Press Releases

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that it will increase Hawai‘i’s reimbursement rate for federal child nutrition programs by an additional 13 percent beginning this summer. The new rate will apply to all child meal programs in the state, including the National School Lunch Program, the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Summer Food Service Program, and it is expected to bring in an additional estimated...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Navy, and the Defense Logistics Agency to strengthen its proposed consent order on the closure of Red Hill to include more input from Hawai‘i residents. “Given the magnitude of the catastrophe and its environmental and community impacts, the order should always allow input from all Hawai‘i citizens. The public’s right to review...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that two Hawai‘i County organizations will receive $2.9 million in new federal funding to build new homes and provide services for homeless individuals. “This new federal money will go directly to Hawai‘i Island and help take people off the streets and into homes,” said Senator Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Development. The new money will go to...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration today announced that $63.8 million helped secured by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) in last month’s appropriations bill for the Honolulu Rail Project is heading to Hawai‘i. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Schatz worked with congressional leaders to secure the funding in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration today announced that $62.3 million helped secured by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) in last month’s appropriations bill for public transit is heading to Hawai‘i. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Schatz worked with congressional leaders to secure the funding for Hawai‘i. “Investing in public...

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) reintroduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, a bill that would provide federal employees with an 8.7 percent pay increase in calendar year 2024. Schatz and Connolly previously introduced similar legislation in the 115th, 116th, and 117th Congresses. For more than a decade, federal employees have endured government shutdowns, pay freezes, hiring freezes, and lost...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D- Hawai‘i), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, today released the following statement after the Federal Communications Commission announced it was taking up proposed rules to implement the Safe Connections Act, a new law authored by Schatz that will help survivors of domestic violence and other crimes cut ties with their abusers and separate from shared wireless service plans, which can be exploited to...

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced that Hawai‘i K-12 schools will receive a projected $73 million in new federal funding for the 2023-2024 school year. The new funding will be used to hire more educators, and support teacher professional development, new technology, and other academic programs at public schools serving students in low-income areas. These funds will be given directly to Title I schools – where a disproportionate number of...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced the names of 38 students he nominated to attend the nation’s four military service academies.“It is an honor to nominate these students to our nation’s military service academies,” said Senator Schatz. “These nominees truly represent the very best of Hawai‘i, and I commend them for their commitment to serving our country.”The United States Air Force Academy, United States...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) called on the U.S. Navy to ensure that homes and home appliances at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam are protected from contamination stemming from the Red Hill fuel leak. “While I am pleased to see that the Navy has undergone efforts to provide for the safety of families who were exposed, it is imperative that the Navy continues to explore and execute on authorities available to it and its partners to ensure the long-term...

HONOLULU – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) released the following statement on the passing of singer and entertainer Danny Kaleikini. “I join Hawai‘i in mourning the loss of a legend across the islands and beyond our shores. Danny was an extraordinarily talented, charismatic, joyful, and fearless performer who energized any stage he stepped on and warmed any heart he touched. He was the kind of person who made everyone who he interacted with feel special. He was a...

WASHINGTON – Last night, President Joe Biden signed the Native American Language Resource Center Act into law. The bipartisan legislation, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will bolster Native American language schools and programs with coordinated, experienced support. “As we have seen in Hawai‘i, Native speaker-led language programs have proven that culturally based instruction is key to revitalizing and maintaining...

WASHINGTON – Last month, President Joe Biden signed the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law. The new law includes a provision authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) that will provide more transparency and accountability on the sale of military equipment to local police departments across the country. “In order to demilitarize the police, the public must know which police departments are getting military equipment and what kinds of weapons they...

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden signed the Norman Y. Mineta Japanese American Confinement Education Act into law. The bill, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and U.S. Representative Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), will reauthorize funding for the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) program to preserve internment camps across the country. The new law, which was included in the government funding bill last month, will also create a new $10 million federal grant program...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today was sworn in to a new term in the U.S. Senate. Schatz won reelection to a second full term last November, garnering more than 71 percent of the vote – the largest margin of victory by any Senate candidate in 2022. Schatz has served for a decade in the Senate, first joining in 2012 before winning a special election in 2014. He then won his first full term in 2016. “It has been the honor of my life to represent the...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Native American Language Resource Center Act. The bipartisan legislation, authored by U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, will bolster Native American language schools and programs with coordinated, experienced support. The bill now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law. “As we have seen in Hawai‘i, Native speaker-led language...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) secured the inclusion of provisions to the FY23 government funding bill that will temporarily extend access to expanded telehealth services. The provisions, which are from the Schatz-authored Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act, allow Medicare beneficiaries in all areas of the country to utilize telehealth services in their homes and allow more types of health care...

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Senate passed the annual government funding bill which will increase federal funding for critical programs that benefit Hawai‘i. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), worked with his colleagues on the committee to successfully secure new and increased federal funding for Hawai‘i’s priorities. “We continue to see big increases in federal funding for Hawai‘i. This appropriations bill will give our state...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, secured $530 million in new congressional directed spending, also known as earmarks, in this year’s government funding bill. At $530 million, Schatz’s earmark total this year more than doubles last fiscal year’s amount. “We are bringing home more than a half a billion dollars in new earmark funding,” said Senator Schatz. “These earmarks will give local...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) today announced that he has secured $63.8 million in new funding for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project. As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Schatz worked with congressional leaders to steer nearly $64 million to the rail project in Honolulu. The new money, which will be used to cover inflationary cost increases, is in addition to the remaining federal funding that...