Hawaiian Homes Gaming Bill Advances

A house committee this week advanced the Hawaiian Homes Casino bill with amendments.  HB2759 would allow the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to construct and operate gaming facilities with the condition that revenues are reinvested into the community.  Additionally, the bill requires that beneficiaries be consulted for approval of any plan before a proposed casino can be constructed.  Under the bill 80% of revenues would go toward the DHHL trust, and 20% would go to the state’s general fund.

The House Committee on Judiciary has passed an amended version of the bill originally introduced by Representative Mele Carroll (D-13^th) of Maui.  Carroll said she is, “optimistic that this bill will empower the Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries by providing another option to generate the funding required to improve their infrastructure and social programs.”

DHHL puts between 500 to 1,000 beneficiaries from the waitlist on their lands per year.  Although the state has provided $30 million each year in their budget as a result of 1995 Act 14 which addressed the $600 million dollar settlement, DHHL said that their waitlist has tripled and there are now nearly 25,000 applicants on the waitlist.  That are also an additional 100 to 200 qualified applicants that are added to the waitlist each month.

“I’m worried that once the $30 million dollars allocation goes away in 2015, DHHL will not be able to meet their obligation and therefore, the State will have to look for other means of making up the $30 million including raising taxes,” said Representative Mele Carroll.  “While I’m not attached to the idea of gaming, DHHL testified that they don’t have an aggressive plan to create revenues to fulfill Article XII section 1 of the Hawaii State Constitution which says that the State has a fiduciary responsibility to provide adequate funding to place native Hawaiians on their lands.  The properties that DHHL has leased out to non-native Hawaiians for commercial purposes are not enough.  Kaulana Park has estimated that the DHHL operating budget is $18 million dollars, whereas their current revenues from commercial leases are generating only $12 million,” said Carroll.

“We need to look at all possibilities and make sure that the beneficiaries are informed of the truth,” said Carroll.  “I am open to anyone’s suggestions in creating revenues for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands because right now, no one has stepped up to the plate and offer solutions to this devastating situation.  The discussion is good, and if this bill doesn’t get out and no other alternatives are offered, we may need to consider raising taxes as a solution to DHHL’s dilemma.  At this time, everything is on the table for discussion,” Carroll said.

“If this measure becomes an act, it could have great possibilities if done right… We are going through a severe recession right now, and as we deliberate our state of affairs, everything is on the table.  So it is important that we be creative and weigh all of our options in addressing the state’s fiduciary responsibility to provide adequate funding to the State Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Trust, especially since the allocation of $30 million dollars goes away in 2015,” said Carroll.

The amendments made to the bill clarify that the Hawaiian Home Lands Gaming and Hawaiian Home Lands Commissions would be required to do beneficiary consultation before a casino and resort gaming facility is built.  “As this bill moves forward,” said Carroll, “we want to make sure that there aren’t a lot of resort casinos on Hawaiian Home Lands, but possibly one or two, with the consent of the beneficiaries, if that is their will.”

(Posted by Wendy Osher; supporting information provided by the Office of Rep. Mele Carroll)

House Judiciary Hears Hawaiian Homes Casino Bill

The House Judiciary Committee this afternoon will hear bills relating to the legalization of gaming in Hawaii.  The bill was introduced by Rep. Mele Carroll of Maui.  HB2759 seeks establishment of casino gaming operations on designated Hawaiian Home Lands parcels.

File photo courtesy Office of Mele Carroll.

The measure would impose a wagering tax on gross receipts with 20% going towards the State’s general fund and 80% going toward the Hawaiian Home Lands trust.  Carroll introduced the bill in part to provide a mechanism in which DHHL could generate funds independently and diminish its reliance on the state.

DHHL currently earns about $16 to $17 million dollars in commercial lease properties and gets  $30 million appropriated annual through the legislature because of a prior lawsuit, with the allocation due to expire in 2015.

DHHL officials say approximately 25,000 applicants for Hawaiian Home Lands have been waitlisted and the department is only able to process between 500 and 1,000 applications per year with current funding.

In a media release issued last week, Representative Mele Carroll said, “I’m introducing this bill not as a commercial enterprise, but as a mechanism that would allow DHHL to decide whether they want to consider gaming as a way to put more people onto Hawaiian Home Lands and to better fund their infrastructural and social programs.”

In addition to generating funding for DHHL and its beneficiaries, this bill is also aimed at invigorating Hawai`i’s economy by creating jobs for those in the construction and entertainment sectors as well as boosting hotel occupancy.

Archived Story from 2/5/2010:  Hawaiian Homelands Casino Bill Introduced by Mele Carroll of Maui

Hawaiian Homelands Casino Bill Introduced by Carroll of Maui

Representative Mele Carroll (House District-13^th) of Maui, Chairwoman of the House Committee on Native Hawaiian Affairs, introduced a bill that, if passed, would give the Hawaiian Homes Commission the right to build and operate gaming facilities on Hawaiian Home Lands with the approval of the beneficiaries. HB 2759 specifies that 20% of revenue would go toward the State’s general fund and 80% would go toward the Hawaiian Home Lands trust.

Rep. Mele Carroll of Maui introduces gaming legislation. Courtesy Photo.

The legislature appropriates $30 million annually to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) due to a prior lawsuit, but the allocation is due to expire in 2015.  In a testimony by DHHL Chairman Kaulana Park noted that approximately 25,000 applicants for Hawaiian Home Lands have been waitlisted and DHHL is only able to process between 500 and 1,000 applications per year with current funding.

Carroll introduced HB 2759 in part to provide a mechanism in which DHHL could generate funds independently and diminish its reliance on the state.  When questioned by Rep. Carroll about the department’s ability to decrease the waitlist when the $30 million goes away, Bobby Hall, Executive Assistant to the Director of DHHL, said that the department is looking at an aggressive approach to replacing the funds and has made great strides to create revenue-generating projects to support the department’s mission.

DHHL currently earns about $16 to $17 million dollars in commercial lease properties. Their operations cost about $15 to $16 million dollars per year, essentially breaking nearly even.  “This is scary and I don’t want to wait until we see that day where the resources are gone and we are back to step one waiting to get on the lands,” says Representative Mele Carroll.  “We need to take bold steps and creatively do something now.”

HB 2759 stipulates that casinos must submit receipts of their monthly earnings, which would be taxed and closely monitored for discrepancies.  Representative Mele Carroll notes that “Since we want the money to go back into the community, we would set up safeguards to prevent the embezzlement of the funds or other illicit activities.  I’m introducing this bill not as a commercial enterprise, but as a mechanism that would allow DHHL to decide whether they want to consider gaming as a way to put more people onto Hawaiian Home Lands and to better fund their infrastructural and social programs.”

With the approval of the governor, the Hawaiian Homes Commission would have the power to decide whether to allow gaming and on which land to build gaming facilities.  At that point, each DHHL community would have the final say as to what type of gaming facility, if any, they want built and what games would be permitted within that structure.  According to Representative Mele Carroll, “The intent of this bill is to ensure that communities who decide to permit gaming would be able to customize the facilities and services to their particular homesteads.”

Carroll introduced HB 2759 in part to provide a mechanism in which DHHL could generate funds independently and diminish its reliance on the state. Courtesy photo.

In addition to generating funding for DHHL and its beneficiaries, this bill is also aimed at invigorating Hawai`i’s economy by creating jobs for those in the construction and entertainment sectors as well as boosting occupancy at our hotel resorts.  Representative Mele Carroll suggests that “gaming facilities could serve as a place where native Hawaiian entrepreneurs could promote their goods and services to a wider audience.” Moreover, Hawai`i residents who travel to Las Vegas for gaming in that city could be able to partake of the same activities without spending money on airfare, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel expenses in other states.

Twenty-two years after U.S. Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, John Radcliffe, a former resident of Wisconsin who now serves as President of Capitol Consultants, Hawai`i, notes that the Pottawatami reservation “is still gorgeous,” but now most residents have new houses and cars.  He proposed that gaming could lessen Hawai`i’s dependency on Federal monies and either supplement or supplant such at-risk federal social welfare programs as Social Security and Medicare.

Kale Gumapac, spokesperson of the Kanaka Council Moku O Keawe, witnessed a similar scenario at the Tulalip Reservation in Washington.  He says, “the benefits of gaming would be tremendous for the Hawaiian people in realizing health, social, and economic revitalization.

Carroll said, “With courageous and strong leadership, I think that this bill has the potential to vastly improve the lives of Native Hawaiians and the State at large.”

(Posted by Wendy Osher; supporting information courtesy Office of Rep. Mele Carroll)