NEW VERSION OF AKAKA BILL INTRODUCED IN US SENATE

Honolulu Star-Advertiser - November 17, 2010

US Senator Daniel Akaka has introduced a compromise version of a native Hawaiian federal recognition bill and is waiting to hear from Senate leaders whether legislation can move during a lame-duck session before the end of the year.

The version was negotiated between the state's congressional delegation and the Lingle administration and has the support of Governor Linda Lingle.

If Akaka is given time on the Senate floor this year, however, the version would likely be offered as an amendment to an older version of the bill that moved through the committee process.

"It was just to get it on the record and to show the world that we are going to honor the agreement with Lingle," explained Jesse Broder Van Dyke, an Akaka spokesman.

Akaka, D-Hawai`i, likely needs 60 votes to break Republican procedural opposition in the 100-member Senate. Akaka has been relying on one Republican, US Senator Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to help him get to 60 votes. Murkowski lost in the GOP primary but has won in the general election as a write-in candidate.

If the bill were to clear the Senate, it would have to go back before the House for approval, since the House passed a different version of the bill earlier this year.

Clearing both chambers would be difficult given the short amount of time left this year. The bill may have an even more difficult road next year, when Republicans take over the House and increase their ranks in the Senate.

AKAKA BILL PUSH IS ON IN US SENATE

A vote in the US Senate on allowing Native Hawaiians to form their own government could come this month following a deal between Hawai`i's Democratic senators and Republican Governor Linda Lingle.

When changes were made, Lingle withdrew her support of the so-called Akaka Bill, named after Senator Daniel Akaka, who introduced the measure.

Senator Daniel Inouye said yesterday that Lingle will support the Native Hawaiian recognition measure after changes are made to the bill clarifying that a Hawaiian government would not have sovereign authority until after negotiations are completed.

"After a thorough review of the State’s most recent proposal, I determined that the changes will not diminish the bill’s intent to establish a federally recognized government-to-government relationship with the United States.

"I believe these changes will help secure additional votes in the Senate to overcome procedural hurdles and receive an up-or-down vote on the bill. We need to act quickly to ensure the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law this year.

"I remain optimistic that the United States will finally extend federal recognition to Native Hawaiians and end over a century of inequality in its treatment of its indigenous peoples," Akaka said.

AKAKA BILL TO BE PUT ON FAST TRACK?

Honolulu Star-Advertiser - July 2, 2010

US Senator Daniel Akaka has been advised he must act quickly on a native Hawaiian federal recognition bill or lose the chance to bring it to a vote before the November elections change the political composition of the Senate.

Akaka, the bill's main sponsor, also has been told privately by allies that he should consider amendments to win back the support of Hawai`i Governor Linda Lingle and help attract moderate Senate Republicans. But sources familiar with the negotiations question whether the Republican governor could deliver any additional GOP votes....

...Akaka needs 60 votes in the Senate to break procedural roadblocks from conservative Senate Republicans who oppose the bill as race-based discrimination....

US Senator Robert Byrd's death and an unexpectedly competitive Senate primary in Alaska have also created new challenges for Akaka.

Akaka had been counting on all Democrats and two independents who typically vote with Democrats to get to 59 votes. He lost a vote when Byrd, a Democrat from West Virginia, died on Monday....

Akaka is also relying on a Republican, US Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who has carried on the traditional alliance between Hawai`i and Alaska on home-state issues.

But Murkowski is facing an August 24 primary against Joe Miller, a conservative Fairbanks lawyer who has been endorsed by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the Tea Party Express.

HAWAI`I GOVERNOR OPPOSES AKAKA BILL

Honolulu Advertiser - March 25, 2010

Gov. Linda Lingle is stepping up her campaign against the current version of the Akaka bill, writing letters to all U.S. senators urging them to reject the measure.

Lingle was a staunch supporter of earlier forms of the Akaka bill, which would establish a process to create a federally recognized government entity representing the interests of Native Hawaiians. But yesterday she said the language in the latest draft "inevitably sets the Native Hawaiian governing entity and the state of Hawai`i on a jurisdictional collision course...."