Hawaii’s Congressional Delegation Pleased With Budget Deal

In addition to the national security funding and money for veterans, U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said she supported the measure’s investment in middle-class families, particularly making the Earned Income, Child, and American Opportunity tax credits permanent.

She said in a press release that an analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice shows some 52,000 Hawaii families with over 100,000 children benefit from the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits, which help to boost incomes by an average of $1,150 a year.

“The appropriations and tax package approved by Congress is very much a hard-fought, bipartisan compromise,” Hirono said the release.

“I have deep concerns about ending the ban on U.S. oil exports. However, Republicans also unsuccessfully sought a host of other policy changes that were even worse for our environment, our economy, and our nation,” she said. “Taken together, the benefits of this bill for Hawaii outweigh the costs and I concluded it was an agreement that I could support.”

Hirono was also supportive of the $22 billion for Pell Grants that the appropriations bill provides. She said 23,000 Hawaii students rely on this money to pay for college.

Read the entire piece at: http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/12/hawaiis/