Dollars From Infrastructure Deal Poised To Arrive In ‘Months, Not Years’
The trillion-dollar package provides a boost in federal funding to numerous state facilities. It does not include Oahu’s rail project.
Hawaii鈥檚 $2.8 billion share of the trillion-dollar bipartisan infrastructure package should start to flow into the state within 鈥渕onths, not years,鈥 according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.
Furthermore, the nation鈥檚 lone island state could boost that share by an additional $1 billion in competitive grant funding, depending on how aggressively Hawaii鈥檚 state and county government agencies pursue the dollars available in the package, Schatz said.
The $2.8 billion is slated to help fix the islands鈥 aging highways, bridges, airports and other critical infrastructure.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the floor. That鈥檚 the amount that we鈥檒l get if we don鈥檛 lift a finger,鈥 Schatz said Monday. 鈥淏ut we should be determined to do better than that and compete for the maximum amount of federal funds.鈥
The federal dollars will help relocate stretches of Hawaii coastal highway that are vulnerable to sea level rise, including Honoapiilani Highway on Maui and Kamehameha Highway on Oahu near Laniakea Beach.
They鈥檒l also help expand broadband internet access statewide and go toward county water and sewer improvements, plus new electric vehicle infrastructure.
“By strengthening our nation鈥檚 infrastructure, we鈥檒l improve our supply chain crisis, ease inflation, and create thousands of good-paying jobs across the state,” U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono added in a statement Monday touting the new law.
The package also includes more than $637 million to help repair and expand bus transit across the state.
Notably, it excludes any funding for Oahu鈥檚 tumultuous, multibillion-dollar rail transit project, which faces a renewed budget shortfall of some $3.6 billion dollars.
Schatz said Monday that鈥檚 because the infrastructure deal aims to fix and improve existing transit systems, not build new ones. Still, he said, the influx of federal dollars could take some budget strain off the city and thus free up more local spending on rail.
Hirono, Schatz, and most other Democrats in Congress now aim to pass a separate, ambitious social spending package valued at some $3.5 trillion. Hawaii Rep. Ed Case is among a handful of fiscally conservative Democrats threatening that bill, dubbed 鈥淏uild Back Better.
Schatz said Monday that he鈥檚 had recent discussions with Case regarding Build Back Better but preferred to keep the contents of those discussions confidential.
