Gov. Green, Hawaiʻi Congressional delegation vow swift action to protect residents, mitigate impact of Republican tax bill

Gov. Josh Green, U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie K. Hirono, and U.S. Representatives Ed Case and Jill Tokuda released a joint statement on the Republican tax bill, which passed through Congress today.

Green, Schatz, Hirono, Case and Tokuda stated that they will be moving quickly to protect Hawaiʻi’s most vulnerable residents, many of which will be closing healthcare coverage and food assistance.

“The Republican tax bill breaks promises, and guts funding for healthcare and food assistance that thousands of Hawai‘i families rely on every day,” they said in the statement. “It’s a terrible bill that we all strongly opposed.”

The tax bill will cut healthcare coverage through Med-QUEST for more than 40,000 people in Hawai‘i, gut food assistance programs for more than 20,000 families, and will also raise the national debt by $3.3 trillion.

“While it won’t be easy to stop all the damage from these cuts, we’re moving quickly to protect our communities. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be meeting with state and local officials, community partners, and service providers to assess the fiscal impact on Hawai‘i and develop operational plans to blunt the harm,” they said. “That includes coordinating resources, setting local priorities, and making sure the most vulnerable aren’t left without support. These next few years won’t be easy, but we are mobilizing now to respond, protect our people, and make sure Hawai‘i can weather what’s coming.”