HANO: Hawaii expects to receive $372 million from omnibus bill

Hawaii expects to receive $372 million from omnibus bill

On March 11, President Obama signed the 1,124-page fiscal year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which will send Hawaii about $372 million in federal funding, including $20 million for the Honolulu rail transit project. Appropriations for Hawaii-related initiatives include:

$60 million for a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Regional Facility;
$1.5 million for Honolulu;
$21 million for the East-West Center;
$5.7 million for H-1 improvements;
$4 million for TheBoat on Oahu;
$10 million for Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grants;
$1.9 million for the rural bus program on the Big Island, Maui and Kauai;
$33.3 million for Native Hawaiian education programs;
$5.7 million for Native Hawaiian higher-education support;
$2 million for job training and community development on the neighbor islands and in rural Oahu;
$2 million for volcano hazards research;
$3.7 million for renewable energy development ventures;
$7 million for the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge expansion;
$7.8 million for the Hawaiian sea turtle program;
$20 million for emergency medical services for children; and
$14.2 million for Native Hawaiian Health Care.

Other Hawaii appropriations will go to preserve wildlife refuges, wetlands and watersheds; fund agricultural research and control of plant viruses; study hurricanes, tsunamis and typhoons; and fund wastewater treatment projects, health and human services organizations and housing projects.