Press Releases

(Washington, DC) – Congressman Ed Case (HI-01) has announced approval by his U.S. House Committee on Appropriations of another of the twelve bills that will collectively fund the federal government for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 (commencing October 1, 2022).

The FY 2023 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill would provide $29.8 billion for financial programs to foster community development and help small businesses and middle class families struggling with the high costs of inflation. 

“According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are more than 137,000 small businesses in our state, making up more than 99 percent of all businesses in the islands,” said Case. 

“But we have seen what the pandemic has done to these companies, and what they are having to deal with now as they struggle with the rising costs of inflation. That is why I worked in this measure and elsewhere to ensure that small businesses remain the backbone of our economy including financial, technical and emergency assistance, boosting trade opportunities, and ensuring that women-owned and Native Hawaiian-owned businesses get the help they need.”

To help our small businesses nationwide, the bill provides $1.1 billion for the SBA, an increase of $ 77 million above the FY 2022 funding level. This includes $326 million, a $36 million increase, for Entrepreneurial Development Programs that provide small businesses with quality training, counseling and access to resources.

The Appropriations Committee also approved several of Case’s requests for funding for federal programs and services important for the State of Hawai’i including:

• $22.5 million for the Native American Community Development Financial Institution Assistance Program,
• $5 million for the Native American Outreach Program,
• $ 5 million for the Historically Underutilized Business Zones Program,
• $ 30  million for the Women’s Business Centers Program,
• $ 24 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative,
• $145 million for Small Business Development Centers,
• $110  million for the Drug-Free Communities Program,
• $22  million for the State Trade Expansion Program,
• $10  million for the Regional Innovation Clusters Program,
• $300  million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, and
• $41 million for the Microloan Technical Assistance Program.

The bill also provided $336  million for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), an increase of $41 million above the FY 2022 enacted levels. CDFIs 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. They were especially valuable in delivering COVID-19 emergency assistance funds to communities without ready access to other means.

One of the provisions in the measure would help to rebuild the Internal Revenue Service to finally crack down on tax avoiders and to provide better customer service to working families struggling to navigate the tax system.

This measure funds the U.S. Treasury, federal courts and various independent agencies including the SBA, Federal Communications Commission and Office of Personnel Management. The discretionary funding level is $29.8 billion, an increase of $4.3 billion over the 2022 enacted level.

The measure also adopts Case’s requests to:

• Include language supporting improved USPS service in remote areas. 
• Direct the Federal Trade Commission to produce recommendations to address the exploitation and inauthentic use of native language and culture in marketing under the Fair Package and Labeling Act. 
• Include report language directing the IRS to submit a report to Congress on the reasons for the backlog of tax returns and recommendations for preventing future backlogs.
• Direct the National Personnel Records Center to provide quarterly reports on its plan to spend emergency money to reduce its request backlog. 

Case’s Appropriations Committee is responsible for allocating some $1.6 trillion in funding to federal government agencies, departments and organizations on an annual basis through twelve separate bills. 

The bill now moves onto the full House of Representatives for consideration.

A summary of the financial services and general government funding is here

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