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The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed $110 billion in new long-term recovery funding for disaster-impacted communities nationwide.
According to Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawai'i, the legislation includes an estimated $1.6 billion in new Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding for housing on Maui and an estimated $480 million more for economic development, small business loans and water infrastructure, among other things.
The senator's office says the bill is expected to be signed into law following final Senate passage Saturday morning.
"The $1.6 billion in CDBG-DR funding is for three things: housing, housing, and housing," Schatz said in a statement. "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 efforts; at least $12 million to provide loans to impacted small businesses; $33 million to repair roads; $350 million to build critical water infrastructure and $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.