Hawaii’s U.S. representatives vote in favor of debt limit bill

Hawaii’s U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda voted Wednesday night to suspend the nation’s debt limit and impose some spending cuts through 2025, which Tokuda said avoids a catastrophic federal default.

“The agreement before us would prevent default. But let us be clear: there will be consequences for people and communities in Hawaii and across our nation who will lose resources, benefits and protections,” Tokuda said in a news release.

In a statement released on social media Tuesday, Case called the situation “deeply frustrating” and said he has problems with what is included and excluded in the bill. Tokuda similarly tweeted Tuesday that the deal is “far from perfect.”

The 99-page bill extends the debt ceiling currently set at $31.4 trillion and will cut federal spending by $1.5 trillion over a decade. The negotiation between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was seen as a compromise that drew opposition from conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats. The House passed the bill in a 314-117 vote.

Case told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser before he voted for the budget bill that he shares some concerns, including rule changes to “bedrock safety-net programs” like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly referred to as food stamps, which help low-income Hawaii residents.

“These are critical programs,” Case said. “Families and individuals with families in Hawaii rely on them, literally, for basic life assistance, and I didn’t feel that we needed to change them and that’s one major concern.”

However, Tokuda said in a news release that she felt the current bill “did everything to mitigate the worst of Republicans’ demands which would have cut programs that working families rely on.”

“With across-the-board cuts of 22 percent, veterans would have had 30 million less outpatient visits, over a million seniors would be dropped from Meals on Wheels and 200,000 keiki would lose access to Head Start Programs,” Tokuda said.

Case also had concerns that the budget does not solve the nation’s “deteriorating federal finances.”

“What’s not in the bill are, as I said in my statement, any real attempts to address our nation’s long-term fiscal and financial crisis,” Case said. “I think this bill avoids that and we’ve been avoiding this for two decades now and it is critical.”

Case said he was “highly concerned” about the more immediate risk of America defaulting on its debt, which economists predict could affect the global economy.

“We cannot default on our nation’s debt,” Case said. “There are a series of very severe consequences to not only families but to the basic credit of the United States and, in fact, the standing of our country in the world. That’s why the stakes are so high for this particular vote.”

The bill also includes speeding the approval process for big energy projects by simplifying environmental reviews and limiting the length of impact statements.

Case said these changes are primarily intended for “very large projects” that are outside of Hawaii.

“I don’t know what the exact scope (of the impact) is going to be, but I think they will be minimal compared to any other parts of the country,” Case said.

Tokuda said she hopes to completely eliminate the debt ceiling.

“This is not the bill that the American people deserve, and I will keep fighting in Congress to get what our people and communities need,” she said.