President Joe Biden’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders held its first in-person meeting outside the continental U.S. here in Honolulu Thursday.
The 25-member commission finalized a set of recommendations to be sent to Biden to advance equity and opportunity in the AANHPI community in several key areas.
These included immigration, health equity, language access, economic equity, data disaggregation and more.
One of the commission’s 20 recommendations allows Native Hawaiians an opportunity to access Hawaiian Home Lands for mercantile purposes.
"The issuance of mercantile licenses in the last 102 years has been less than five licenses. According to the 2022 fiscal report, we don’t have a single license yet in the hands of a Native Hawaiian beneficiary," said Commissioner Michelle Kaʻuhane.
"We bring this to the attention and believe the recommendation to have proper oversight so that we have a clear process for Native Hawaiian beneficiaries to apply for those licenses," she continued.
The commission received reassurance from the White House that it will be extended past the current Sept. 30 expiration date.
