1:00PM; CR 224 & Videoconference. |
| Mar 10, 2026 | Referred to HWN, JDC. |
| Mar 10, 2026 | Passed First Reading. |
| Mar 10, 2026 | Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 203). |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Perruso, Quinlan, Sayama excused (3). Transmitted to Senate. |
| Mar 6, 2026 | Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1010-26), recommending passage on Third Reading. |
| Feb 26, 2026 | The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 16 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none. |
| Feb 24, 2026 | Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 02-26-26 2:00PM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. |
| Feb 18, 2026 | Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0). |
| Feb 18, 2026 | Reported from JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 465-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN. |
| Feb 12, 2026 | The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Cochran, Hashem, Kahaloa, Sayama, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Belatti. |
| Feb 10, 2026 | Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Thursday, 02-12-26 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE. |
| Jan 30, 2026 | Referred to JHA, FIN, referral sheet 5 |
| Jan 28, 2026 | Introduced and Pass First Reading. |
| Jan 26, 2026 | Pending introduction. |
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Date
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Description
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Location
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Votes
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 2026 | Final Reading | House Floor |
Passed |
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| May 6, 2026 | Final Reading | Senate Floor |
Passed |
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| Apr 14, 2026 | Third Reading | Senate Floor |
Passed |
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| Apr 7, 2026 | The committee(s) on JDC recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS | Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary |
Passed |
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| Mar 24, 2026 | The committee(s) on HWN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED | Senate Standing Committee on Hawaiian Affairs |
Passed |
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| Mar 6, 2026 | Third Reading | House Floor |
Passed |
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| Feb 26, 2026 | The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED | House Standing Committee on Finance |
Passed |
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| Feb 12, 2026 | The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS | House Standing Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
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Organization
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Position
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Date
|
|---|---|---|
| CARES | ** Support | |
| Department of Hawaiian Home Lands | *** Support | Apr 6, 2026 |
| Hawaiian Homes Commission | *** Support | Apr 6, 2026 |
| Ho`omana Pono, LLC | *** Support | Feb 12, 2026 |
| Hoʻomana Pono, LLC | ** Support | |
| Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands | *** Support | Mar 24, 2026 |
| Office of Hawaiian Affairs | *** Support | Apr 6, 2026 |
| Ohana Unity Party | *** Support | Mar 24, 2026 |
STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1010-26
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2026
RE: H.B. No. 2309
H.D. 1
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2026
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 2309, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920,"
begs leave to report as follows:
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2309, H.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,
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____________________________ CHRIS TODD, Chair |
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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 465-26
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2026
RE: H.B. No. 2309
H.D. 1
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2026
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 2309 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION ACT, 1920,"
begs leave to report as follows:
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Office of Hawaiian Affairs; Hoʻomana Pono, LLC; CARES; and two individuals.
Your Committee finds that this measure amends the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, to expand the categories of qualified relatives eligible to receive transfers of, or succeed to, Hawaiian home lands leases to include sibling's children who meet applicable Hawaiian blood quantum requirements. Your Committee further finds that allowing lease transfers and successorship within a broader range of qualified family members promotes continuity of homestead occupancy, reduces the likelihood of lease cancellations, and supports the stability and long-term use of Hawaiian home lands for the benefit of eligible beneficiaries.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and
(2) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2309, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2309, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,
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____________________________ DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair |
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Date
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Testimony PDF
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|---|---|
| Apr 6, 2026 | HB2309_HD1_TESTIMONY_JDC_04-07-26_.PDF |
| Mar 24, 2026 | HB2309_HD1_TESTIMONY_HWN_03-24-26_.PDF |
| Feb 26, 2026 | HB2309_HD1_TESTIMONY_FIN_02-26-26_.PDF |
| Feb 12, 2026 | HB2309_TESTIMONY_JHA_02-12-26_.PDF |
Discussed in Hearing
2MIN
Conference Committee
1MIN
Conference Committee
59SEC
Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Environment
59SEC
Senate Standing Committee on Hawaiian Affairs
59SEC
Senate Standing Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs
59SEC
Senate Standing Committee on Water, Land, Culture and the Arts
26SEC
Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Environment
26SEC
Senate Standing Committee on Hawaiian Affairs
Bill Author
Bill Co-Author(s):