US Rep. Tokuda secures $1.1 million for Lahaina water plant upgrades
US Rep. Jill Tokuda backed a bipartisan minibus funding package Thursday that includes $1,092,000 for the Maui County to upgrade the Lahaina Water Treatment Plant. The legislation, which passed the House by a vote of 397-28, now moves to the Senate. The package includes funding for the departments of Commerce, Justice, Energy and Interior, as well as science agencies. The Maui County funding is earmarked for rehabilitating waterlines, modernizing source wells and adding backup water storage … Continue Reading
January 09, 2026
The unlikely friendship Doug LaMalfa made over disaster, almonds and Spam
Remembrances for the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa poured in Thursday in the House of Representatives. The North State Republican was remembered by his colleagues as a warm presence in Washington. Members spoke for an hour on the House floor about the relationships they built with the farmer from Butte County. That included bonds forged across the aisle. Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat from Hawaii, said her friendship with LaMalfa started in the face of disaster. “I’ll never forget Nov. 8th, 2023,” … Continue Reading
January 08, 2026
Rep. Tokuda advocates for health subsidies amid rising premiums
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Island News) -- Seventeen House Republicans joined efforts to revive subsidies that expired just a week ago, allowing a crucial vote to take place on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are now trying to bring them back to life. Hawaii Representative Jill Tokuda addressed the urgency of this issue saying this should have been done at the end of last year before they expired. When Tokuda spoke on the house floor on Thursday, she made a point that this is not a political … Continue Reading
December 19, 2025
Rep. Tokuda introduces bill to support law enforcement’s battle against ‘zombie guns’
US Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02) introduced a bill to provide public agencies, including police departments, with greater resources to fully and safely destroy seized or surrendered firearms. The Restoring Trust in Public Safety Act would create a new federal grant program to help state, Tribal, and local governments and law enforcement agencies acquire equipment, hire personnel, and conduct training to guarantee the complete destruction of firearms and firearm parts under their control. Last … Continue Reading
November 25, 2025
Rep. Tokuda introduces bill to repeal tariffs on Indo-Pacific allies
US Rep. Jill Tokuda has introduced new legislation that would repeal what she described as counterproductive “emergency” tariffs imposed during the Trump administration on key Indo-Pacific partners. The Indo-Pacific Partner and Ally Tariff Repeal Act would remove tariffs ranging from 15% to 20% on goods from 40 allied nations, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan. Tokuda said the repeal is needed to reaffirm US economic and security commitments to countries confronting … Continue Reading
November 24, 2025
Tokuda leads bill to remove restrictive language from federal Native Hawaiian arts grant program
US Rep. Jill Tokuda has reintroduced bipartisan legislation aimed at improving Native Hawaiian-serving arts and cultural organizations’ access to federal grant opportunities by removing longstanding administrative barriers. The Native Arts and Culture Promotion Act would streamline the grant application process for Native Hawaiian-serving organizations by eliminating signatory requirements that currently delay or block applications. Additionally, the bill would remove restrictive statutory … Continue Reading
November 22, 2025
Tokuda, Harshbarger highlight National Rural Health Day
This week, US Reps. Jill Tokuda (Hawaiʻi-02) and Diana Harshbarger (Tenn.-01), co-chairs of the Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus, led Congress in celebrating National Rural Health Day and highlighted the need to advance bipartisan policy to strengthen rural healthcare systems. “National Rural Health Day is a chance to honor the communities that keep this country moving: the farmers, teachers, kūpuna, health workers, first responders, small business owners and families who fuel our local … Continue Reading
November 21, 2025
Rep. Jill Tokuda honors Tasha Kama before US House
Speaking before the U.S. House on Wednesday, Rep. Jill Tokuda took a moment to praise the life of Maui County Council Member Tasha Kama, who died Oct. 26 surrounded by loved ones. The Maui County Council member was also remembered during a ceremony Wednesday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. In Washington, the lawmaker from Hawaii described Kama as “a mother to all, a warm hand and a hug when you needed it most, a voice for the voiceless and a champion for everyone she … Continue Reading
November 13, 2025
Hawaii’s U.S. House members vote no on reopening bill over health care concerns
Hawaii’s two House members voted against reopening the federal government, saying the legislation contained no guarantees to prevent insurance premiums from rising for island residents who purchase their health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. In a Facebook post before the House voted Wednesday to send a continuing resolution to President Donald Trump to fund the government after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, U.S. Rep. Ed Case wrote, “I want to get government … Continue Reading
October 27, 2025
House Democrats, Rep. Tokuda calls on USDA to protect SNAP during government shutdown
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Island News) -- House Democrats, including Rep. Jill Tokuda, are calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use available funds to protect November SNAP benefits as the government shutdown continues. Rep. Tokuda joined 214 House Democrats in a letter to USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to ensure food assistance continues for millions of Americans during the federal government shutdown. Congress established a contingency reserve fund of $5 billion towards SNAP for … Continue Reading
October 20, 2025
Rep. Jill Tokuda Says House Republicans Have Chosen 'To Run And Hide'
The federal government shutdown that reached its 19th day Sunday has resulted in tens of thousands of public employees being forced to work without getting paid. But there’s one group of federal workers who are not being allowed to do their normal jobs even though their pay remains steady. That would be the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson sent them home Sept. 19 and hasn’t called them back since, saying the House will get back to … Continue Reading
October 06, 2025
Tokuda Leads Hawaii Congressional Delegation in Posthumous Promotions of Seven Nisei WWII Soldiers
WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll has posthumously promoted seven Nisei soldiers from the Territory of Hawaii and former University of Hawaii Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadets to the rank of second lieutenant. The promotions follow a June 26, 2024, request from the Hawaii congressional delegation urging then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth to review the military records of the seven cadets and consider their … Continue Reading
October 03, 2025
Threat to federal workforce 'unlike anything we've seen before,' Rep. Tokuda says
About 24,000 civilian federal employees and 47,000 active duty military servicemembers in Hawaiʻi have been impacted by the federal government shutdown. Across the country in Washington, the U.S. Senate was unable to agree on a funding bill on Tuesday night. U.S. Rep. Ed Case of Hawaiʻi explained that although federal workers will receive back pay once the shutdown ends, they will feel the most immediate impacts. “There is a significant group of people here today, they are either working … Continue Reading
September 30, 2025
Dem Rep. Tokuda: We Shouldn’t Back Hamas Into a Corner on Peace Deal or Israel’s ‘Genocide’ Will Continue
On Monday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI) stated that she worries the Gaza peace proposal “is being set up to just give Israel a green light to go ahead and continue the genocide on Palestinians.” And responded to a question on whether it’s incumbent on Hamas to take the deal by saying that “it’s incumbent on everyone to recognize that it has to be a discussion, and that if you’re going to back an entity, a terrorist organization like Hamas into a corner, then … Continue Reading
September 30, 2025
Congresswoman Jill Tokuda shares the latest on potential government shutdown
HONOLULU (KHON2) — The threat of a partial government shutdown could become reality this week. “We’re literally waiting for that meeting this afternoon between President Trump and finally, he’s agreed to meet with democratic leaders of both the house and the senate. As you know, what the republicans have been pushing is not a bipartisan, stop gap measure to a potential shutdown,” Rep. Jill Tokuda said. “It was a very partisan attack, literally playing politics with people’s lives, not … Continue Reading
September 29, 2025
Tokuda discusses shutdown threat, health care cuts during Hilo visit
U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda met with the Tribune-Herald on Wednesday during a visit to Hilo, where she discussed the potential for a federal government shutdown, ongoing attacks on Congress, the fight to preserve health care funding and efforts by states to shift the balance of power ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Before the interview, Tokuda toured several sites in Hilo, including the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center and the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s College of Pharmacy. … Continue Reading
September 11, 2025
Case, Tokuda vote against defense authorization bill
Despite pushing for key provisions that were ultimately included in the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda, both D-Hawaii, ultimately voted against the measure on Wednesday. The Hawaii lawmakers said the $893 billion bill, which authorizes defense spending for the year and sets policies for the U.S. Department of Defense, was effectively taken over by House Republicans, who introduced provisions focusing on … Continue Reading
September 11, 2025
CONGRESS WATCH: Tokuda slams military funding bill
Hawai‘i lawmakers voted Wednesday against a military funding bill allocating more than $900 million to the state. The U.S. House of Representatives passed on Wednesday the Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act, a 1,200-page measure authorizing funds for military projects throughout the U.S. Armed Forces. Included among those funds are about $946 million for various Army and Navy projects in Hawai‘i. These include an unspecified … Continue Reading
September 02, 2025
Hirono, Tokuda, Case introduce resolution recognizing history, contributions, and significance of Maunaloa Observatory
US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and US Reps. Jill Tokuda (D-HI) and Ed Case (D-HI) introduced a resolution recognizing the history and important contributions of the Maunaloa Observatory (MLO) on Hawaiʻi Island. The resolution also commemorates the 69th anniversary of the Maunaloa Observatory and honors the cultural significance of Maunaloa itself to the Native Hawaiian community. The Hawaiʻi lawmakers introduced the resolution after the Trump Administration announced its plans to cancel the … Continue Reading
July 21, 2025
Tokuda and Case vote against cuts to public broadcasting, foreign aid
On Friday, both of Hawaiʻi’s US House representatives voted against a $9 billion spending cut package that rolls back previously approved federal funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid. H.R. 4 - the Rescissions Act of 2025 - passed the House in a narrow 216-213 vote and now heads to the President’s desk. “Public broadcasting serves as a lifeline for rural and underserved communities, providing essential educational content and emergency alerts in times of crisis,” Rep. Jill Tokuda … Continue Reading