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Senate committees approve bill to create emergency bridge funding for nonprofits; judiciary added
Summary
A joint Senate Ways and Means and Commerce and Consumer Protection hearing advanced SB933 with amendments to create eligibility rules and reporting requirements for emergency state funding to nonprofits facing federal funding freezes; the measure was adopted by the committees.
A joint hearing of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection advanced SB933 on a recommendation to pass with amendments after several nonprofit leaders and public-health advocates testified in favor.
Supporters told the committees SB933 is intended to provide a financial bridge to nonprofit providers that rely substantially on federal funding and would be at risk if federal grants or contracts were frozen or cut. Trisha Kajimura, vice president of strategy and external affairs for Parents and Children Together, said, “it's of utmost importance in these very, tumultuous times,” and warned that Head Start and other federally funded programs are central to local early‑childhood and family services.
The measure’s nut graf: committee amendments add a new section defining eligible organizations as those providing “crucial programmatic aid and outreach in the health and human services sector” that receive substantial federal funds and are at risk of loss or reduction if federal funding is frozen; the committees also added language requested by the Judiciary to include courts-contracted services. The amended bill requires recipients to report to the Legislature and sets a defective effective date in 2050.
Witnesses who spoke in support included Melissa Miyashiro, president and CEO of the Hawaii Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, who said, “This critical financial bridge comes at a time when the federal administration is putting millions of dollars at risk,” and Nate Hicks of the Hawaii Public Health Institute, who urged that short-term investments can yield larger downstream savings, saying an “upfront investment for a dollar now can give us $5.10, $15 down the line.” Several other statewide nonprofits and coalitions filed written testimony in support.
Committee discussion focused on eligibility language and the bill’s defective effective date. Committee staff and members clarified that the measure is designed as a temporary backstop that would only take effect if federal funding freezes occur. The committees voted to pass the measure with the amendments described and to include judiciary language per submitted testimony; the motion was adopted.
Ending: The committees’ amendments require recipient reporting to the Legislature and set the bill’s defective effective date to 2050. The measure will move forward to the next step in the Senate’s process per the standing committee referrals recorded in the session minutes.
