Pubdate: Sat, 07 Jan 2006
Source: Garden Island (Lihue, HI)
Copyright: 2006 Kauai Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://kauaiworld.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/964
Author: Lester Chang, The Garden Island
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

FEDERAL FUNDS FOR KAUA'I MIGHT BE SCARCE

United States Rep. Ed Case, D-Neighbor Islands-rural O'ahu, said he is
going to roll up his sleeves again to fight the rising national debt
and strive to continue to bring federal funds to support efforts by
Kaua'i leaders to halt the use and sale of drugs on the island.

During a visit to Kaua'i Wednesday, Case, who is up for re-election
this year, also gave assurances that matching federal funds will be
generally available for transportation projects to relieve
long-standing traffic congestion in East and West Kaua'i.

Escorted by his liaison on Kaua'i, Dean Toyofuku, Case met on
Wednesday with county officials, including Kaua'i County Council
members and Gary Heu, administrative assistance to Mayor Bryan J.
Baptiste, for a talk on the availability of matching federal funds for
Kaua'i projects.

Heu stepped in on behalf of Baptiste, who is visiting the Philippine
Islands with Gov. Linda Lingle and a 175-member entourage to celebrate
the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Filipinos to Hawai'i
in 1906 and their contributions to Hawai'i.

In his meeting with Kaua'i government leaders, Case said he told them
that they should not expect a lot of federal funding for county
projects or programs due to federal budget constraints and different
priorities between members of Congress and President Bush.

"What I communicated to them from my side was that the federal budget
deteriorates very rapidly through, basically, I believe, a
mismanagement of our federal finances," Case told The Garden Island.

That state of affairs, he contends, was recently affirmed by a request
from the "U.S Secretary of the Treasury (John Snow) for Congress to
authorize another increase in the federal debt ceiling of $1 trillion
dollars, which will be the fourth debt, think, increase since I got
into office just three years ago.

"When I got into office, it was $6 trillion, and now it is $8
trillion," Case said. "The president wants to go to $9 trillion. That
is obviously telling you something is wrong."

Although funding for defense and transportation projects will not be
affected because funding for such projects was approved by members of
Congress and Bush last year, the fallout from the increase in the
federal debt ceiling will be that there will be less federal funding
to state and county governments in Hawai'i for other projects and
programs, Case said.

Government-supported social-service, healthcare, housing, education,
law-enforcement, conservation and agriculture programs nationwide
could be hurt, Case said.

"What I told (government leaders on Kaua'i) is when you are doing your
budget, be real conservative on anything that is dependent on federal
funds, either directly or indirectly, from the state to the counties,"
Case said.

Transportation projects will likely get the go-ahead, Case said,
because "transportation is among the top issues in my district," and,
because "Congress and the president passed last year a five-year
re-authorization bill."

That legislation authorizes the expenditure of some $900 million for
transportation projects in Hawai'i, he said.

Some of the funds have been designated by members of Congress for
specific projects in Hawai'i, he said.

What funds are not specified will go to Gov. Linda Lingle, who will
allocate the funds on the basis of timing and the types of projects
that are to be undertaken, said Case.

Kaua'i County officials are likely to get funding for designated
traffic-relief projects, Case said, and unallocated funds also could
come to Kaua'i County due to the close ties between Baptiste and
Lingle, both Republicans along with Bush, Case indicated.

But even with the $900 million in federal funds available, there won't
be enough funds for all traffic-improvement projects in his
congressional district, Case said.

"There are clearly transportation needs in the state that exceed the
federal-funding contribution," Case said. "So it is clear that even
with the $900 million and state contributions, we can't fund every
transportation project in Hawai'i."

Case said if he had his way, he would have all the projects funded.
"Every county has a transportation priority that is legitimate," Case
said.

On another federal-funding issue, Case said sustained federal funding
to fight the use and sale of crystal methamphetamine, also known as
ice, could be an iffy proposition in the future.

Funds are available now mostly because of the political clout of U.S.
Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, and because of initial public
demands nation-wide to control the use of the drug, Case said.

"Sen. Inouye also deserves credit for designating in the congressional
process an increase in money to fight ice, especially in Hawai'i,"
Case said. "But that is not a 10- 20-year proposition. That is a Sen.
Inouye-created situation."

The funds might not be there in the long run because the Bush
administration doesn't view as a priority the development or
enhancement of anti-drug programs.

"They simply do not place federal assistance to state and local
law-enforcement, whether it be for ice or whether it be, for
community-orienting policing," Case said.

Budget constraints also are an issue, "so there won't be flexibility
over the next five years," Case said.

Baptiste has established the war on drugs as one of the top priorities
of members of his administration, and has relied on matching federal
funds for programs to halt drug use on Kaua'i, and to set up
rehabilitation programs.

More could be done to help Kaua'i and other rural communities in
Hawai'i that have been hit hard by drug use, Case believes.

But getting the funding to effectively fight drug use in Hawai'i would
require a change of heart on the part of Bush administration leaders,
Case believes.

"It would be nice if we weren't fighting the administration on this,"
Case said. "We could get a lot more done." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake