Budget compromise assures Maui wildfire relief funding

The $16 billion for disaster relief included in a stopgap plan to avoid a U.S. government shutdown is good news for Maui’s wildfire relief efforts.

The current, so-called continuing resolution to keep the federal government funded expires in mid-November — or 45 days after President Joe Biden signed it Saturday night just hours ahead of a shutdown.

Even though there have been disasters in New York City, Florida, Vermont and California since the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said the additional $16 billion in disaster relief funds means money for Maui’s recovery remains safe “and not something we have to worry about.”

“There’s plenty to worry about as it relates to Maui’s recovery,” Schatz told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser on Monday. “But this is one big item that we can check off our list. The disaster relief fund has enough money to operate for quite a long time.”

The fund had fallen to $2.7 billion last week, “and it was quickly diminishing,” said U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda. “This money couldn’t have come a minute too soon. It was huge for Maui. … And we’re not out of hurricane season yet.”

The Lahaina wildfire killed at least 98 people, destroyed more than 2,200 structures, most of them homes, and left 7,500 people without permanent residences.

Federal disasters are happening more frequently and with more severity, meaning the Federal Emergency Management Administration would have had to prioritize how to spend the remaining disaster relief funds if Congress had not reached a compromise.

“They (disasters) don’t stop just because we can’t reach agreement on the budget,” Tokuda said. “We are talking about the long game here.”

In an effort to reach a compromise, the U.S. Senate proposed adding just $6 billion to the disaster relief fund. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, rejected the Senate plan. Tokuda and U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono last week called out McCarthy for reneging on his pledge to fully fund Maui’s relief efforts during a visit to Lahaina, which are estimated to cost $5.6 billion.

On Saturday, McCarthy supported the last-minute budget compromise that included the full $16 billion that Schatz had called for after the Maui wildfires.

Tokuda wants Congress to pass an annual budget instead of a series of continuing resolutions, which became necessary when several Republican House members put the national budget in jeopardy, citing various reasons including objections to more funding for Ukraine’s war efforts. The continuing resolution that was passed Saturday includes no new money for Ukraine.

The stopgap measure will expire just before the Thanksgiving holiday, adding more pressure and drama to the congressional budget battle.

Tokuda was relieved at the $16 billion added to the disaster relief fund but worries about the wider fallout if Congress cannot reach a longer-term budget compromise in November.

The ramifications would be profound for Hawaii and the rest of the country, she said.

If the government runs out of money, more than 70,000 federal employees in Hawaii will be furloughed or required to work without pay until the government reopens. And government contractors likely will be cut off.

But federal employees and operations would be affected differently across the islands:

>> Nonessential federal employees are likely to be furloughed without pay, meaning Hawaii’s eight national parks — including the popular USS Arizona Memorial — would not open. Nearly 4.9 million people annually visit Hawaii’s national parks, monuments and museums.

>> Mail will still be delivered and postal workers will work as usual because the U.S. Postal Service has its own source of funding.

>> Over 50,000 active- duty military members and reservists would continue to serve but would not be paid until a shutdown lifts — like other “essential” federal employees. That would also be true for air traffic controllers, Transportation Security Administration employees and Customs and Border Protection agents at airports in Hawaii and across the country.

But some federal airport employees at U.S. airports called in sick in protest during prior government shutdowns, including in 2019.

“If some do not report to work, as has happened in prior shutdowns, there could be significant delays and longer wait times across the country,” Tokuda said.

In a guide to the effects of a shutdown, Tokuda wrote last week that “the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will quickly run out of funding and be unable to provide food for children and parents in need, including more than 26,000 recipients in Hawaii. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will continue for a month but, in the case of a prolonged shutdown, may also be affected.”