County aid for essential expenses available

Mayor could ask for $4 million more from county council

Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino may ask the Maui County Council for up to $4 million more in emergency funding to help residents with essential expenses, as a county program to help those who lost their jobs and income due to COVID-19 began accepting applications Wednesday.

The Hawaii Laulima Emergency Partnership, which is being administered in Maui County by Maui Economic Opportunity, took in approximately 50 applications on its first day, said MEO CEO Debbie Cabebe, during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The aid is for those impacted economically by the pandemic, such as being laid off or having hours reduced, she said. A person must show a 25 percent reduction in income after March 4 and have less than $5,000 in liquid assets, such as checking and savings accounts. The equation does not include an applicant's home.

"This is to help those people who really need the cash right now," Cabebe said.

She explained that cash will not be handed out; an invoice system will be used for transactions at participating grocery stores, including in Lanai, Molokai and Hana.

Qualified applicants must reapply every month, she said. A family of one to two people could see $440 in benefits each month with the dollar amount rising with more family members. An eight-member household could receive $880 in benefits.

The program aims to provide aid for essential needs, such as food, rent, utilities and medicine.

Applications can be found at meoinc.org.

There is more help on the way for small businesses and renters.

Jane Sawyer, Hawaii district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration, said during a news conference Wednesday on Oahu that the new $349 billion paycheck protection program established by the CARES Act will launch Friday.

"This will provide critical capital to businesses without collateral requirements, personal guarantees or SBA fees, and all with a 100 percent guarantee from SBA," Sawyer said. "All loan payments are also deferred for six months, then SBA will forgive the portion of loan proceeds that are used to cover the first eight weeks of payroll costs, rent, utilities and mortgage interests, along with some other overhead costs."

Sawyer said that sole proprietors, independent contractors, professionals and most small businesses, including those with 500 or fewer employees, are eligible to apply for the loan.

Businesses can get more information through their lending institutions, banks and credit unions, as well as on sba.gov, she said.

Stephen Levins, executive director of the Office of Consumer Protection, said that the CARES Act puts a moratorium on all evictions until the end of July for landlords who have mortgages subject to federal jurisdiction. Levins said this applies to a large percentage of mortgages in Hawaii and across the country.

And, because the state Judiciary is suspending repossessions and evictions until April 30, no one can be evicted at least until that date, provided they are abiding by the other terms of their lease, Levins said.

He recommended that tenants speak to their landlords if they have difficulty paying rent to find a solution. For questions, call the state's Landlord/Tenant Information Center at (808) 586-2634.

Levins also reminded residents that their stimulus checks from the federal government will be mailed to them -- without them having to do anything. He warned people of scams and said they shouldn't give out any personal information by telephone or online.

Victorino continued to urge people to stay at home and work from home. He estimated that one-third of the county's workforce was working from home.

He also reiterated that people can walk through a closed county park in order to swim, surf or dive at the beach, but people cannot sunbathe or read a book on the beach.

Police have concluded their education campaign on the stay-at-home orders and have begun issuing citations, Victorino said.

Police said Wednesday that officers have issued 49 citations so far. The citations were issued at various locations countywide, with many apparently at beach parks.

Closed restrooms at county parks continue to be an issue, especially for the homeless. The mayor noted that people in the community have volunteered to clean the facilities if the county opens them.

Before opening the restrooms, Victorino said he wants to be sure county workers have enough personal protective equipment while cleaning the facilities. And as for volunteers, he said possibly waivers have to be signed before they could clean the bathrooms.

If there is a safe way to clean the facilities, Victorino said he would consider opening some essential parks.

* Staff Writers Colleen Uechi and Lila Fujimoto contributed to this report. Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.