Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied tells of the ongoing struggle to ensure that the State of Hawai‘i fulfills its commitments to the Native Hawaiian people stemming from the loss of their ancestral lands.

During the 2022 legislative session, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is submitting a bill (HB1474 and SB2122) that calls on the State of Hawaiʻi to fulfill its constitutional trust obligation and convey to OHA its pro rata (proportionate) share of “Public Land Trust” (PLT) revenues.

The 20% share of PLT funds to which OHA is entitled by law is not taxpayer money.

PLT lands are former Hawaiian crown and government lands seized during the illegal overthrow which are now controlled by the state government. Revenues from the land includes money generated by annual leases for the use of those lands and by business activities conducted on those lands.

Altogether, the revenue is about $394.3 million every year. By law, OHA should receive $78.9 million per year (20%) for its Beneficiary and Community Investments. Instead, since 2006, state lawmakers have only allocated $15.1 million per year to OHA. So every year more than $63 million that should go to Native Hawaiians is instead being used by the state for other projects and purposes. This is wrong and violates the law.