Maui Mayor Bissen requests $401M from state for Lahaina rebuild, recovery

Mayor Richard Bissen made a plea to the state for $401.75 million over the next three years to help Lahaina rebuild and recover. The request was made before the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, on behalf of the people of Maui County.

County of Maui would separately leverage $198.75 million over the next three years, according to a news release announcement.

In all, rebuilding and recovery estimates would cost the state and the county $600.5 million, which would target critical infrastructure ($337.5 million), housing ($161 million) and emergency response ($102 million), according to county officials.

“Every day, our people are leaving, and this is a consequence that I cannot make peace with,” he said. “We must make our people whole again, and we cannot do it without the support of the State.”

County of Maui Managing Director Josiah Nishita, who is leading the county’s Office of Recovery, presented portions of an initial recovery needs assessment to the committee. The 82-page document highlights housing projects and infrastructure needs. County officials say it is based on community engagement, along with nonprofit, county, state and federal feedback. 

When asked by the committee where the bulk of the money is needed, Nishita said that infrastructure is the costliest.

“A big portion of that is the infrastructure restoration that has to occur to be able to provide utility service back to the properties in place to repopulate,” he said. 

The state Senate committee hearing item will be continued when County of Maui officials return to resume talks, according to a news release update.

The County of Maui presentation is available for viewing here.

To view the whole meeting, including a presentation on the request and the state lawmakers’ reactions, visit Hawai’i State Senate WAM’s meeting Feb. 20 on YouTube below: