Maui relief inside package to avert government shutdown
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Congress stepped back from the precipice of a shutdown Friday, approving a package to keep the government running into the new year.
Earlier Friday, the House overwhelmingly approved the bipartisan plan, 366-34, while the Senate worked into the night to pass it, 85-11, just after the midnight deadline, Eastern time.
The vote also was crucial for Maui, which is now in line for more than two billion dollars in new disaster support.
Josiah Nishida, Maui County’s managing director and acting mayor with Mayor Richard Bissen traveling, said a shutdown would have been devastating for the county.
“We are still receiving a significant amount of support through our federal partners,” he said.
Maui still relies on FEMA and other aid as it recovers and rebuilds, and the $100 billion national disaster relief bill includes more than $2 billion for Maui, most of it for new permanent housing.
“This really is hope for our people. It is a roof over somebody’s head who was displaced,” Nishida said. “It’s caring for our local families. It’s providing us really the resources to help our community recover.”
Along with $1.6 billion for new housing, there is $350 million for water and wastewater facilities that will make the housing possible, and another $84 million for road repairs and programs for business, agriculture, child care and conservation.
And it was all at risk until Friday night.
U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, who represents Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, said the last two days have been “absolutely frustrating and beyond frustrating.”
Even after the House voted and it looked like the Senate would immediately follow suit, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz was cautious in an Instagram post from the Capitol.
“Now we’ve got to pass it through the Senate,” he posted. “We still have some negotiating to do…but almost there.”
In a phone interview from Senate chambers, Schatz said it was good the Maui relief was in a package with help for many other states’ disasters.
“And so even when people were fighting over basically everything else, most proposals continued to contain disaster relief, but I think the risk that we had was that the whole thing would collapse,” Schatz said.
“I thought it was, you know, 50-50 that the whole thing was going to collapse about 24 hours ago,” Schatz said. “It was a roller coaster ride and I didn’t want to take all of the people of Maui on that roller coaster ride until it was over.”
Tokuda said lawmakers also learned a lesson about using social media posts to brag to their constituents about big spending projects in their districts.
“Especially the fact that, you know, President Musk, as he seems to be carrying himself these days, we can’t let him win,” she said. “We know that he will be watching and taking offense to every social post, every tweet.”
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