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Community groups urge sustained funding for Maui Wildfire Exposure Study and health registry
Summary
Witnesses at the House Finance hearing urged lawmakers to fund SB 2969 to sustain the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study and Maui Health Registry, saying the programs connect survivors to physical and mental-health services and produce data for long-term recovery planning.
The House Committee on Finance heard more than a dozen supporters testify in favor of SB 2969, which would continue the Maui Wildfire Exposure Study and the Maui Health Registry to screen residents, refer them to care and gather data on long-term health effects of disaster exposures.
Evelyn Dev, who said, "I grew up here on Maui," told the committee that community-based screenings make care accessible and culturally safe for families who were displaced by the wildfires. "Programs like Maui Wildfire Exposure Study and the Maui Health Registry are critical because they provide trusted community-based screenings and connect people to care," she said.
Roots Reborn staff and volunteers described personal experiences with the study. Stephanie Via Lobos, who said she both worked on the program and participated in it, told lawmakers the program identified mental-health needs she had not recognized: "The mental health portion especially pushed me to have a conversation with my doctor that I had been avoiding." Dr. Christopher Nightsbridge, who leads the study's mental-health outreach, said the program moves participants directly into care and asked for roughly $4 million to expand outreach, particularly to children in Lāhainā.
University and nonprofit partners including the American Lung Association, Kaiser Permanente and local community clinics lodged written support. Testimony repeatedly stressed two themes: that long-term environmental exposures after fires can produce physical and mental-health problems months or years later, and that registry-linked screening provides both care and the data needed to direct limited resources.
Supporters also gave budget context. A public commenter recommended $4.15 million in the current request to make up for earlier appropriations that did not move across this session, while multiple witnesses emphasized that many residents remain uninsured or face access barriers.
The committee took testimony and moved on without taking a vote; proponents asked lawmakers to prioritize the measure when the Finance Committee considers operating and capital requests.
