Legislation to create a new Maunakea management authority is dead in the House but remains alive in the Senate after three committees inserted the language into a separate measure.
The committees, through a move known as “gut and replace,” deleted the contents of House Bill 1985, pertaining to annual reports on the value, zoning and status of public lands, and replaced it Thursday with language establishing the authority. Notice of the change was provided in advance.
The new version of HB 1985 passed second reading in the Senate on Friday and will need one more floor vote before being sent to the House, where it likely will face opposition.
The original Maunakea management bill, Senate Bill 3090, passed the Senate but failed to get a committee hearing in the other chamber.
While the University of Hawaii has faced criticism for its management of the Maunakea Science Reserve under a 65-year lease, the legislation to replace its oversight role with a new entity has proved controversial.
Lining up against the latest version are UH, Mayor Harry Kim, the Maunakea Observatories, Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities, as well as some Hawaiian cultural practitioners who have protested or challenged observatory development on the mountain. For the latter, the bill has been seen as a way to cement the observatories’ presence on the mountain, including the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope.
Supporters of the bill include the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, Ho‘omanapono Political Action Committee, former state Sen. Malama Solomon, businessman and TMT supporter Richard Ha and Hawaiian activist and TMT opponent Walter Ritte.
Changes made by the committees include deleting references to the sale of Maunakea lands, adding the state Board of Land and Natural Resources to the Maunakea candidate advisory council and requiring an unspecified percentage of revenue to go to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
