Posted on: Friday, December 10, 2004
Hawai'i to receive $600 million
Associated Press
President Bush on Wednesday signed a $388 billion federal spending bill that includes more than $600 million for Hawai'i-related projects.
The spending package covering the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 contains money for Native Hawaiian programs, law enforcement, schools, healthcare, roads, agriculture and job training, according to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawai'i.
Congress sent the measure, which covers spending for every federal agency but the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security, to the president on Tuesday.
Hawai'i will get more than $244 million in federal highway money to support highway and road improvements, as well as mass transit.
The money for Hawai'i includes nearly $68 million to support Native Hawaiian education, health, job training, housing and cultural initiatives.
The money also includes some $12.5 million to fight the state's crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," epidemic.
A comprehensive methamphetamine program that began on the Big Island two years ago will continue on Maui and Kaua'i in the next fiscal year and expand to O'ahu, with $6 million from the Justice Department.
The spending bill also provides $10 million for the planning and design of a new cancer center at the University of Hawai'i. The money, combined with $8.5 million already appropriated for the UH Cancer Center's partnership with Tripler Army Medical Center, brings to $18.5 million the total amount of federal support for cancer research and clinical care in Hawai'i, Inouye said.
The Commerce Department will also spend $15 million toward establishing a regional facility in Hawai'i for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which would bring the agency's 400 employees under one roof.
Several historical sites in the Islands stand to benefit from the measure. A $4.6 million appropriation for the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Park on the Big Island will purchase 238 acres to expand the South Kona park and bring the balance of the historic Ki'ilae Village site within the park's boundaries. A $4 million appropriation will help preserve the historic buildings at Kalaupapa on Moloka'i.
A provision in the bill undoes a decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway overturning a state law banning parasailing and high-speed boats during the whale season, Dec. 15 to May 15.
The bill also includes $30 million for Hawai'i, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands to help pay for healthcare, education and other social services for immigrants from Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
