WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Ed Case has proposed the re-establishment of pandemic-era small business loan programs and deferment of existing loans to aid in recovery from last year’s devastating Maui wildfires.

What You Need To Know

  • Case introduced the Healing and Economic Advancement for Local Businesses in Maui Act on Jan. 22 and last week addressed his House colleagues in support of the measure

  • Case noted that on Maui, initial unemployment claims jumped from an average of 130 cases per week to 865 cases in the first week after the fire and to 4,449 cases the following week

  • The bill would create a new loan program modeled after the Payroll Protection Program to directly address immediate financial challenges businesses face in the aftermath of the wildfires and, as a complement to the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, allow for immediate advances to help businesses maintain operations and retain employees

  • It would also offer a two-year loan deferment for businesses that have already taken out SBA disaster loans related to the wildfires

 

Case introduced the Healing and Economic Advancement for Local Businesses in Maui Act on Jan. 22 and last week addressed his House colleagues in support of the measure.

“My HEAL Maui Act focuses on our small businesses, the backbone of our economy,” Case said. “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.”

Case noted that on Maui itself, initial unemployment claims jumped from an average of 130 cases per week to 865 cases in the first week after the fire and to 4,449 cases the following week.

“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,” Case said. “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.”

Specifically, the bill would create a new loan program modeled after the Payroll Protection Program to directly address immediate financial challenges businesses face in the aftermath of the wildfires and, as a complement to the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, allow for immediate advances to help businesses maintain operations and retain employees.

It would also offer a two-year loan deferment for businesses that have already taken out SBA disaster loans related to the wildfires.

“My bill should be viewed as additive and complementary to the other sources of assistance to our small businesses and their owners and employees,” Case said. “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.”

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.