#Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green said his administration stands firm behind the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands after an Oʻahu man filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and its blood quantum mandate.

Hawaiʻi House of Representatives Majority Caucus celebrated the passage of bills that preserve social services, strengthen the economy and support Native Hawaiian families.

“Today, we gather with a shared purpose: to do the people’s work with humility, with urgency, and with care,” said Hawaiʻi Speaker of the House Nadine Nakamura of Kauaʻi.

If a federal employee loses their job because of the shutdown, they might qualify for a forbearance on their home loan that would temporarily allow them to stop making payments.

The funds Northern Trust has invested will make these zero-down mortgages available to Department of Hawaiian Home Lands residents in Waimea and Laʻiʻōpua, neighborhoods in the North and West Hawaiʻi communities where Parker Ranch also holds land and works to support communities.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) presented an ambitious awards schedule before the Hawaiian Homes Commission Monday and announced its plan to issue more than 2,600 leases by the end of 2025.

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands urges the public to support House Bill 606, introduced by the Native Hawaiian Caucus, which would also extend the Act 279 Special Fund more than 3 years.

Last year, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands announced plans to purchase the Courtyards at Waipouli, which will force current tenants to find a new place to live.

Located in Hilo, the Honomū and Makuʻu homestead lots range in size from one to five acres.

The funding will be used to deploy internet infrastructure and adopt projects to connect unserved households throughout the state to high-speed internet service, providing essential resources to fully participate in the digital economy.

“This assistance provides more than just financial relief — it offers stability and hope as families begin to rebuild their lives and move forward toward a brighter future.” — Dustin Kaleiopu, community care navigator for Kākoʻo Maui Programs by The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement

In a milestone initiative, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Director Kali Watson signed the program’s first in-house building permit for its Yorktown transitional housing project Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. This new approach is set to streamline the building permit process and will enable the department to advance on the development of more than 20 homestead projects statewide.

Storm also wreaks havoc elsewhere on the mountain by causing cracks in the asphalt of access road and landslides near the observatories at the summit; access road is closed until Wednesday for repairs

The funds come from the Internet for All initiative, which provides a total of $65 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand high-speed internet accees in communities throughout the United States. On the Big Island, that includes 7,970 unserved and 295 underserved homes and businesses.

Sandwich Isle Communications recently announced to customers that services would cease on June 1.

The bill would have accepted and added into the County’s budget $1 million from the state, which Puna state Rep. Greggor Ilagan was able to get allocated as a line item in the state budget in 2021, and another $500,000 from County coffers for the Hawai‘i County Department of Public Works to do the study.

There is no infrastructure work planned at this time. Bill 107 only would put funds into the County budget for the study, which would be conducted to find an alternate route in and out of Puna to Hilo below Highway 130.

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke has launched a federally funded broadband infrastructure and digital literacy initiative.

Located in Panaʻewa on the Hilo side of Hawaiʻi Island, these first-of-its-kind half-acre parcels provides native Hawaiian beneficiaries with the opportunity to both live and cultivate on their lots.

In June 2020, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the state breached its trust duty to Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust program by not awarding homestead lots in a timely manner.