Press Releases

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case’s (HI-01) U.S. House Committee on Appropriations today approved three measures for the upcoming federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 (commencing October 1, 2024).  

The $198.4 billion Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) bill supports health, education and labor programs.  

The $99 billion Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (HUD) bill supports transit and housing programs.

The $26 billion Agriculture bill supports the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

The bills fund several of Case’s requests for Member-designated CPFs including:

1.   $185,000 for the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife to conduct a Reforestation and Carbon Forestry Assessment.  

2.   $2 million for the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation to repair and renovate Aloha Tower.  

3.   $400,000 for the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation to conduct a study to assess the operations of Kapiolani Interchange and generate recommendations that will improve congestion and safety.  

4.   $250,000 for Highlands Intermediate School to modernize its media center.  

5.   $850,000 for Kalihi Waena Elementary to replace deteriorating bridges that connect the school to the state’s largest public housing complex, the Towers of Kūhiō Park, ensuring the safety of keiki traveling to and from school. 

“The current bridges pose significant safety risks, with structural damage and lack of ADA compliance hindering accessibility for students and community members, especially the elderly and physically challenged,” said Case. He said funding is needed for a single-span bridge from the housing complex to the school, including an ADA-compliant ramp to Richard Lane, to ensure safe and accessible passage for all.

Case also secured funding for Highlands Intermediate in Pearl City for its media center to accommodate the growing student population and foster collaborative learning environments. “The proposed renovations aim to revolutionize the space, facilitating innovative teaching methods and empowering students to explore various multimedia formats.”

“The introduction of a partition and sound booth will enable the segregation of activities within the media center, providing students with designated areas for focused work and creative endeavors.” 

The House’s CPF rules require that each project must have demonstrated community support, must be fully disclosed by the requesting Member and be subject to audit by the independent Government Accountability Office. Case’s disclosures are here: https://case.house.gov/services/funding-disclosures.htm.  

“For me, this is a mixed result,” said Case. “While these three measures fund many critical national and Hawai‘i priorities, I regrettably had to vote against the measure overall because of slashes in funding for key programs for those especially in need including cuts to Title 1 affecting teachers, guts housing programs at a time when there is an increase in homelessness nationally and takes away support for critical transportation needs for individuals and localities.” 

Further details follow: 

Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education  

The Labor-HHS bill provides for significant investments in key federal programs that increase public health research and capacity, expands access to education and childcare, addresses labor market demands, improves health outcomes and bolsters our nation’s responses to current and future public health threats. The discretionary funding level is $198.4 billion, a cut of $24.6 billion below the FY 2024 level.

Case singled out successes in funding key Native Hawaiian programs. “Native Hawaiians are a unique community within our national fabric, and so are many of their challenges and needs, especially in health care, education and housing.”

“Our Labor-HHS bill includes funding to support and advance various Native Hawaiian economic, cultural, educational and health initiatives. The measure builds on past funding increases I have been able to secure for Native Hawaiian-serving programs and includes funding to support specific needs within the Native Hawaiian community.” 

The bill supports our Native Hawaiian community with:

·        $65 million for Native American job training programs authorized under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014; 

·        $42 million for Native American Nutrition and Supportive Services grants to promote the delivery of nutrition and home and community-based services to Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Kūpuna;  

·        $46 million for the Native Hawaiian Education Program;  

·        $25 million for the Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Program. These funds will support tutoring, mentorships, internships, faculty development and other activities to support Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students at the collegiate level;  

·        $27 million for the Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems, with $10 million being included for Papa Ola Lōkahi;  

·        $5 million, a $1 million increase over FY 2024 funding levels to support the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Health Research Office within the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. These funds will be used to address Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander health disparities as well as supporting research being done by Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander investigators;

·        $4 million for the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity within the Office of Minority Health to advance Indigenous solutions to achieve health equity and encourage the Department of Health and Human Services to partner with universities in these efforts; and 

·        $4 million for the Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services Program, which provides grants to Native American-serving organizations and federally recognized tribes to sustain indigenous heritage, culture and knowledge through museum-related services.

The bill also addresses our nation’s labor shortages and supports workers with:

·        $1.8 billion for Job Corps, which provides career development services for youth;  

·        $1.4 billion for Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activities, which assists individuals who recently lost their jobs due to mass layoffs or natural disasters;  

·        $174 million for adult employment and training activities.  

·        $150 million for the Registered Apprenticeship Program; 

·        $110 million for the YouthBuild program to provide at-risk youth with basic education and job skills training in the construction field;

·        $66 million for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program; 

·        $60 million to provide ex-offenders with training and credentials in fields that prepare them for successful reintegration into society.

The bill helps Hawai‘i and the nation respond to current and future health threats with:  

·        $48.6 billion for the National Institutes of Health, to support a wide range of biomedical and behavioral research; 

·        $1.9 billion for Community Health Centers, to provide high quality cost-effective health care to predominantly low-income and medically underserved communities; 

·        $1.6 billion for State Opioid Response Grants, to address the nation’s overdose epidemic by increasing access to treatments using medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid use disorder; 

·        $360 million for public health infrastructure and capacity nationwide; and

·        $47 million for the Area Health Education Centers Program, to develop and broaden the distribution of the health workforce and improve health care quality and delivery to rural and underserved areas and populations. 

 The bill invests in public education, school safety and childcare with: 

·        $14.6 billion for Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (low income schools);

·        $12.3 billion for Head Start, an increase of $25 million above the FY 2024 enacted level;  

·        $8.8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, an increase of $25 million above the FY 2024 enacted level;  

·        $2.2 billion for Career, Technical and Adult Education; 

·        $1.2 billion for the Federal TRIO Program, to provide academic support to low-income individuals, first-generation college students, veterans and individuals with disabilities; 

·        $250 million for Preschool Development Grants; 

·        $129 million for McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program, which provides homeless youth with the health services and academic support they need to succeed in and out of the classroom; 

·        $65 million to continue and expand Strengthening Community College Training Grants, which offer training to workers in in-demand industries at community colleges and four-year institutions to help meet local labor market needs; and

·        $23.5 billion for federal student aid programs to provide $7,395 for the maximum Pell Grant award.  

A summary of the Labor-Health and Human Services and Education funding bill is here. 

Transportation-HUD and Related Agencies 

The Transportation-HUD and Related Agencies Appropriations bill supports HUD, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness and Department of Transportation, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This bill’s FY 2024 discretionary funding level is $99 billion, $4.4 billion lower from the FY 2024 enacted level. 

“My Appropriations Committee approved my requests to continue funding of ports that serve as critical lifelines for a state isolated in the middle of the Pacific including funding for small ports that serve ships and funding to pay for air traffic control operations vital to our island economy that relies on visitors arriving by aircraft,”  

Transportation and infrastructure programs and provisions requested and secured by Case include: 

·        $849 million for the Maritime Administration, including $318 million for the Maritime Security Program, $72 million for the Port Infrastructure Development Program and $8.8 million for assistance to small shipyards like Kalaeloa/Barbers Point. 

·        $61.3 billion for the Federal Highway Administration to improve the safety and long-term viability of our highways. 

·        $15.3 billion for the Federal Transit Administration. 

·        $21.7 billion for the FAA, including $668 million to fully fund air traffic control operations and allow the FAA to hire 2,000 air traffic controllers to replace the retiring workforce. 

The bill includes the following provisions to improve access to affordable housing: 

·        $28 million for the Native Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee Program. 

·        $32.2 billion for the Section 8 voucher program to continue to serve more than 2.3 million very low- and extremely low-income households nationwide.

·        $16.6 billion for project-based rental assistance. 

·        $58 million for Housing Counseling assistance for renters, homeowners and those consider homeownership. 

·        $4 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants.  

·        $500 million for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program to support building and rehabilitating affordable housing. 

·        $5 million for core housing research partnerships with Native Hawaiian serving institutions among other minority serving institutions. 

A summary of the Transportation, HUD and Related Agencies Appropriations is here. 

Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies 

This bill would provide $25.9 billion, a 3.6 percent decrease, for the Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. These funds support the USDA, Farm Credit Administration, Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the FDA. 

“Invasive species pose a significant ecological and economic threat to our Hawai‘i, with especially damaging impacts on local agriculture,” said Case. “This agriculture funding bill provides support for our local farmers, farmers markets and food promotion programs, which combined will help our Hawai‘i deal the soaring cost of food, much of which is imported to our islands,” said Case.  

Provisions in the bill of interest to Hawai‘i and requested by Case include: 

·        $1.2 billion for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, including $217 million for combating specialty crop pests.

·        $37 million for Agriculture Quarantine Inspections to prevent infestations of pests and diseases. 

·        $16 million for the Minor Crop Pest Management Program to provide expert assistance to minor and specialty crop producers.

·        $3 million for Agricultural Canine Detection and Surveillance of invasive species and diseases, an increase of $500,000. 

·        $123 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

·        $32 billion for child nutrition programs, which includes $10 million for school equipment grants and $3 million for the Farm to School program 

·        $410 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which includes $10 million for the Farmers Market Nutrition Program and $80 million for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).  

·        $125 million for the USDA Wildlife Damage Management Program. 

·        $5 million for the Value-added Agricultural Product Market Development Grant Program. 

·        $7 million for the Grassroots Source Water Protection Program that is designed to prevent water source pollution. 

·        $5 million for Aquaculture Centers and $2 million for aquaculture research programs. 

·        $2 million for Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research Grants for Insular Areas. 

·        $5 million for Education Grants for Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions. This program addresses the educational needs of food and agricultural sciences-related disciplines and prepares low-income students for careers related to food, agricultural and natural resources. 

The measure also: 

·        Provides $86 million for the Economic Research Service. 

·        Directs the Agricultural Research Service to continue research on Tropical and Subtropical crops, emphasizing the need to combat invasive pests. 

·        Protects the current funding level for the macadamia tree health research initiative. 

·        Directs the Agricultural Research Service to ensure each of its facilities housing animals are adhering to the Animal Welfare Act at all times. 

·        Continues to support coordinated research efforts to address the impact of the Avocado Lace Bug. 

·        Supports strategies to mitigate the impact of axis deer on native forests.

A summary of the Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA and Related Agencies bill is here. 

These three measures are the last three 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 for all three measures is $323 billion, a decrease of $30 billion over the FY 2024 enacted level.

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

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