July 14, 2026, 9 a.m.
Honolulu Hale
To: Honolulu City Council Committee on Budget
Val A. Okimoto, Chair
Scott Y. Nishimoto, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: Bill 50 (2026) — RELATING TO FUNDS
Aloha Chair Okimoto, Vice Chair Nishimoto and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports Bill 50 (2026), which would repeal the land conservation fund and direct the city Department of Budget and Fiscal Services to transfer any monies in that fund to a similar fund.
As the measure points out, the city created this fund in 2005 to support conservation efforts. However, the city created the clean water and natural lands fund in 2007, which duplicated the efforts of the land conservation fund and has received the lion’s share of conservation monies since then.
Therefore, the land conservation fund is not necessary to advance the city’s environmental protection efforts and only serves to increase the paperwork burden on city staff and add complication to the city code.
Grassroot appreciates the intent of this measure and would welcome further Council actions to repeal outdated and redundant portions of the city code.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
1050 Bishop St. #508 | Honolulu, HI 96813 | 808-864-1776 | info@grassrootinstitute.org
