OHA Returned $2M Of Ceded Land Revenue In 2019
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has previously pushed to have a cap on their ceded land revenues raised.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs returned to the state more than $2 million owed to it from various departments that use certain ceded lands in Hawaii.
The returned funds exceeded an annual cap of $15.1 million.
The state departments are required to pay $15.1 million each year to OHA, but last year they transferred $17.1 million, according to a from the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Each year, OHA returns some of that revenue from ceded lands, former lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom, back to a state trust fund.
The departments are actually required to transfer 20% of all revenue from ceded lands to OHA.
OHA has pushed lawmakers to either raise the cap, or eliminate it and allow the office to collect the full 20% of ceded land revenues owed to it under the law.
Last year, a proposal to raise the cap to $35 million and give OHA back pay failed to clear the Legislature.
