President Donald Trump's executive order to freeze billions in federal aid was temporarily put on pause Tuesday by the U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, an article from Reuters said. The federal court will revisit the issue on Monday, Feb. 3. Under the executive order, state agencies have until Feb. 10 to submit budget information on any program subject to this pause, according to a Jan. 27 White House memo.
This includes a hold on the nearly $10 million allocated in disaster funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, to restore cultural sites run by Waiola Church and Lahaina Restoration Foundation, according to Executive Director Theo Morrison and the office of U.S. Senator Brian Schatz. “The President just paused all unobligated FEMA funds,” Morrison said by email Tuesday afternoon, adding that FEMA disaster funds are reimbursable after the money is spent.
According to Gov. Josh Green, the state Department of Defense anticipates approximately $56 million in FEMA reimbursement in total for Maui's wildfire recovery.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "People who are receiving individual assistance, you will continue to receive that." This includes Social Security, Medicare and welfare benefits, she said.
Green said in a statement, “The presidential order seeks to prevent the people of Hawai‘i from receiving crucial services funded by the millions of dollars they pay to the federal government each year. This cannot stand.
“My administration is currently assessing the impact of this pause on essential state programs and services, including education, health care, social services, and wildfire recovery," he said. "For those programs that are found to be impacted, the state of Hawai‘i will work to develop alternate plans to ensure that key services for local residents are continued. The state Attorney General has joined other states in initiating legal action to challenge the federal administration’s actions, as Hawai‘i has already encountered impacts of this threatened funding freeze.”
In partnership with the National Council of Nonprofits, which filed the lawsuit, Hawai‘i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations has provided an online resource for community members, including an upcoming virtual town hall “for Hawaiʻi nonprofits to stay coordinated and organized.”
For more information from HANO, click here.
Aloha State Daily reached out to Hawai‘i's five Medicare health plans and providers for comment.
“HMSA is monitoring the situation and its potential impacts to our local health care economy, as we understand there is a temporary pause on President Trump’s executive order," said HMSA's Christine Hirasa, vice president of communications.
Kelsey Kukaua Medeiros can be reached at kelsey@alohastatedaily.com.
