HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Leaders from 213 nonprofit organizations testified at the Hawaii State Capitol Thursday, seeking emergency funding as federal spending cuts impact Hawaii’s charity and human service sector more severely than anticipated.
Lawmakers set aside $50 million in May for nonprofits affected by Trump administration spending cuts, but organizations requested more than $150 million from the fund.
“We had, you know, over $150 million in requests, you know, for $50 million pot. So I think that should just show you the need out there. A lot of community members going hungry,” said state Rep. Daniel Holt, co-chair of the emergency grants committee.
Organizations detail funding shortfalls
The West Hawaii Community Health Center requested $1.8 million “to stabilize and sustain this workforce, jobs and keep people healthy,” said CEO Richard Taaffe.
Kids Hurt Too sought $394,500. “Since the funding cuts, we have expanded our peer support, mentoring, and community activities for grieving and traumatized youth and families,” said executive director Walker Rowsey.
“We are humbly requesting $350,000 to help Hawaii’s most disadvantaged youth,” said Cathy Ogawa of Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Alu Like reported a $189,403 cut in Department of Labor federal funding. “Our employment and training program, which was forced to reduce staff work hours by 20% to address the $189,403 cut in our Department of Labor federal funding,” said CEO Mervina K.M. Cash-Kaeo.
Lawmakers face difficult decisions
“We’re gonna try and prioritize, you know, needs in our community, you know, food is definitely important, you know, health care, things of those things,” Holt said.
The requests come as federal food aid remains stalled and tens of thousands of federal workers live without paychecks.
“I feel like we are getting punched in the gut multiple times, right, from all directions,” said state Rep. Lisa Marten, chair of Human Services.
Republican state Sen. Brenton Awa was asked if Trump can be blamed for the crises said partisan politics should not affect people’s needs.
“It’s sad that we live in a time where party politics has to be this divisive at the cost of people. And, you know, what we got into office for was to represent people. So when we see this, this is the kind of stuff that makes us sick,” he said.
Revenue generation under consideration
The funding shortage could prompt lawmakers to seek additional revenue from taxpayers.
“Things always have to be relooked at. When they’re on such a large scale, you know, we always could use additional revenue generation, which we’re always looking at, but that’s always tough,” Holt said.
Marten said everything should be on the table.
“We have to look at the big picture and see what can we find and what can’t we find? Because replacing all federal programs with state funds isn’t possible,” she said.
Lawmakers had reserved a day for a potential special session in late November to address federal budget cuts, but will now most likely wait until the regular session begins in January.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
