Schatz: More Than $2 Billion In New Disaster Aid Funding For Maui Passes Senate, Set To Be Signed Into Law
Schatz Led Efforts To Deliver Relief For Survivors, Worked To Include An Estimated $1.6 Billion In New Long-Term Housing Funding For Maui
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, voted to pass more than $110 billion in new long-term recovery funding for disaster-impacted communities nationwide. Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, worked to include an estimated $1.6 billion in new Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding for housing on Maui and an estimated $480 million more for economic development, small business loans, and water infrastructure, among other things. The funding bill is expected to be signed into law by the president today.
“The $1.6 billion in CDBG-DR funding is for three things: housing, housing, and housing,” said Senator Schatz, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “For the past 16 months, the people of Lahaina have done everything in their power to recover as quickly as they can. But they were never meant to do it alone. As disaster response gives way to disaster recovery, building housing is the top priority. People can’t fully recover without permanent, stable housing, and that’s why getting this funding now is so important.”
In addition to the estimated $1.6 billion in CDBG-DR funding for housing, about $480 million more will be heading to Maui, including:
- At least $22 million to support economic recovery, agriculture, and conservation effort
- At least $12 million to provide loans to impacted small businesses
- $33 million to repair roads
- $350 million to build critical water infrastructure
- $19 million for child care
Since the Maui fires in August 2023, Schatz has continually led efforts in Congress to deliver relief for survivors, including securing $16 billion for the national Disaster Relief Fund last year and most recently co-sponsoring the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act which passed the Senate unanimously last week. The bill exempts survivors of the fires from having to pay federal income tax on their settlement money or pay tax on attorney fees included in the settlement.
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