More than 100 years after the overthrow of the Native Hawaiian government, the rights of the island’s indigenous people are still at the top of the conversation.
But voters are split on whether the government is providing enough benefits to Native Hawaiians.
According to The Civil Beat Poll survey of 1,162 registered voters1, 36 percent of respondents said the level of benefits is just right. Twenty-seven percent of voters said Hawaiians get “too many” benefits and 23 percent said “not enough.” The margin of error was 2.9 percent.
The poll was conducted in mid-April and comes on the heels of the Hawaii Legislature settling a decades-old $200 million ceded land debt by deeding 25 acres of prime Kakaako real estate to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. The fight for federal recognition continues, and a Native Hawaiian Roll Commission has been created to that end. OHA, a state agency, provides scholarships and small business loans to Native Hawaiians. But the list of those in line for Hawaiian homesteads is still so long that some people die waiting.
Civil Beat asked voters, “How do you feel about the benefits the government provides to Native Hawaiians — does the government provide too many benefits, not enough benefits, or about the right amount?”
Likely voters, registered non-voters and 2008-only voters gave statistically identical responses. The Civil Beat Poll identified some differences between those three voting groups as part of its look at how Hawaii might be different if more people voted. (For more about the attitudes of voters versus non-voters, read this earlier story: Civil Beat Poll – Hawaii Opposes Gay Marriage, Marijuana, Rail)
As you might expect, the minority group in question feels it’s not being treated fairly. Of those who identified themselves as Native Hawaiian, 75 percent said the government does not provide enough benefits versus 9 percent who said the government provides too many benefits and 13 percent who said the level of benefits is just right. Hispanic/Latino voters were most likely to agree, and Filipino voters were most likely to say Native Hawaiians get too many benefits.
There were other interesting patterns in the data:
- Democrats were more likely to say that Hawaiians don’t get enough benefits (27 percent) than too many benefits (21 percent), but 40 percent said the level is appropriate. Forty percent of Republicans said Hawaiians get too many benefits, while 33 percent said it’s the right amount, and only 11 percent said they don’t get enough benefits.
- Voters aged 18-49 were more likely to support additional Native Hawaiian benefits, while voters 65 and older were least likely to support more benefits.
- Voters with higher income levels were more likely to say Native Hawaiians already receive too many benefits, while those with lower incomes were more likely to say Hawaiians should get more benefits.
See the full crosstabulations and demographic analysis below.
GET IN-DEPTH REPORTING ON HAWAII’S BIGGEST ISSUES
Support Independent, Unbiased News
Civil Beat is a nonprofit, reader-supported newsroom based in ±á²¹·É²¹¾±Ê»¾±. When you give, your donation is combined with gifts from thousands of your fellow readers, and together you help power the strongest team of investigative journalists in the state.