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Lawmakers voted Thursday to approve two bills packed with more than $800 million in new state and federal funding to support the Lahaina wildfire recovery effort.

The new money for the Maui recovery will be in addition to the nearly $200 million Gov. Josh Green’s administration has already committed to the effort.

A conference committee of House and Senate members agreed to emergency appropriations totaling $362 million in new recovery funding contained in for this fiscal year, and about $460 million more in that will be spent in the year that begins July 1.

This year’s funding bill authorizes the transfer of up to $72.5 million to the state Department of Human Services to cover housing and other costs that are ineligible for reimbursement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has said some families that were displaced by the fire and sheltered in West Maui hotels included undocumented immigrants and some people who were homeless before the fire.

FEMA has been unwilling to pay the cost of food and shelter for those people, but the state has been negotiating with federal officials to try to convince them to reimburse the state for at least some of those costs.

The latest version of the bill requires that the $72.5 million in support for those people and families that FEMA will not cover must be matched by at least $40 million in private funds, said Sen. Troy Hashimoto.

Also included in SB 582 is $65 million for the One Ohana fund, which will pay compensation of up to $1.5 million for each fatality from the Lahaina fire provided that the victims’ surviving family members agree not to pursue wrongful death claims in court against the state or the other contributors to the fund.

The appropriations for next year’s recovery work includes up to $200 million in insurance proceeds the state expects to collect for insured losses to state-owned properties including public buildings, state-owned housing units and Lahaina Harbor.

According to staff in the state Department of Accounting and General Services, that money will come from some 23 insurance companies that provided coverage. It has not yet been determined exactly how the money will be distributed.

Coming Soon: A Fire Marshal

Also on Thursday, a House-Senate panel unanimously approved creating a state fire marshal’s office to direct fire-protection efforts statewide.

Hawaii used to have a fire marshal, but the Legislature abolished the position in 1979 and replaced it with the volunteer State Fire Council, which includes the fire chiefs of the four counties. That left Hawaii as the only state without a fire marshal.

But the Lahaina fires underscored how important the fire marshal position was, and its reestablishment was identified as a priority by one of the six House working groups formed a month after the August fires.

sets up the office effective July 1 and places it within the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. Duties include:

• assisting in the investigation of fires when requested by a county;
• conducting inspections of state buildings and facilities to ensure fire safety compliance;
• coordinating with county fire departments and other agencies to promote fire safety and the “efficient deployment” of fire operations in the state;
• maintaining records of all fires, including causes and circumstances; and
• providing and coordinating public education and awareness on fire safety.

The fire marshal will serve a term of five years, and the selection will be made by the State Fire Council and will not require state Senate confirmation.

The bill appropriates $120,000 for the fire marshal’s salary and $40,000 for a permanent administration position. Another $12,000 will be allocated for training, office supplies, rent and other operating costs.

SB 2085 was authored by Sen. Glenn Wakai and supported by the governor’s office and Hawaiian Electric Co.

“This common-sense proposal will provide dedicated support for wildfire prevention and allow Hawaii the same protections that already exist in every other state in the nation,” Alice Lee, Maui County Council chair, wrote in her testimony supporting the legislation.

A state fire marshal also will help bridge a jurisdictional gap that has seen various state properties fail to meet the state or county fire codes, said Kauai Fire Department Chief Michael Gibson.

The Hawaii Department of Education has for years failed to meet fire codes in several schools in the past. But county fire prevention bureaus have been unable to enforce any action.

“A state fire marshal would stand behind us as the person of authority to enforce and have compliance,” Gibson said.

Reinstating the marshal’s office will also help department chiefs focus more of their time and energy on their own departments, Gibson added. The office may be able to better leverage funding from federal sources for fire mitigation.