Even as the shutdown of the federal government continues, Hawai‘i’s senators continue to work in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Senate voted to pass a pair bills this week, including:
• The Accelerating Networking, Cyberinfrastructure and Hardware for Oceanic Research Act, or ANCHOR Act, a measure requiring the National Science Foundation to develop a plan to upgrade the cybersecurity of the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, a collection of oceanographic research vessels operating around the globe. One of those vessels is the Kilo Moana, a ship owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the University of Hawai‘i Marine Center, which carries instruments for mapping the ocean floor.
The Senate passed the bill with unanimous consent, including that of Hawai‘i senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono.
• The Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition Act, or ARTIST Act, a bill that exempts Native Alaskans from existing bans on the sale of products made from walrus ivory, whale baleen or other marine mammal products. The bill passed with unanimous consent.
Amid these discussions, the Senate remains deadlocked on a pair of bills that would fund the federal government and end the shutdown.
Partisan debate over The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act was what led to the shutdown in the first place, with Senate Democrats arguing last week that the Republican-authored funding bill slashes health care subsidies that will cause Americans’ medical costs to spike.
In response, the Democrats introduced the The Continuing Appropriations and Extensions and Other Matters Act, a competing bill that retains those subsidies.
The Senate has voted repeatedly throughout this week on whether to proceed with either bill, but those votes have been split on party lines, with Democrats — including Schatz and Hirono — voting against proceeding on the Republican bill and vice-versa. With a three-fifths majority required for the vote to pass, neither bill has moved.
Schatz also announced on Wednesday that he has co-introduced The Federal Employee Civil Relief Act, a measure that will protect furloughed federal workers from eviction, home foreclosure, property repossession, student loan or other bill defaults, and other impacts from losing pay during a shutdown.
While the text of the bill has not been made public, Schatz introduced an identically named bill in 2023 that would have allowed federal workers to challenge landlords, lienholders, student lenders and others in court. That bill allowed for the possibility of the court to pay equity to landlords, but also warned that anyone who knowingly attempted to evict a federal worker during a furlough would be guilty of a misdemeanor.
The 2023 bill quietly died in committee after making no progress that year.
The new measure, if passed, would extend throughout the duration of a shutdown and for 30 days after.
Schatz’s office did not respond questions, such as the projected cost of the bill, by Aloha State Daily.
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