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(Washington, DC) – Congressman Ed Case’s (HI-01) U.S. House Committee on Appropriations today approved a key measure funding the Department of Defense for the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 (commencing October 1, 2024). His Committee also approved another funding measure for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and various agencies focused on financial regulation, consumer protection and law enforcement. 

“The Department of Defense measure not only funds programs critical to our national security interests in the Indo-Pacific but also continues to recognize the critical role Hawai‘i plays in the region,” said Case, who is in his sixth year on Appropriations and currently serves on its Subcommittee on Defense with jurisdiction over defense and intelligence community funding. “The Financial Services and General Government measure funds programs of federal assistance to small business which are especially relevant to Hawaii’s mix of small businesses.”

Among the projects for which Case advocated and which were included in the measure include:

·       $70 million to continue efforts to replace O‘ahu’s outdated air surveillance radar, critical to ensure the defense and protection of Hawai‘i. 

·      A $27.5 million increase to the President’s budget for Red Hill closure and remediation as well as continuing the Red Hill Clinic. 

·      A $253 million increase for the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Native American and Native Hawaiian Affairs to support Native small businesses. 

·      A $7 million increase to the Native American Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Assistance Program that enables Hawaii's Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to support access to capital for Native Hawaiians.  

“For me, this is a mixed result,” said Case. “While the Defense measure funds many critical national, Indo-Pacific and Hawai‘i priorities for our military which I support, I regrettably had to vote against the measure overall because it reduces funding far below what is needed including $1.5 billion in cuts to critical military construction projects, shortchanges dedicated funding for Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) cleanup, eliminates climate and military base resiliency efforts, and includes divisive and unacceptable culture war provisions.

The Financial Services measure similarly contains many solid provisions but ultimately too many unacceptable ones. I’m hopeful that, like past years, the divisive message-only provisions will be removed in the further course of the legislative process and that we will pass measures with provisions that advance our country and Hawai‘i.” 

Further details follow: 

Defense  

The FY 2025 Defense bill, one of twelve total bills funding the federal government annually, proposes to spend $833 billion, an increase of $8.57 billion over the FY 2024 enacted level, for federal agencies and programs in the Department of Defense (DoD) and intelligence community, including the military branches of services, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.

Programs and provisions requested and secured by Case include: 

·       $287.5 million, $32.5 million above the President’s budget, for the decommissioning of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, environmental remediation, state and local community engagement in Hawai‘i and building a more distributive fuel infrastructure for the Indo-Pacific. This is in addition to the $2.2 billion previously secured by Congressman Case and his delegation colleagues. 

·       The bill also affirms the continued support for the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP). The critical $21 billion, multi-year effort to upgrade the Navy’s four public shipyards including the construction of the new Dry Dock #5 at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard remains a priority for Congress.

·      Funding for one Virginia-class fast attack submarines, which are critical to protecting the Indo-Pacific and will be maintained at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. 

·      $343 million for the Navy’s Environmental Restoration program plus an additional $234 million for the environmental restoration of Formerly Used Defense Sites. These funds will help accelerate efforts to remediate per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) contamination and remove unexploded ordnance and discarded military munitions in Hawai‘i and throughout the nation.

·       $70 million to advance development of a next-generation radar system to protect Hawai‘i from missile attacks.

·       $6 million to expand the National Disaster Medical System Pilot Program to provide critical support to military and civilian health objectives. It is advancing national medical innovation, preparedness, disaster response and integration efforts to underserved regions like the Indo-Pacific. 

·      $5 million for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s Community Engagement Initiative to strengthen the ties between the military and the local community. 

·      $188 million for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which maintains critical scientific laboratories at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. 

·      $50 million for military campaigning and exercises across the Indo-Pacific. 

·      $197 million for the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, which will help defend Hawai‘i from ballistic missile threats. 

·       $175 million for the Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative (REPI). The DoD created the REPI program in response to land development and loss of habitat in the vicinity of or affecting military installations, ranges and airspace that can lead to restrictions or costly and inadequate training and testing alternatives. Through REPI, DoD works with state and local governments, conservation organizations and willing private landowners to address these challenges to the military mission and the viability of DoD installations and ranges. These projects will preserve and protect cultural, natural, and land resources across the state near four Hawaiʻi - based installations - Pacific Missile Range Facility Barking Sands, Pōhakuloa Training Area, Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i, and U.S. Army Garrison–Hawai‘i. 

·       $8.1 million for the Asia Pacific Regional Initiative, a key program supporting U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. This program enables the military to execute Theater Security Cooperation activities, such as humanitarian assistance and paying incremental personnel costs of training and exercising with foreign security forces. The initiative is a critical tool for the U.S. military to strengthen relationships throughout the Indo- Pacific region. 

·      Over $243 million for “Civil-Military Programs,” to include support for Hawaii’s Youth Challenge Academy. 

·      $117 million for the Defense Community Infrastructure Program, which last year provided $6.8 million to the State of Hawai‘i Department of Hawaiian Homelands on Hawai‘i Island in conjunction with the Army’s Pōhakuloa Training Area to build an emergency operations facility. 

·      $1.1 billion for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), including $583.5 million for cancer research. The CDMRP fills research gaps by funding high impact, high risk and high gain projects that other agencies may not venture to fund. 

·      Over $70 million or Impact Aid programs, which includes Impact Aid for children with disabilities. Out of a concern for possible discrepancies and inconsistencies, the Committee also called for the Director of the Department of Defense Education Activity to submit a report on how local educational agencies receive this funding. 

·      Blocked efforts to change the command and control structure of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. There have been efforts within the department to streamline control of forces under one command structure, which would limit the ability of Navy forces in Hawai‘i to respond quickly to changing threats in the Indo-Pacific region.

·      Continued military contracting preference language for Native American tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations. 

·      Continued support for providing humanitarian and similar assistance by using Civic Action Teams in Freely Associated States. 

Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) 

The bill as passed proposes to spend $23.7 billion to fund the U.S. Treasury Department, SBA, federal courts, the Federal Communications Commission, the Office of Personnel Management and various independent agencies. This is a decrease of $2.6 billion, or 10%, over the current year. Case voted against the bill. 

For the SBA, the bill provides $997 million, including $299 million for entrepreneurial development programs that assist small businesses with quality training, counseling and access to resources.  

“Our Hawai‘i is truly Small Business Country, with some 135,000 small businesses making up 99 percent of all businesses in the state and employing some 275,000 of our people,” said Case. “We also have a very unique small business mix, with some of the highest levels of minority, women and veteran-owned small businesses in the country, as well as small business economy. All of this takes unique, targeted assistance, which the SBA provides, and so I focus especially on SBA and other federal programs that benefit our small businesses. 

“Unfortunately, even with the proposed resources for Hawai‘i, I could not support this measure in its current form,” said Case. “Aside from insufficiently funding the SBA, the bill slashes funding to federal agencies like the Internal Revenue Service which works to ensure that the many that pay their taxes are not shortchanged by the few that don’t, the Consumer Product Safety Commission that protects the public from unsafe products, and the Securities and Exchange Commission that protects the fairness of financial markets.”

Case was still able to gain approval in the measure for his funding requests for federal programs and services important for the State of Hawai‘i including:  

·       $35 million for the Native American Community Development Financial Institution Assistance Program,  

·       $5 million for the Native American Outreach Program,  

·       $3 million for the Historically Underutilized Business Zones Program, 

·       $27 million for the Women’s Business Centers Program,  

·       $140 million for Small Business Development Centers,  

·       $109 million for the Drug-Free Communities Program,  

·       $20 million for the State Trade Expansion Program,  

·       $7 million for the Program for Investment in Micro-Entrepreneurs, 

·       $8 million for the Regional Innovation Clusters Program, 

·       $299 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, 

·       $1.5 billion for Defender Services, 

·       $41 million for the Microloan Technical Assistance Program, and

·       The continuation of an additional federal judgeship for Hawai‘i to handle a high caseload. 

The bill also provided $276 million for CDFIs, which are specialized community-based financial institutions that promote economic development by providing financial products and services to people and communities underserved by traditional financial institutions, particularly in low-income and minority communities.  

These two measures are part of the twelve bills to be taken up by the House Appropriations Committee that will collectively fund the federal government for FY 2025 (commencing October 1, 2024). The proposed discretionary funding level is $147.5 billion, a decrease of almost $6.4 billion over the FY 2024 enacted level.

The bills now move onto the full House of Representatives for consideration.

·       Copy of the FY 2025 Defense funding measure is here

·       Copy of the Financial Services & General Government FY 2025 funding measure is here 

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