Press Releases

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Congressman Ed Case (HI-01), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, voted in full Committee today against the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor-H) Appropriations bill that cuts core assistance programs by $23.9 billion, or 11%, from current FY 2025 funding.  

The annual Labor-H bill funds the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, much of the Department of Health and Human Services and various related agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The proposed FY 2026 bill advanced by the Republican majority would set discretionary funding at $197.5 billion, down from current FY 2025’s $221.4 billion.

“While this measure funds many critical Hawai‘i priorities I requested, especially for Native Hawaiians, I could not vote for this version because it so fundamentally attacks many longstanding efforts in public health, education, welfare, job and retirement security and civic discourse that have uplifted generations of Americans,” said Case.

“Whole programs that are so key to advancing virtually Americans across multiple fronts to realize the full opportunities of our country are decimated in this measure, including support for youth from preschool through higher education, public health research and delivery through the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, workforce development through the Employment and Training Administration and Job Corps, maternal and child health and family planning, substance abuse, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

“Of all of Appropriations’ twelve federal funding bills every year, this is the one that most reflects the health of our collective commitment to each other and our common advancement, and this version straight up fails us all.”

Through his assignment on the Committee, Case was still able to gain inclusion in the measure for his funding requests for federal programs and services especially important for the State of Hawai‘i including those affecting Native Hawaiians, workforce development, education, and community health care. These include:  

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

·      $40 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;  

·       $45.8 million for the Native Hawaiian Education Program; 

·       $24.5 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;  

·      $6 million to establish a 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;  

·      $6 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, 

·       $3.7 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;

·       $285 million for the Registered Apprenticeship Program;

·       $105 million for the YouthBuild program to provide at-risk youth with basic education and job skills training in the construction field;  

·      $65.5 million for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program;  

·      $945 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health within the Department of Health and Human Services, to accelerate the pace of scientific breakthroughs for diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and cancer;  

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

·       $12.3 billion for Head Start, equal to the FY 2025 enacted level; 

·       $8.7 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, equal to the FY 2025 enacted level; 

·      $1.5 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; 

·      $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,  

·      $23.3 billion for federal student aid programs to provide $7,395 for the maximum Pell Grant award.   

A summary of the bill is available here.  

This is the eleventh bill of twelve separate bills developed and approved by the Appropriations Committee that would fund the federal government at some $1.6 trillion for FY 2026 commencing October 1^st of this year. The bill now moves on to the full House of Representatives for its consideration. 

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