Schatz: Hawai‘i Set To Receive Hundreds Of Millions In New Federal Funding In Appropriations Deal

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate today passed a bipartisan appropriations deal that will deliver hundreds of millions in federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai'i. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, successfully secured funding for Hawai'i's priorities in the final deal.

"Despite the tough politics over federal funding in Washington, we secured hundreds of millions of dollars for Hawai'i. The new funding will improve our roads and infrastructure, and provide people with health care, housing, and other essential services," said Senator Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The new package follows a deal that delivered millions of dollars for Hawai'i to support clean energy, Native Hawaiian arts and culture, and protect wildlife, among other things. The bill today also separated new appropriations funding for the Department of Homeland Security from the package as negotiations over critical reforms to immigration enforcement continue.

FUNDING HIGHLIGHTS FOR HAWAI'I INCLUDE:

Native Hawaiian Health - $27 million. Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems, as part of the Native Hawaiian Health Care Program, provide critical access to health education, promotion, disease prevention, and basic primary care services for thousands of Native Hawaiians. This funding will support five health centers on Hawai'i Island, Kaua'i, Moloka'i, Maui, and O'ahu, and Papa Ola Lokahi.

Native Hawaiian Housing - $22.3 million. As Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Senator Schatz worked to secure funding for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant Program, which provides financial assistance for Native Hawaiian families to obtain new homes, make renovations, build community facilities, and receive housing services, including counseling, financial literacy and other critical resources to address housing disparities.

Native Hawaiian Education - $46 million, which includes $10 million for facility construction, renovation, and modernization. This funding supports programs that strengthen Native Hawaiian culture, improve levels of educational attainment, and enhance family and community involvement in education. Senator Schatz included a provision to allow funds to be used for construction, renovation, and modernization of public schools that predominantly serve Native Hawaiian students.

Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native-Serving Institutions - $25 million, a $300,000 increase from last year (Hawai'i and Alaska). The funding provides competitive grants to Native Hawaiian-serving institutions to carry out education, applied research, and community development programs. The bill also provides new authorities to allow for construction and maintenance in classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other instructional facilities.

Community Health Centers - $6.5 billion, a $300 million increase from last year (nationwide). The bill provides continued funding for 14 of Hawai'i's federally-qualified community health centers providing high-quality and affordable primary and preventive care, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, and complementary services to rural and medically underserved communities.

Telehealth - $45.5 million, a $3.5 million increase from last year (nationwide). The Office for the Advancement of Telehealth is the major federal office dedicated to strengthening access to telehealth, including building the evidence base, supporting states as they develop infrastructure and regulations, promoting access, and providing direct technical assistance, including funding for telehealth programs in Hawai'i.

Native Hawaiian Resource Center on Domestic Violence - $2 million. The Domestic Violence Resource Network, funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will fund a state resource center dedicated to reducing disparities and strengthening domestic violence intervention and prevention efforts for Native Hawaiians.

Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health - $6 million, a $2 million increase from last year (Hawai'i and Oklahoma). The funding will support the University of Hawai'i's Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health, which is dedicated to advancing ancestral practices as a means to improve health in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities.

Housing and Community Development - more than $3 billion (nationwide). Hawai'i faces a critical housing shortage and this bill supports programs that will help Hawai'i build more housing. Specifically, the bill includes:

• $50 million for "Yes In My Back Yard" grant funding, a program Senator Schatz created to incentivize state and local governments to change their zoning and land use laws and regulations that often unfairly limit the amount of housing that can be built where it's needed.
• $3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant formula program, which supports development for low-income communities.

Bus and Transit - $16.6 billion (nationwide). This funding is distributed among the states and counties for the operation and capital costs associated with the operation of public transit systems, including the Maui Bus, TheBus, Kaua'i Bus, Hele-On Bus, and TheHandi-Van fleets.

Highways and Bridges - $64.3 billion (nationwide). The funding is distributed from the Highway Trust Fund to states for highway maintenance and new construction of bridges, roads, and bike and pedestrian paths.

Air Traffic Control and FAA - $13.7 billion (nationwide). This funding will support the hiring and training of controllers, helping maintain the 2,500 air traffic controller hiring goal and keep air travel safe.

Homelessness Assistance - $4.4 billion, a $366 million increase (nationwide). Homelessness assistance programs provide funding to states and local governments and nonprofit providers to serve people across the country who are affected by homelessness.

Child Care - $8.8 billion, an $85 million increase (nationwide). The Child Care Development Block Grant provides subsidies for 1,900 children under six in Hawai'i to access high quality child care.

Head Start - $12.4 billion, an $85 million increase (nationwide). Head Start provides high-quality, comprehensive early childhood development services to nearly 3,000 young children in Hawai'i.

National Hansen's Disease Program - $1.9 million. The funding is solely awarded to Hawai'i for the care and treatment of patients with Hansen's disease. Though Hansen's disease is rare and treatable, Hawai'i has among the highest prevalence in the country. This funding supports the Hawai'i Department of Health to provide treatment for patients living in Kalaupapa and on O'ahu.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health Research - $5 million, a $1 million increase. The funding advances a new health research office Senator Schatz established at the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to support research, training, and community engagement that promote and improve the health of NHPI communities.

Native American Language Resource Center - $2.4 million (nationwide). This funding will continue to support the establishment of a Native American Language Resource Center to provide best practices and curricula development on Native American language education, including ?Olelo Hawai'i. Senator Schatz's Native American Language Resource Center Act was signed into law in 2022.

Technology-Enabled Collaborative Learning - $8.5 million (nationwide). The bill funds programs under Senator Schatz's ECHO Act to promote technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity building to help clinicians provide expert-level care to patients wherever they live, increasing access to specialty treatment in rural and underserved areas.

Job Corps - $1.8 billion (nationwide). This funding provides a residential career training program to help younger workers complete their high school education, train them for meaningful careers, and assist them in obtaining employment.

DoD Impact Aid - $70 million (nationwide). The DoD Impact Aid and Aid for Children with Disabilities programs provide assistance to 82 public school districts nationwide that educate 170,000 children of military personnel.

Pacific Disaster Center - $3 million. PDC was established in 1992 after Hurricane Iniki to ensure the state had the best science and technology to support lifesaving decision-making for our island communities throughout the Pacific and beyond. PDC acts as a crucial integrator of information, data, and news to allow INDOPACOM and other national security leadership to be able to make informed decisions on developing crises. The breath of information that PDC can provide, collected across various news sources, data sets, and expertise can be integrated with the information national security leaders have to ensure they can respond to a crisis, like a tsunami or earthquake, with the best information available to save lives.

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

Native Hawaiian Child Care. The deal includes a provision to improve oversight of the Administration for Children and Families' $1 million cap on the Native Hawaiian Non-Profit Organization Child Care Grant.

Airspace Modernization. The funding package includes a measure directing the Federal Aviation Administration to advance the Hawai'i airspace modernization project, which will enable Air Traffic Control upgrades, faster interisland flights, fewer flight delays and cancellations, and more reliable air service.

Prepositioning Response Medical Caches in Hawai'i. The bill directs the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to preposition emergency medical resources in Hawai'i to mitigate risks during disrupted transportation networks, communications, and supply chains.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander National Health Interview Survey. The bill includes language to ensure the inclusion of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders in the annual National Health Interview Study that is used to measure and report the state of Americans' health and the distribution of public health resources.

U.S. Department of Education. The bipartisan bill rejects the Trump Administration's efforts to eliminate the Department, including new prohibitions on transfer of funding to other federal agencies unless authority is provided, and requirements to maintain staffing levels to fulfill statutory responsibilities.

Post Office Preservation. The deal includes a provision language preventing the closure of small rural and other small post offices.

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