[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 18 (Wednesday, January 31, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   INTRODUCTION OF THE HEAL MAUI ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2024

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my bill, H.R. 7061, the 
Healing and Economic Advancement for Local Businesses in Maui (HEAL 
Maui) Act, which would provide critical additional support to our small 
businesses which have been so severely affected by the devastating 
August 2023 Maui wildfires.
  The Maui wildfires caused 100 known deaths, severely injured many 
others, and displaced thousands of our `ohana (family). They burned 
over 2,500 acres of land and destroyed over 2,200 structures, including 
homes, businesses and historic landmarks. The full resources of our 
federal, state and local governments and communities are directed at 
recovery across many fronts.
  My HEAL Maui Act focuses on our small businesses, the backbone of our 
economy. Our Maui small businesses, and indeed small businesses 
throughout Hawaii, suffered a ``severe economic disruption'' as a 
result of the fires and their aftermath. In fact, the State of Hawaii 
revised its statewide economic growth projections for 2023 and 2024 
downward, from 1.8 percent to 1.1 percent for 2023 and from 2.0 percent 
to 1.5 percent for 2024.
  On Maui itself, initial unemployment claims jumped from an average of 
130 cases per week before the wildfires to 865 cases in the first week 
after the fire to 4,449 cases in the second week after the fire. The 
unemployment rate on Maui rose to 8.6 percent in September 2023.
  This economic disruption is hitting Hawaii's small businesses 
especially hard because small businesses comprise the vast majority of 
our businesses and employ the vast majority of our workforce. Hawaii is 
home to over 130,000 small businesses, with the average small business 
employing just 12 people.
  Affected Hawaii small businesses, still burdened with existing COVID-
19 loans, find difficulty matching federal small business disaster 
assistance programs to actual needs and circumstances. In response, my 
HEAL Maui Act is a comprehensive legislative proposal designed to offer 
swift and direct assistance to our small businesses during these 
challenging times. This legislation builds on the lessons learned from 
previous crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the need 
to tailor federal programs to address specific conditions in Hawaii and 
the specific circumstances and consequences of this disaster.
  The bill offers three much-needed forms of immediate assistance. 
First, it would augment the existing Small Business Administration 
(SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program by providing immediate 
advances to ensure businesses can maintain operations and retain 
employees. Second, it proposes a new loan program modeled after the 
Payroll Protection Program to directly address the immediate financial 
challenges many businesses face in the aftermath of the wildfires. 
Third, recognizing that some businesses have already taken out SBA 
disaster loans post-wildfire, my HEAL Maui Act offers a two-year loan 
deferment given the long duration needed for this recovery.
  My bill should be viewed as additive and complementary to the other 
sources of assistance to our small businesses and their owners and 
employees. These proposals may not work for all small businesses in 
their own circumstances, but they do offer further options that may 
work better or exclusively for some. In that, they are another piece of 
a very big effort to achieve full recovery across the board from this 
terrible and tragic disaster. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this legislation.

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