The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to send millions of dollars to Hawai‘i for environmental conservation and other projects.
Last week, the Senate took up discussion on The Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, a budget bill the House voted to pass.
Senators voted 82-15 to pass the measure Thursday after making over a dozen amendments to the bill throughout the week. Hawai‘i Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz both voted in favor of the bill.
The amended bill includes millions for protection of Hawaiian ecosystems and endangered species. For example, Schatz touted $6.7 million to fund mosquito research to help mitigate the continued decline of native bird species, $9.9 million to acquire forest lands on Maui for rainforest management and $12.2 million for various projects to conserve marine species such as monk seals and sea turtles.
The bill also includes $4 million nationwide for a tsunami hazard mitigation grant program, $67 million to maintain marine sanctuaries nationwide, $1.5 million for harbor maintenance throughout Hawai‘i and more.
The bill next goes to the Oval Office to await the President’s signature.
Other bills passed recently include:
The Financial Services and General Government and National Security, Department of State and Related Programs Appropriations Act, another budget bill which passed the House Wednesday 341-79, with Hawai‘i Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda voting in support.
The enormous bill — this one nearly 500 pages — has fewer Hawai‘i-specific allocations, but does include $1.8 billion to support the nation’s military interests in the Indo-Pacific, although this is primarily targeted at programs to counter the influence of the Chinese government.
Other provisions include $150 million to control and reduce the influx of fentanyl into the country, a prohibition on any foreign assistance funds being used to carry out abortions, cutting funds to the United Nations and more.
The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits Act, or DEFIANCE Act, amends U.S. laws prohibiting the non-consensual release of sexually explicit images of a person to include deepfakes or synthesized images.
Under the measure, a person non-consensually depicted in deepfake porn can sue for damages of up to $250,000. The law would also allow the victim to use a pseudonym during their lawsuit.
The Senate voted unanimously to pass the bill, which now goes before the House.
The Saving Homeowners from Overregulation With Exceptional Rinsing Act, or the SHOWER Act, a minuscule bill that creates an official legal definition of “showerhead” for the purpose of federal water efficiency regulations.
While seemingly trivial, the bill is a follow-up to an April 2025 executive order by President Donald Trump that repealed previous Department of Energy regulations surrounding showerheads which, Trump wrote, took thousands of words to define what a showerhead is.
The bill replaces the previous definition to match with those used by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
During the House discussion of the measure, Democrats ridiculed the measure for its seeming insignificance amid the nation’s cost-of-living crisis, but it nonetheless passed the House 226-197, with Case and Tokuda in opposition.
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