Press Releases

(Honolulu, HI) - U.S. Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1) announced that today the U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 3055, the second of four measures that the House Committee on Appropriations recommended to fund over $383 billion of discretionary federal government agencies, programs and services for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 commencing October 1st of this year.

Case is a member of the Appropriations Committee and of its Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies and Subcommittee on Commerce, Science, Justice and Related Agencies.

These subcommittees are responsible for the programs covered by this latest appropriations bill, and Case said that he views this particular measure as a special opportunity to support Hawai‘i-specific needs in this area.

“Hawai‘i is a small state, so we in the Hawai‘i delegation must do all we can to get our fair share of federal dollars,” said Case. “We are also an island state in the middle of the Pacific, and far from the decision-makers in Washington, DC, so we who represent Hawai‘i in Congress must work harder to assure our constituents that our state’s needs and concerns are acknowledged and addressed,” said Case.

Case highlighted a few of the items in this bill including:

• “There is a longstanding need for facilities that provide critical services at various Hawai‘i military installations, especially as our military’s role in our Indo-Pacific region increases” said Case. “Among these are $60 million for Phase 5 of a new Command and Control Facility at Fort Shafter, which is currently housed in World War II era buildings.” Case also provided $134 million for additional barracks housing at Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i, $53.8 million to build safer ammunition magazines for the Navy, along with with a House commitment to a 10-year, $1 billion project to shore up the Army’s Hawai‘i infrastructure.

• The House approved more than $1 billion for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) telehealth program. “The VA has made great strides in finding new ways to reach and serve veterans in rural and isolated populations,” said Case. He added that “telehealth technologies have increased productivity, treatment options and access to healthcare for veterans across the nation, and especially here across our islands and in our Pacific where our veterans and their ‘ohana don’t always have easy access to veterans’ facilities.”

• The bill includes $5.5 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). “Hawai‘i is perfectly placed to do and is doing world-class research in all things relating to our oceans, and that just what this funding will support, to include maintenance of the oceangoing research formerly provided by NOAA Ship Hi’ialakai”, said Case. “Additionally, as we find ourselves in the midst of hurricane season, we and other states across the country rely on NOAA for world-class atmospheric research to keep a watchful eye on potentially dangerous weather impacts.”

• The House agreed to fund the National Park Service (NPS) to the tune of more than $3 billion. Case said: “There are eight NPS sites in Hawai‘i including two of Hawai‘i’s most popular visitor destinations - Pearl Harbor National Memorial Park and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Providing funding for these eight parks is critical to their operations and critical to Hawai‘i’s tourism industry.” Case also singled out over $3 million in funding of the Japanese American Confinement Sites to include Oahu’s Honouliuli National Historic Site.

Bill specifics by subsection include the following:

Military Construction & Veterans Affairs

In total, this section of the bill approves $108.4 billion in discretionary funding, $10.4 billion above the current FY 2019 level.

A total of $10.5 billion is allocated to military construction projects – an increase of $207 million above the enacted FY 2019 level. These funds will provide for the construction of facilities to enable our military to fight current and emerging threats, to support increased troop levels and to sustain services for military families. This includes operational facilities, training facilities, hospitals, family housing, National Guard readiness centers, barracks, and other important resources.

In total, 145 military construction projects across the country and overseas are funded, including the following for Hawai’i:

• Fort Shafter Command and Control Facility (Phase 5), $60 million. Fort Shafter garrisons the headquarters for U.S. Army Pacific Command and supporting organizations. U.S. Army Pacific Command’s functional operations are located in over 10 separate WWII-era wooden buildings. Current command and control operation and supporting functions are conducted in separate structures that are inadequate and inefficient. The new Command & Control Facility includes administrative areas, secure operations building with Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), a command group building, support operations building and a parking structure. Additionally, construction of redundant power generators will provide backup power to the facility and its critical command and control systems in the event of the loss of commercial power.

• Kāne‘ohe Bay Bachelor Enlisted Quarters (BEQ), $134 million. There is insufficient unaccompanied housing capacity at Kāne‘ohe Bay to accommodate the projected personnel loading due to the increase of new squadrons and a Marine Wing Support Squadron at the base. The existing BEQ facilities, Buildings #227 and #228, were built in 1941 as open bay quarters and were renovated to three-man room quarters in the 1970s. The configuration of the facilities does not meet the current standards for barracks. This project will construct a modern multi-story BEQ building including one–bedroom plan with a double occupancy bedroom configuration, laundry facilities, lounges, administrative offices, multipurpose recreation rooms, housekeeping areas, and public restrooms.This project will provide Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) features and comply with AT/FP regulations and physical security mitigation in accordance with Department of Defense (DOD) Minimum Anti-Terrorism Standards for Buildings.

• West Loch Magazine Consolidation (Phase 1), $53.8 million. Containerized missiles cannot be stowed in many of the magazines at West Loch Annex. Magazines that were designed to store larger ordnance can accommodate less than 20 percent of the Global Requirements Based Load Plan. Magazines that lack features to adequately and safely store larger ordnance are being utilized and the ordinance is being jam stowed to maximize storage space. Due to lack of adequate storage facilities, ordnance is also stored in open holding areas which will lead to costly damage and deterioration. This project will construct four standard earth-covered Type D box magazines. This project is the first of five planned phases at West Loch Annex and is related in part to the phase-down of the current ordnance facility at Leilehua.

• Special Operations Force Undersea Operational Training Facility, $67.7 million. The project will construct an Undersea Operational Training Facility at Pearl Harbor to support Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Group THREE SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team ONE and the Naval Special Warfare Center Advanced Training Command. The facility will support a variety of functions including undersea vehicle training tank, applied instruction, administrative and operational gear storage. The project is integral to the phased capital improvements plan at Pearl Harbor to implement the reorganization of the NSW Undersea Enterprise.

Other defense-related provisions in the bill include the following reporting requirements to keep other critical Hawai’i programs on track:

• Hawai‘i Infrastructure Readiness Initiative. “The Committee recognizes the strategic and critical role the Hawai‘i Infrastructure Readiness Initiative (HIRI) plays in DOD’s strategic plans for the Indo-Pacific region. At the direction of Congress, United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) created the HIRI to address critical priorities established in USARPAC’s military construction submissions and major restoration and maintenance (R&M) programming requests. According to the Army’s analysis, 45 percent of the infrastructure in Hawai‘i is failed or failing, putting efforts to meet operational needs at risk. To fix this crisis, HIRI allocates between $50 million and $150 million per year through FY 2030 to address major infrastructure needs, with a ten-year cost of $1.1 billion. The program addresses several major facility and infrastructure deficiencies, including aviation maintenance facilities, operations facilities, tactical equipment maintenance facilities, Pohakuloa Training Area, West Loch Ammunition Storage, and base operations. The President’s Budget for FY 2019 included funds for this critical initiative. The FY 2020 budget submission includes the West Loch Ammunition Storage Facility, a vital military construction project. Continued and consistent funding is needed at a time of growing national security needs in the Pacific. Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of the Army to certify that the initiative’s plan for the next 10 FYs does not create gaps in funding that will result in inconsistent program implementation that could undermine the interconnected nature of HIRI’s projects.”

• Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan Program. “The Committee recognizes the strategic and critical role our public shipyards play in the national security of our Nation. However, our shipyards are in direct need of maintenance and upgrade. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2018 (P.L. 115–91) included language directing the Department of Defense (DOD) to create a Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan. This plan included recommendations and future year projects that would help to restore our public shipyards to support our fleet around the world. The committee directed the Secretary of Defense no later than 180 days after enactment of this act to submit to congressional defense committees a prioritized list of projects to be constructed under the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Plan necessary for national security requirements over the next ten years.”

• F-22 Rebasing. “Hurricane Michael caused catastrophic damage to the Tyndall Air Force Base and dislocated the 43rd Fighter Squadron. It is the understanding of the Committee that the Air Force has the opportunity to restructure F–22 Raptor rebasing for long-term health and readiness. The current estimate for the relocation of F–22s is $150,000,000 for additional facilities required at existing F–22 bases to support the formal training unit and operational squadron. The committee directed the Secretary of the Air Force to provide by cost, location and FY the necessary military construction projects no later than 60 days after enactment of the act.”

• Climate Change. “The Committee is concerned by increasing magnitudes and frequencies of environmental shocks (e.g., hurricane-force winds, storm surge, and extreme rainfall) and long-term stresses (e.g., from sea level rise) on DOD facilities worldwide. The committee urges DOD to collaborate with existing research universities with federally designated testing facilities to accelerate investments to assess DOD installation vulnerabilities at home and abroad and to develop and test resilient infrastructure and technologies capable of withstanding 200 mph winds and high levels of storm surge and flooding. Furthermore, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense to report to the congressional defense committees no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act detailing DOD’s plans to develop lasting and resilient military installations, and what year these projects will appear in the Future Years Defense Plan.”

The legislation includes a total of $217.5 billion in both discretionary and mandatory funding for VA, an increase of $20.3 billion above the FY 2019 level. These additional funds will provide resources for important priorities within VA, such as healthcare access for women veterans, suicide prevention, claims processing, homeless prevention and care, opioid addiction, rural health, and medical research. Key areas include:

• VA Medical Care – The bill funds VA medical care at $80.4 billion – providing for approximately seven million patients to be treated in FY 2020. Within this total, the bill includes: $9.5 billion in mental healthcare services; $222 million in suicide prevention outreach activities; $582 million for gender-specific care for women; $1.9 billion for homeless assistance programs; $397 million for opioid abuse prevention; and $270 million in rural health initiatives.

• VA Electronic Health Record – The bill contains $1.6 billion to continue implementation of the VA electronic health record system. This will ensure the implementation of the contract creating an electronic record system for VA that will be interoperable with the system being developed for DOD. These two identical systems will ensure our Veterans get proper care, with timely and accurate medical data transferred between VA, DOD and the private sector.

• Disability Claims Processing Backlog – Reducing the disability claims backlog is essential to ensuring adequate compensation and care for the more than 450,000 Veterans still wading through the VA bureaucracy to get a final decision on their claims.

The bill will help speed up this process and get Veterans the decisions they are awaiting by providing $25 million above the request for the Veterans Benefits Administration for hiring additional claims and appellate staff, digital scanning of health records and overtime pay.

• Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program. The final bill included $1.2 million for the Native American Veteran Housing Loan Program, a 2% increase rather than the flatline funding proposed by the administration. Native Hawaiians, along with Alaska Natives and other indigenous peoples, enroll in the military at higher rates than non-indigenous peoples. Indeed, according to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians specifically are over-represented in the U.S. Army by as much as 249 percent, and as many as 25,000 Native Hawaiians are military veterans. These veterans are in desperate need for housing assistance, especially as many reside in extremely high cost of housing areas like Hawai‘i. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Native Hawaiians in Hawai‘i are more likely to live in poverty and in overcrowded conditions. Further, the State of Hawai‘i has reported seeing an overrepresentation of Native Hawaiian in the state’s growing homeless population.

• VA Telehealth. The Committee supported the Administration’s request for telehealth of $1.1 billion in FY2020, a $105 million increase. The VA has made great strides in finding new ways to reach and serve veterans in rural populations. Cutting-edge telehealth technologies have increased productivity, treatment options and access to healthcare for countless veterans across the nation, especially across the Hawaiian Islands.

• Native Hawaiian Contracting. The VA provides preferential contracting to Native Hawaiian Organizations and other indigenous peoples with respect to federal contracting with the Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration and National Cemetery Administration. The administration request to delete this provision was not adopted.

• Filipino Equity Compensation Fund. This fund provides one-time, lump-sum payments to eligible World War II Philippine Veterans. These payments are to be made through the VA from a $198 million appropriation established for this purpose. The bill includes section 239 which prohibits funds from being used to transfer funding from the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund to any other VA account. The Committee rejected the Administration’s request to transfer these funds elsewhere.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration & Related Agencies

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food, and Drug Administration and Related Agencies section includes $24.3 billion in discretionary funding – $1 billion above the FY 2019 enacted level. In total, the bill allows for $155.3 billion in both discretionary and mandatory funding – $3.2 billion above the FY 2019 enacted level.

The legislation contains discretionary funding, as well as mandatory funding required by law, for food and nutrition programs within the Department of Agriculture. This includes funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and child nutrition programs. The legislation also contains $2.1 billion for international food aid and to promote U.S. agricultural exports overseas.

The bill includes support for various agriculture-related programs:

• Food Safety and Inspection Service. $1.1 billion for food safety and inspection programs.
• Marketing Programs. $183 million, $24 million above 2019 and $68 million above the request, to facilitate the movement of agriculture products and open market opportunities.
• Farm Programs. $1.8 billion for farm programs, which is $32.1 million above the FY 2019 level.
• Animal and Plant Health. $1.0 billion – $23 million above the FY 2019 enacted level – for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
• Conservation Programs. $996.6 million to help farmers, ranchers, and other private landowners conserve and protect their land.
• Agricultural Research. $3.3 billion – $387 million above the budget request – for agriculture research programs, including the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

The bill provides a total of more than $3.9 billion for rural development programs. These programs help create an environment for economic growth by providing business and housing opportunities and building sustainable rural infrastructure for the modern economy.

Hawai‘i Specific Funding

• Microgrants for Food Security. $10 million for the Microgrants for Food Security program. This new program looks to increase the quantity and quality of locally grown food through small-scale gardening, herding and livestock operations in food insecure communities in areas of the country, including Hawai‘i.

• Native Hawaiian Education Grants. $4 million for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program. This is $806,000 more than FY 2019 and rejects the administration’s request to eliminate the program.

• Macadamia Tree Health Initiative. $500,000 for the newly authorized Macadamia Tree Health Initiative that provides competitive research and extension grants for macadamia nuts.

• Coffee Plant Health Initiative. The committee recognized the importance and supported the research goals of the Coffee Plant Health Initiative.

• Agricultural Quarantine Inspection. $32.3 million for the Agricultural Quarantine Inspections function, including pre-departure and interline inspections. The Committee recognized that the prevention of infestations of pests and diseases is a federal responsibility and is much more cost effective than subsequent control or eradication. The Committee also rejected the administration’s proposal to move to a user fee system.

• Tropical and Subtropical Research. The Committee encouraged the ARS to explore research aimed at supporting tropical and subtropical crops and how this research would fit into ongoing activities.

• Specialty Crop Research Initiative. The Committee recognized the importance of the Specialty Crop Research Initiative in addressing the needs of the specialty crop industry through research and extension activities.

• Pacific Ants. The Committee encouraged the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, ARS and the Forest Service to lead the revision of the Pacific Ants Prevention Plan, in collaboration with U.S. and international partners. The plan is to include (1) research; (2) the development of technologies and methodologies for prevention, eradication, and control of invasive ants; and (3) the collaborative implementation of projects to prevent, monitor and control invasive ants in affected Pacific islands.

Commerce, Justice & Science

The Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) FY 2020 bill contains $73.9 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $9.8 billion above the FY 2019 level. The CJS bill includes a wide array of vital programs for Hawai‘i, such as ocean conservation, scientific research, economic development, law enforcement, and civil rights protections.

The bill includes $16.4 billion for the Commerce Department, an increase of $5.0 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $4.0 billion above the Administration’s request. This includes funding for the following agencies.

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – The legislation contains $5.5 billion for NOAA, which is $64.3 million above the FY 2019 level and more than $1 billion above the administration’s request. Funding will help address important priorities such as climate research, improvements in weather forecasting, the reduction of harmful algal blooms and fisheries management.

• Economic Development Administration (EDA) – The legislation includes $540 million for the EDA, an increase of $236 million above the FY 2019 level. These funds will help improve our nation’s infrastructure, boost economically recovering communities and launch innovative community development efforts.

• Census Bureau – The bill provides $8.5 billion for the Census Bureau, including a strong increase to enable the Bureau to conduct a thorough and accurate 2020 Decennial Census that counts all persons, as required by the Constitution. This funding enables the Bureau to conduct its largest and most technologically advanced decennial census in its 230-year history.

The bill funds the Department of Justice (DOJ) at $32 billion, an increase of $1.1 billion above the FY 2019 enacted level. These investments will give federal law enforcement more tools to thwart violent crime, fight drug and human traffickers, bring criminals to justice and protect civil rights.

The legislation also strongly supports key agencies dealing with science and technology. NASA is funded at $22.3 billion, $815 million above the FY 2019 enacted level. The legislation funds NSF at $8.6 billion – $561.1 million above the FY 2019 enacted level. Research and related activities are funded at $7.1 billion, $586.3 million above the current level. These funds will foster innovation and U.S. economic competitiveness, including funding for research on advanced manufacturing, physics, mathematics, cybersecurity, neuroscience and STEM education. The bill also invests in important scientific infrastructures such as modernization of Antarctica facilities along with telescopes and research vessels.

Hawai‘i Specific Funding

• NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS) – NOAA’s NOS is funded at $650 million in the bill. This is an increase of $64.5 million above the FY 2019 level and $278.8 million above the administration’s request. The NOS includes the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, the He‘eia National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System, the Marine Debris Program, the Coral Reef Conservation Program and other ocean and coastal programs supporting Hawai‘i.

• NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) – The NWS is funded at over $1.2 billion in the bill. This is an increase of over $50 million from FY 2019. Within this increase is an additional $1.5 million for the Tsunami Warning Program, which includes the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Additionally, the NWS supports the Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Honolulu NWS Forecast Office.

• NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO) – The bill includes $347.5 million for the OMAO, a $21.7 million increase from FY 2019. The bill includes $3.1 million to ensure that NOAA’s missions do not suffer because of the decommissioning of the NOAA ship Hi‘ialakai. Additionally, the bill includes $75 million to fund new vessel construction.

• DOJ Grant Programs – The bill includes a total of $3.4 billion for various state and local law enforcement assistance grant programs, from which Hawai‘i receives funding, including:
  • $583 million for Violence Against Women Act programs,
  • $530 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants,
  • $323 million for Community Oriented Policing Services,
  • $142 million for DNA Initiative Grants,
  • $50 million for Reduce Sexual Assault Kits Backlog grants,
  • $346 million for Juvenile Justice Programs, and
  • $375 million for Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act grants.

• NASA Planetary Defense – The bill includes $160 million for NASA’s Planetary Defense programs. This includes the Near-Earth Object Observations program, which supports the University of Hawaii’s Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) which monitors space for objects that may come into close proximity to the Earth.

• NSF Research and Related Activities – This bill includes $7.1 billion for NSF research activities. Continued operations for NSF’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) are funded through this program.

Interior & Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The Interior, Environment and Related Agencies bill include funding for programs within the Department of the Interior (DOI), the EPA and other related agencies, including the Indian Health Service. In total, the FY 2020 bill includes $37.3 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion over the 2019 enacted level and $7.2 billion over the administration’s FY2020 request. There is also an additional $2.3 billion of funding provided under the fire suppression cap adjustment.

The bill provides a total of $13.8 billion in discretionary appropriations for DOI – $833 million above the 2019 enacted level and $2.4 billion above the administration’s budget.

The bill provides a total of $9.5 billion for EPA – $677 million above the 2019 enacted level and $3.3 billion above the administration’s budget.

The bill provides $3.7 billion for the Forest Service, a programmatic increase of $257 million above the 2019 enacted level and $895 million above the administration’s budget.

Under the bill, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) would each receive $167.5 million, which is $12.5 million more than the 2019 enacted levels and rejects the administration’s budget request proposal to eliminate the agencies.

Hawai‘i Specific Funding

• Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) – The bill includes $6 million for NPS land acquisition for the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail.

• National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Site (JACS) Program – The bill includes $3.2 million for the JACS Program, which supports non-profit groups efforts to preserve Japanese-American internment sites, such as Honouliuli National Historic Site. This is $250,000 more than FY 2019 and rejects the administration’s request to eliminate the program.

• DOI Office of Insular Affairs Compact Impact - The bill includes $100.7 million for Compact Impact Aid, which is a $7.9 million increase over FY 2019 and $27.7 million above the administration’s request. This program assists states and territories with costs associated with accommodating the healthcare, housing and education needs of migrants from countries that are parties to the Compact of Free Association.

National Park Service (NPS) – The NPS is funded at $3.4 billion, $168 million more than FY 2019 and $649 million more than the administration’s request. Hawai‘i has eight NPS units including Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Honouliuli National Historic Site and Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program – The USGS Volcano Hazards program is funded at $30.4 million, a $97,000 increase over FY 2019 and $2.2 million more than the administration’s request. This program funds the Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory on Hawai‘i Island.

• EPA Grant Programs – The bill includes $4.6 billion for State and Tribal Assistance Grants, a $490 million increase above the 2019 enacted level and $1.9 billion above the administration’s budget request. This includes $3.1 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, which fund states work to ensure clean and safe water for Americans.

Transportation, Housing & Urban Development (T-HUD)

The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies bill funds the Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other related agencies, including the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.

In total, the FY 2020 legislation provides $137.1 billion in budgetary resources, an increase of $6 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $17.3 billion above the administration’s budget request. The bill includes $75.8 billion in discretionary funding, an increase of $4.7 billion over the 2019 enacted level and $17.3 billion over the administration’s 2020 budget.

Department of Transportation (DOT) — The bill provides a total of $86.6 billion in total budgetary resources for DOT, $167 million above the 2019 enacted level and $3.7 billion above the administration’s budget request.

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — The bill provides a total of $50.1 billion for HUD, $5.9 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $13.4 billion above the administration’s budget request.

Hawai‘i Specific Funding

• HUD Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant – The bill includes $2.5 million for the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant. This is a $500,000 increase from FY 2019 and $2.5 million more than the administration’s request.

• DOT Federal Highways and Transit Funding – Hawai‘i would receive $6.6 million under DOT Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration formula grant programs.

• HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Program – Hawai‘i would receive $2.6 million from HUD CDBG and HOME formula grant programs

• HUD Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers – The bill includes $23.8 billion, sufficient for all renewals, $1.2 billion over the FY 2019 enacted level and $1.6 billion above the administration’s request. This amount includes $40 million in new funding for the HUD/VASH program for homeless veterans.

• DOT Essential Air Service (EAS) Program – The bill includes $175 million for the EAS program, level funding from FY 2019 and $50 million more than the administration’s request. Hawai‘i has ten EAS-eligible communities, including Hāna, Kamuela and Kalaupapa.

“All in all, this is another solid FY20 appropriations package which addresses real needs for our country overall and for Hawai’i,” said Case.

“As with our first appropriations package last week, I am grateful to my Hawai’i congressional delegation colleagues and to our partners in state and local government and our community for their partnership in developing and advocating for our collective priorities.”

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