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Ed Case, state representative and chair of the House Committee on Hawaiian Affairs, proposed the Native Hawaiian Autonomy Act in January 1998. The bill sought to coordinate Hawaiian state agencies, advance self-determination, and settle ceded land claims; Case argued it was needed to move a stalled debate forward, though he had developed it without prior consultation with Hawaiian organizations. Kali Watson, chairman of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, accepted the goal of autonomy but raised objections to the bill's effects on federal loan programs, water rights, and blood quantum requirements. Mililani B. Trask, governor of Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi, called the bill racist and argued it substituted a corporate nonprofit structure for genuine sovereignty. Kinau Kamaliʻi, former state legislator and former Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee, urged Case to withdraw and engage Hawaiian communities first. Attorney William Meheula warned that the bill could enable premature settlement of ceded land claims without Hawaiian representation. A. Frenchy DeSoto, chair of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, called the bill dangerous. Case replied he intended to introduce but not report it out of committee. The central question is whether autonomy within the state framework, as opposed to full sovereignty, is a legitimate path for Native Hawaiians.
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