State government’s assault on public lands: 5 bills in the legislature now seek to bypass public consent in bid to privatize public lands

There are now no fewer than five pieces of legislation making there way through Hawaii's legislature that seek to bypass public consent en route to privatizing submerged and dry public lands on behalf of huge corporate interests seeking to capitalize on their potential for profit. 

One piece of legislation carried over from last legislative session and four pieces of newly introduced legislation brings the total number of bills attempting to force the privatization of public lands to five. These pieces of legislation seek nothing less than the right to steal public lands from Hawaii’s people and hand them over to private, for-profit interests.

The legislative bills in question are the following:

HB2353:  Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease any existing state boating facility in part or in its entirety, and fast lands and submerged lands within any existing state boating facility, by public auction, request for proposals, or direct negotiation for private development, management, and operation. Clarifies that legislative approval is not required to award a lease. Repeals fast lands and submerged lands lease authorization for Ala Wai Boat Harbor under section 200-2.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes

SB2909: Identical companion bill to the above

HB2354:  Amends the various fees the Department of Land and Natural Resources may charge for the usage of state small boat harbors. Amends the manner in which those fees are applied. If this bill were to pass, a historically disoriented DLNR would have free reign to set public boating fees without checks and balances.  To put this into perspective, if HB2354 were to pass, the owner of a boat in the 35' range, who has been issued a legal primary habitation permit by the State, would be liable, in five years time, for more than $3,000 per month in rental fees -- comparable to the cost of renting a house in Kailua or Hawaii Kai.

SB2910: Identical companion bill to the above

SB2909:  Authorizes the Board of Land and Natural Resources to lease any existing state boating facility in part or in its entirety, and fast lands and submerged lands within any existing state boating facility, by public auction, request for proposals, or direct negotiation for private development, management, and operation. Clarifies that legislative approval is not required to award a lease. Repeals fast lands and submerged lands lease authorization for Ala Wai Boat Harbor under section 200-2.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

HB2353 (above): Identical companion bill to SB2909

SB2910: (see above) Amends the various fees the Department of Land and Natural Resources may charge for the usage of state small boat harbors. Amends the manner in which those fees are applied.  Among the frightening implications of this bill: gives the DLNR, already plagued with a history of corruption, malfeasance and mismanagement, the nearly unchecked right to set fees for public boaters.

SB1258: Allows the Board of Land and Natural Resources (Board) to lease any existing state boating facility in its entirety, and fast lands and submerged lands within any existing state boating facility, by public auction, request for proposals, or direct negotiation for private development, management, and operation after making a finding that the lessee has met certain community involvement requirements. Clarifies that legislative approval is not required to award a lease. Repeals fast lands and submerged lands lease requirements specific to Ala Wai Boat Harbor.

The Attorney General’s “Fraud Squad”

Meanwhile, It seems that Hawaii's attorney general, Clare Connors, is becoming more interested in policing the actions of public servants. Connors has just asked for funding to begin development of an anti-fraud initiative with which to police for internal illegal activity within Hawaii’s government.  DLNR Chair, Suzanne Case, DoBOR Administrator, Ed Underwood, Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, Senator Sharon Moriwaki, Senator Laura Theilen, and an unsettling cross-section of other State of Hawaii legislators and agency operatives have been, as of late, accused of being involved in activity that would suggest fraudulent collusion with private interests and ethical violations such as deliberate UIPA violations, among other assertions, especially as these relate to public land privatization issues.  Connors’ “fraud squad” would be a welcome addition, helping to boost the credibility of our government operatives.

Other new bills of interest:

HB2422:  Requires the auditor to conduct a performance and management audit of DLNR's division of boating and ocean recreation.

HB1688: Suggests ‘condominiumizing’ the boat slips belonging to the public’s harbor properties. 

Here is what you can do to help protect our public lands:

Sign up on the State of Hawaii's Legislature information website; it's free, they don't press for personal information, and it's a quick and easy way to 1) stay up with legislation that will affect you; 2) gives you quick access to the contact information of every single legislator (please contact us if you need email contact info for Suzanne Case, Ed Underwood, AG Clare Connors, or other important Hawaii agency operatives); 3) gives you a way to submit testimony to the legislature in a timely fashion (access to testimony starts with the simple sign-up procedure), or, alternatively, when to show up in person to present testimony on a certain bill under consideration.

Here is a list of all legislators and their contact information.

Here is a handy 'dashboard' on the legislature website that allows you to access a wide range of information on that site.

Again, these are the bills of concern to the ocean recreation community, at present, click on any one of them to find out where the bill is in the legislature and when the next hearing is so that you can talk with lawmakers directly:  HB2353, SB2909, HB2354, SB2910, SB1258