Hawaii 2022 Regular Session

Hawaii Senate Bill SR99 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	THE SENATE S.R. NO. 99 THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 STATE OF HAWAII SENATE RESOLUTION urging the governor to comply with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in Kalima v. State of Hawaii and stop OPPOSING the payment of damages to beneficiaries harmed by the State's breach of trust.
2	2
3	3	THE SENATE S.R. NO. 99
4	4	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
5	5	STATE OF HAWAII
6	6
7	7	THE SENATE
8	8
9	9	S.R. NO.
10	10
11	11	99
12	12
13	13	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
14	14
15	15
16	16
17	17	STATE OF HAWAII
18	18
19	19
20	20
21	21
22	22
23	23
24	24
25	25
26	26
27	27
28	28
29	29	SENATE RESOLUTION
30	30
31	31
32	32
33	33
34	34
35	35	urging the governor to comply with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in Kalima v. State of Hawaii and stop OPPOSING the payment of damages to beneficiaries harmed by the State's breach of trust.
36	36
37	37
38	38
39	39
40	40
41	41	WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Individual Claims Review Panel (Panel) was established in 1991 pursuant to chapter 674, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaii Home Lands Program to pursue their claims for breach of trust through administrative and judicial venues; and WHEREAS, the Panel did not complete its work by 1999 and the legislative action to extend the Panel's work was vetoed by the Governor that same year, leaving over four thousand claims by 2,721 claimants in limbo; and WHEREAS, in 1999, a lawsuit brought by beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust was filed in the First Circuit Court, titled Kalima v. State of Hawaii, which was affirmed by the First Circuit Court as a class action case in 2000 and that order was appealed by the State in 2001; and WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court in Kalima v. State of Hawaii ruled in 2006 that claimants have a right to sue for monetary damages in circuit court for breaches of trust that occurred between 1959 through 1998; and WHEREAS, in 2007, the claimants' motion for certification of subclasses was granted with the largest subclass for those on the waiting list, comprising of nearly seventy percent of all class members; and WHEREAS, in 2009, the First Circuit Court ruled that the State had breached its trust obligations to Hawaiian home lands beneficiaries on the waiting list and was financially liable for the delays in beneficiaries receiving homesteads; and WHEREAS, in 2011, the First Circuit Court determined that a waiting list subclass-wide damages model would be adopted that would measure each applicants damages by the length of time that they waited for a homestead; and WHEREAS, in 2018, the First Circuit Court's final judgment ruled in favor of the waiting list subclass of native Hawaiian beneficiaries and the State immediately appealed the decision contending that it did not breach its trust obligations to claimants and therefore should not be liable for damages; and WHEREAS, in 2020, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the State breached its duties as trustee of the Hawaii Home Lands Trust, that the fair market value model is an adequate method for approximating actual damages from the time beneficiaries applied to be on the waitlist, and that the State bears the burden of proving if an individual beneficiary is entitled to reduced damages for any reason; and WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court stated that, "[i]t is clear to us that the State, by mismanaging the Trust, failing to keep adequate records, and continuing to litigate this case for decades, is creating a situation in which it would be difficult to accurately assess damages"; and WHEREAS, Kalima v. State of Hawaii is still being contentiously litigated in the First Circuit Court because the State seems unwilling to amicably and responsibly settle any outstanding issues about administering the claims process and calculating the damages for eligible claimants; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Governor is urged to expeditiously comply with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in Kalima v. State of Hawaii and stop opposing the payment of damages to beneficiaries harmed by the State's breach of trust; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor. OFFERED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: Hawaiian Home Lands; Beneficiaries; Damages; Governor
42	42
43	43	WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust Individual Claims Review Panel (Panel) was established in 1991 pursuant to chapter 674, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to provide native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaii Home Lands Program to pursue their claims for breach of trust through administrative and judicial venues; and
44	44
45	45
46	46
47	47	WHEREAS, the Panel did not complete its work by 1999 and the legislative action to extend the Panel's work was vetoed by the Governor that same year, leaving over four thousand claims by 2,721 claimants in limbo; and
48	48
49	49
50	50
51	51	WHEREAS, in 1999, a lawsuit brought by beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust was filed in the First Circuit Court, titled Kalima v. State of Hawaii, which was affirmed by the First Circuit Court as a class action case in 2000 and that order was appealed by the State in 2001; and
52	52
53	53
54	54
55	55	WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court in Kalima v. State of Hawaii ruled in 2006 that claimants have a right to sue for monetary damages in circuit court for breaches of trust that occurred between 1959 through 1998; and
56	56
57	57
58	58
59	59	WHEREAS, in 2007, the claimants' motion for certification of subclasses was granted with the largest subclass for those on the waiting list, comprising of nearly seventy percent of all class members; and
60	60
61	61
62	62
63	63	WHEREAS, in 2009, the First Circuit Court ruled that the State had breached its trust obligations to Hawaiian home lands beneficiaries on the waiting list and was financially liable for the delays in beneficiaries receiving homesteads; and
64	64
65	65
66	66
67	67	WHEREAS, in 2011, the First Circuit Court determined that a waiting list subclass-wide damages model would be adopted that would measure each applicants damages by the length of time that they waited for a homestead; and
68	68
69	69
70	70
71	71	WHEREAS, in 2018, the First Circuit Court's final judgment ruled in favor of the waiting list subclass of native Hawaiian beneficiaries and the State immediately appealed the decision contending that it did not breach its trust obligations to claimants and therefore should not be liable for damages; and
72	72
73	73
74	74
75	75	WHEREAS, in 2020, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the State breached its duties as trustee of the Hawaii Home Lands Trust, that the fair market value model is an adequate method for approximating actual damages from the time beneficiaries applied to be on the waitlist, and that the State bears the burden of proving if an individual beneficiary is entitled to reduced damages for any reason; and
76	76
77	77
78	78
79	79	WHEREAS, the Hawaii Supreme Court stated that, "[i]t is clear to us that the State, by mismanaging the Trust, failing to keep adequate records, and continuing to litigate this case for decades, is creating a situation in which it would be difficult to accurately assess damages"; and
80	80
81	81
82	82
83	83	WHEREAS, Kalima v. State of Hawaii is still being contentiously litigated in the First Circuit Court because the State seems unwilling to amicably and responsibly settle any outstanding issues about administering the claims process and calculating the damages for eligible claimants; now, therefore,
84	84
85	85
86	86
87	87	BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, that the Governor is urged to expeditiously comply with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in Kalima v. State of Hawaii and stop opposing the payment of damages to beneficiaries harmed by the State's breach of trust; and
88	88
89	89
90	90
91	91	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor.
92	92
93	93
94	94
95	95
96	96
97	97
98	98
99	99	OFFERED BY: _____________________________
100	100
101	101
102	102
103	103	OFFERED BY:
104	104
105	105	_____________________________
106	106
107	107
108	108
109	109
110	110
111	111	Report Title:
112	112
113	113	Hawaiian Home Lands; Beneficiaries; Damages; Governor