In the News

US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Development, today announced Hawai‘i has been awarded more than $6.6 million in new federal grant funding to help build more housing. The funding comes from a new grant program based on Schatz’s bipartisan ‘Yes In My Backyard’ legislation and was first funded in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill. The new Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program rewards state and...

The Hawai?i Department of Transportation and the City and County of Honolulu will receive a total of more than $42.5 million in new federal funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support improvements to roads, sidewalks and infrastructure in Hilo on the Big Island and Honolulu on O‘ahu. “This new federal funding will help make streets in Hilo and Honolulu safer for everyone – drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians,” said US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chair of the Senate...

Long-deferred maintenance projects are finally underway at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park after an infusion of millions of dollars in federal funds. Through the Great American Outdoors Act, HVNP will receive more than $45 million in federal allocations for various improvement projects between the 2023 and 2025 fiscal years. Of those funds, a 2024 appropriation of $33.6 million would be used to rehabilitate the park’s aging water catchment system, which is the park’s primary source of potable...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, alongside Hawaii’s congressional delegation, plans today to introduce new legislation seeking higher Medicare reimbursements for the state’s health care providers. The Protecting Access To Care in Hawaii Act — or PATCH Act — seeks a 24% increase, which would bring it in line with what Alaska gets, according to Schatz. He said it is key to helping the state retain and recruit doctors for a growing number of seniors. The timing is more urgent than ever, he added, as Hawaii...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KHON2) — There’s a new bill in Congress looking to keep kids off of social media. It comes as new data from the US Surgeon General shows that 40% of children ages 8-12 use social media, with adolescents who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media facing double the risk of anxiety and depression. Hawaii’s Sen. Brian Schatz is a co-author of the bill and joined Wake Up 2Day on Thursday to share what he’s trying to accomplish with the legislation. “We do two simple things...

US Sen, Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) called on Congress to pass long-term disaster relief funding for impacted communities across the country, including on Maui and Vermont. Speaking on the Senate floor on Wednesday, Schatz underscored the need to pass funding for the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program in order to provide survivors with flexible assistance to rebuild their homes, small businesses, and communities over the long-term.  “Disaster survivors are running...

US Sen. Brian Schatz delivered remarks on the Senate floor today, calling on lawmakers in Congress to pass additional disaster relief funding for Maui and other disaster-impacted communities across the country. He underscored the urgent need for additional funding saying it has been more than five months since the president submitted a Domestic Supplemental Appropriations request to Congress. Among other things, it called for funding recovery efforts in communities across the country struck by...

Hawaii’s senior U.S. senator spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday to ask Congress for additional disaster relief funding for Maui and other disaster-impacted communities nationwide. “Eight months on from the devastating fires on Maui, the needs remain enormous,” he said. “Thousands of people are still living out of hotels and vacation rentals, unable to rebuild their lives. Roads and water systems have yet to be repaired. Small businesses and their employees continue to struggle without...

WASHINGTON — A couple of months ago, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) walked onto the Senate floor with an unusual plan: public shaming. Speaking to the C-SPAN cameras, Schatz began listing off the names of universities and museums with large collections of human remains and sacred funerary objects that belong to Native Americans. They were supposed to have been returned decades ago, but weren’t. “These museums and universities are everywhere,” Schatz fumed in his floor remarks. “The University of...

A $1.1 million in new earmark has been secured to help build a new adult day care center on Lana?i, US Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced. The funding for Lana?i Kina‘ole will be used to construct the first ever adult day care facility on the island. Without any nursing homes or adult care programs currently on island, many families are forced to move loved ones to other islands or the continent to receive basic elderly care, according to the senator. “Too many seniors on Lana?i are...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D) of Hawaii scolded Congress on Tuesday on the Senate floor for its "failure" to support disaster survivors in Maui and across the country. "Whether in Lahaina or in Burlington, survivors are not getting the full support of the federal government because Congress has yet to provide funding for long-term disaster recovery needs.” Schatz referenced President Joe Biden's appeal made over four months ago for $2.8 billion for the Community Development Block...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii demanded on Thursday that museums and universities move more swiftly in repatriating Native American remains and belongings plundered from Indigenous burial sites. “Give the items back. Comply with federal law. Hurry,” Schatz, a Democrat who chairs the Committee on Indian Affairs, said in a speech from the Senate floor. He urged institutions to devote more resources to fulfilling tribes’ repatriation requests under the Native American Graves Protection and...

The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm the first Native Hawaiian woman as a federal district court judge. Shanlyn Park was confirmed Thursday in a 53 - 45 vote. She will serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court of Hawai‘i. She has been a state circuit court judge since 2021. She previously worked in private practice and at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Hawai‘i. Born and raised in Hawai?i, Park is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i William S. Richardson...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Brian Schatz announced Wednesday that the U.S. Senate voted 57-41 to confirm Micah Smith to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai‘i. Smith was recommended to President Biden by Schatz, Sen. Mazie Hirono and a merit-based Federal Judicial Selection Commission. “Throughout his career, Micah Smith has proven to be a fair and impartial jurist,” Schatz said. “It’s the reason he was confirmed with broad bipartisan support. He has the legal acumen, as...

A bipartisan bill introduced late Wednesday would increase penalties for child labor violations, create new criminal penalties and allow victims who are harmed by child labor violations to file civil lawsuits.  The new legislative effort from Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., comes amid a 69% increase in child labor violations, according to figures from the Labor Department. “Recent data shows that child labor exploitation is not a thing of the past or a problem limited...

WASHINGTON (Island News) - The Suicide Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) has presented $17.3 million in funding to go towards the Hawaii State Department of Health, aiding in emergency behavioral health support for the survivors of the Maui wildfires. U.S. Senator Brian Schatz followed with the statement, "The people of Maui have experienced so much loss, trauma, and grief, and addressing the mental health toll is just as important as dealing with the physical damage. This new...

Given how bitterly polarized Washington is today, it’s rare when leaders of both parties agree on something. Yet in the weeks following the devastating fires on Maui, that’s exactly what we’ve seen. We’ve repeatedly heard from President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and colleagues on both sides of the aisle that they are committed to helping Maui. Many of them, including the president and speaker, have visited Maui to see the destruction in person. They heard heartbreaking stories from...

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz made no specific funding proposal, but detailed the events that led up to the Aug. 8 Lahaina fire and the ongoing suffering in a speech before Congress on Tuesday. “Americans all share the responsibility of providing relief to these survivors,” Schatz said. “Because while Maui is today’s victim of extreme weather, it may very well be another state tomorrow. We have already seen so much damage this summer in Florida, California, Vermont, Louisiana and more. These...

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to underscore the scale of the devastation in Lahaina and appeal to his colleagues for more federal aid. “The people of Maui are mourning unimaginable losses, but they’re also facing uncertain futures,” Schatz said, noting that many have lost their jobs in addition to loved ones and their homes. Some 1,900 residences were destroyed in the flames and 5,000 people displaced. The death toll from the fire stands at...

HONOLULU (KITV4) – On the floor of the US Senate Tuesday, Hawaii U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz discussed the need for more federal support after the Maui fire disaster. Schatz delivered a speech discussing the recent tragic events that occurred on Maui and the many lives that were negatively impacted because of it. He spoke about the various efforts of organizations, government officials, first responders, and everyday people who gave a helping hand at a time where the devastation was all around...