HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii Gov. David Ige is asking lawmakers to give an additional $20 million to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands over the next two years.
Ige announced the funding request Monday. It would have to be approved by the Legislature, which is in negotiations over the state budget.
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands awards 99-year land leases to Hawaiians for $1 a year. There were more than 27,600 people on a waiting list for those land leases last year.
The department had requested $28 million annually. A judge in November had ordered the Legislature to fulfill that request, but the court order was later revised. Ige originally put $9.6 million per year in the budget.
Ige’s new request calls for $17.1 million in 2016 and $23.5 million in 2017.