OHA backs bill to release $55M in overdue Native Hawaiian funds

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs is supporting a measure approved by a state legislative conference committee that would release $55 million in Public Land Trust funds currently withheld under an annual payment cap.

Senate Bill 903 would free up the backlogged funds and strengthen a working group tasked with resolving a long-running dispute over how Public Land Trust revenues are calculated and distributed to OHA.

Interim Chief Executive Officer Summer Sylva said the timing matters. With federal funding for Native Hawaiian programs facing growing uncertainty, the $55 million — money she described as already owed — would give OHA greater capacity to respond.

“These are resources already owed to Native Hawaiians,” Sylva said, “and they strengthen OHA’s ability to respond to external pressures that threaten programs our communities depend on.”

OHA officials were careful to frame the bill narrowly. The measure does not require a master settlement agreement, does not limit OHA’s autonomy, and does not resolve questions of Native Hawaiian self-governance — issues the organization says must be decided by Native Hawaiians themselves.

Board Chairperson Kaialiʻi Kahele echoed that position. “The future of Native Hawaiian self-determination will be determined by Native Hawaiians,” he said, adding that releasing the overdue funds would help build the “political, economic, and institutional foundations” future generations will need.

The bill now heads to final floor votes in the House and Senate.