Kali Watson has been leading the charge at the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
He had asked state lawmakers for $600 million to help keep the momentum up and get more Native Hawaiians into housing — but the Senate reduced that amount to $50 million. Watson said he is still hopeful.
"We're still at the table, so to speak, in that they haven't decided to zero us out. The $50 million is the Senate position, but it remains to be seen. The bill, which is House Bill 606, actually came from the House side, led by the Hawaiian Caucus. So we're optimistic, and hopefully we'll get more funds, but we recognize the very challenging times right now, especially with the situation, the federal funds all over the place," he said.
There are still some 29,000 Native Hawaiians on the waitlist for homestead properties.
The department has looked at different models to do that — not just single-family homes, but townhouses and high-rise rentals, and now massaging the idea to reduce the blood quantum for inheritance eligibility from 50% to 25%.
Watson spoke to The Conversation about bills at the Legislature, new projects, and more.
Interview Highlights
On new housing projects in the works
KALI WATSON: The major ones is Kaʻuluokahaʻi and Kaupeʻa [on Oʻahu] and on the Big Island, we have the Laʻi ʻŌpua project, where we're going to do about 400 new leases, actually more than that, but that's our significant one. Then we also have in the works our Lealiʻi project in Lahaina, that's going to involve about 181 new leases… Further into Maui, there's the Waiehu Mauka, which is over 300 new units, which is a combo of not only single-family, but subsistence ag lots. That's another area we're kind of moving into is the subsistence agricultural lots… On Kauaʻi we're doing about 84 townhouses. We renovated and upgraded these units, and that's again, another new approach that the department has never tried. And the idea is to get a little bit more density, but also take advantage of opportunities. In this case, it was an existing group of townhouses that were made available on the market, and so we stepped up and went after, and we've been successful in acquiring it so far.
On a federal bill to lower the blood quantum for successors
WATSON: The blood quantum situation is actually in Congress right now, and that involves reducing the blood quantum necessary for successors. In this case, we've got it down to 25%, but we're trying to, kind of consistent with what Prince Kūhiō originally wanted, was to get it all the way down to 1/32. This particular act that's in Congress right now is to do that, but, you know, it remains to be seen where it will get through… As we all know, the 100% Native Hawaiian blood quantum is very minimal, and we're seeing more and more people getting kind of left out as the blood quantum dissipates. That's something we need to address. The reality of the situation is that there are less 50 percenters. There's more 25%, especially heirs. Our waitlist, the majority are elderly Native Hawaiians, our kūpuna, and so while they might have been 50%, unfortunately, as they age and pass away, their heirs might be only 25%. That's why we're doing the paper project lease awards, is to eliminate that unfortunate situation. If they pass away and their heirs are only 25%, and they don't have a lease, their kids lose out. That's why these paper project leases are so important.
On tariffs possibly impacting construction costs
WATSON: Well, that is going to be something that is going to impact, especially with uncertainty as to whether there’s tariffs or no tariffs. But in any event, costs invariably have been going up, including labor costs, including supplies. So these are all issues that we need to address, and that's where we have contingency funding on the side to address those costs. There's also the ability, if it's a tax credit project, you go into the HHFDC (Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation) and you ask for more tax credit, so you can up the revenue generated from the sale of those credits to pay for these higher costs.
Did you know March 26 is Prince Kūhiō’s birthday? The monarch is credited with creating the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
This interview aired on The Conversation on March 20, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
