# What This Bill Does

This bill gives federal approval to a change that Hawaii made to its Hawaiian Homes Commission Act back in 2017. To understand why this matters, you need to know that when Hawaii became a state in 1959, the federal government required that any future changes to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act had to get approval from Congress first. That's what this bill is doing—it's basically saying "yes, we approve the changes Hawaii already made four years ago."

The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act is a special program that sets aside land specifically for Native Hawaiians. It was created back in 1920 to help Native Hawaiian families own and live on their ancestral lands. The 2017 change that Hawaii made (Act 080) modified how this program works, though the bill itself doesn't spell out exactly what those modifications are. The bill is named after Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole, a Native Hawaiian leader who originally championed the creation of this homelands program over a century ago.

For Native Hawaiian families, this approval matters because it removes a legal roadblock that was preventing Hawaii from fully implementing the changes it wanted to make to the homelands program. Without this federal consent, the state couldn't move forward with its 2017 amendments. Now that Congress has approved it, Native Hawaiian families can benefit from whatever improvements or adjustments Hawaii designed in that 2017 law—whether that involves making it easier to get land, changing how the program is managed, or other modifications to help families preserve their connection to Hawaiian lands and culture.

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole Protecting Family Legacies Act

Kahele, Kaiali'i

Prince Jonah K&#363hi&#333 Kalaniana'ole Protecting Family Legacies Act This joint resolution consents to the Hawaii legislature's amendments to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act. In 2017, the Hawaii legislature reduced the minimum Native Hawaiian blood quantum required for an individual to inherit a homestead lease under the act.