#Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing

In 2024, US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) helped secure more than $6 billion in federal funding for Hawai‘i as he led efforts to deliver resources to support Maui’s recovery from last year’s fires and advance a range of other priorities for the state.

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., alongside US Sen. Brian Schatz and HUD Regional Administrator Jason Pu, on Wednesday announced that Hawai‘i has been awarded more than $6.6 million in new federal grant funding to help build more housing. The funding comes from a new grant program based on Schatz’s bipartisan ‘Yes In My Backyard’ legislation and was first funded in the fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill.

A federal program to reward state and local government that reform land-use policies and other local barriers constraining the supply of affordable housing has received an additional $15 million in funding. The grant program now has a total funding of $100 million.