Following Maui fires, Schatz leads hearing to push for more immediate, consistent relief

US Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaiʻi), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, led a hearing today to underscore the need for immediate relief funding for local communities impacted by natural disasters.

Schatz is the author of the Reforming Disaster Recovery Act (S.1686), bipartisan legislation that he said would strengthen the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s disaster recovery program and help provide more immediate help for states, local governments, and tribes in the wake of a natural disaster.

“This past summer, Lahaina on the island of Maui experienced the nation’s deadliest wildfire in over a century. The fire killed a hundred people and decimated entire neighborhoods; 2,200 structures, most of which were homes, were destroyed. For four months now, almost 7,000 people have been shuffling from one hotel to the next. For many, rebuilding and recovery is still years away as debris removal is extensive and complex,” said Sen. Schatz. 

“Lahaina is just one example. Every community devastated by a disaster deserves help. Help that is timely, predictable, consistent, and proportional to the needs of the recovery,” said Sen. Schatz.

While Congress took an important step in September to fund FEMA disaster relief, Sen. Schatz said much more is needed in programs like the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program. “FEMA is only one piece of the puzzle,” he said.

Working closely with the Biden Administration and congressional leaders, Schatz has led efforts to bring federal resources to Maui.

To date, Hawai‘i has received more than $412 million in federal funding for the response to the fires, including more than $300 million in direct assistance to survivors from FEMA and the Small Business Administration.

The full video of the oversight hearing is available here.