Sen. Brian Schatz says $4 billion in federal funding headed to Hawaii

At least $4 billion in federal coronavirus relief funding is on its way to Hawaii, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced today.

“That is a very conservative estimate because anything we could not nail down we booked at zero,” Schatz told the state House Select Committee on Covid-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness via teleconference this morning.

The funding is intended to support state and local response efforts and help Hawaii families and businesses struggling to get by, Schatz said.

Among the main appropriations:

>> $1.25 billion for state and county government response efforts.

>> $1.14 billion in estimated unemployment assistance.

>> $1.24 billion in estimated direct cash payments to Hawaii residents.

>> $130 million in estimated funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

>> $53 million for local schools and colleges.

>> $11 million for the state’s community health centers.

>> $8 billion in Community Development Block Grants.

Millions more in federal money will go to Hawaii for additional health care, education, public transportation, and housing programs, Schatz added.

He told the committee that the Paycheck Protection Program being overseen by the U.S. Small Business Administration should be operational in the next few days.

Any business employing 500 or fewer employees may be eligible to get “a zero-interest, zero-fee loan for eight weeks to cover all operating expenses including, and especially, payroll,” Schatz said. The maximum loan amount, depending on the size of the business and other factors, is $10 million.

“If at the end of that eight-week period you’ve taken good, meticulous records, that loan is forgiven,” Schatz said. “So this is a really good opportunity for any business that has been, especially mandatorily, shut down to keep their people employed, but to have 100% of it covered by SBA.”