Bill gives Hawai'i military $266 million
By Dennis Camire
Advertiser Washington Bureau
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WASHINGTON — Hawai'i military bases and defense contractors could receive $266 million for construction, purchases and services under a bill awaiting final action by the Senate.
About $115 million would go to transforming a 25th Infantry Division brigade into an armored vehicle-based "Stryker" unit and revamping Schofield Barracks.
The money is part of a $491.5 billion defense authorization bill to finance military programs in the upcoming year.
The bill easily passed the House early Monday morning on a 374-41 vote, with Hawai'i Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Ed Case, both Democrats, supporting it.
Senate passage, which could come this week, would send it to President Bush for his signature into law.
"At the end of the day, this is about getting our troops in the field what they need, when they need," said Abercrombie, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Case said the bill showed Hawai'i's importance to national defense.
"Our military believes that Hawai'i is crucial in terms of the forward positioning of our defense capability into the Asia-Pacific area," he said. "This is really the continuation of what has clearly been the predominant theme in America's defense capability over the last 10 years."
The Stryker projects at Schofield Barracks include:
The Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island would get $34 million to build a battle-area complex and $9.3 million to build a tactical-vehicle washing area.
Schofield Barracks would receive $48 million to continue a 20-year program to improve conditions in all soldier housing.
Hickam Air Force Base would receive:
Other projects include:
MEASURE'S KEY FEATURES
Major provisions of the $39.7 billion, five-year deficit-reduction bill passed Monday by the House and awaiting Senate action.
WHAT'S IN
• Medicaid. $4.8 billion in savings from the healthcare program for the poor and disabled by reducing payments for prescription drugs, tightening asset-transfer rules for nursing home eligibility, permitting states to reduce benefits and increasing co-payments paid by beneficiaries.
• Medicare. $6.4 billion in net savings from the healthcare program for the elderly. Increases Medicare payments to insurers that cover sicker patients and lowers payments to those covering healthier patients, saving
$6.5 billion. Accelerates premium increases for better-off Medicare patients for visits to doctors. All Medicare beneficiaries' premiums for coverage of doctors' visits rise by about $2.30 a month in 2007. Saves $2.8 billion by reducing payments for imaging services and $2 billion more by freezing payments to home healthcare providers. Provides $7 billion for doctors' fees to avoid a 4.4 percent cut in them that otherwise would take effect Jan. 1.
• Digital television. Requires television broadcasters to shift from analog to digital signals by February 2009, which would require about 21 million owners of nondigital TVs without cable or satellite service to purchase converter boxes. Sets aside $1.5 billion to give two $40 coupons per household for converter boxes estimated to cost between $50 and $60 each. Auctions a portion of these analog airwaves to wireless companies, raising an estimated $10 billion, and sets aside four channels for public safety agencies for emergency communications.
• Student loans. Produces $12.7 billion in net savings, chiefly by reducing lender subsidies and retaining a scheduled shift from variable interest rates to a 6.8 percent fixed rate on most loans. Increases loan limits to $3,500 for first-year students and from $3,500 to $4,500 for second-year students. A new $3.7 billion grant program is established for low-income college students studying math, science or specialty languages.
• Pensions. Raises $3.6 billion in new revenues for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the federal agency that protects certain pension plans
• Agriculture. Achieves $2.7 billion in savings from agriculture conservation programs and delaying advance subsidy payments to farmers. Extends for two years a $1 billion payment program for dairy farmers if milk prices drop.
WHAT'S OUT
• Food stamps. House-passed savings of $650 million from reduced eligibility for food stamps were dropped.
• Drug company rebates. Senate-drafted savings to increase rebates paid by drug companies to the government by 3 percentage points were dropped in response to an intense industry lobbying effort.
• Medicare subsidy fund. A $5.4 billion subsidy fund to encourage regional health insurance providers to enter the Medicare market retained rather than eliminated by the Senate as unnecessary.
• Crop subsidies. Crop subsidy payment cuts of between 1 percent and 2.5 percent were eliminated in final talks after being passed separately by the House and Senate.
• High-tech visas. A Senate plan to allow 30,000 additional H1-B visas to be issued each year for foreign workers in high-tech and specialty fields and increased fees for those visas was dropped, disappointing high-tech and manufacturing firms in search of skilled workers.
Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.
