This past Wednesday U.S. Representative Neil Abercrombie made headway in acquiring funds to aid Hawaii’s growing needs. The U.S House Appropriations Committee approved two more of the twelve 2009 spending bills that are aimed at aiding Hawaii’s commerce, research and development, and alternate energy sources.

Among the funding was $300,000 set aside for the upgrade of Honolulu Police Department’s Crime Lab, a lab which also serves numerous U.S. government agencies and several branches of the military.

He also obtained $100,000 to help the Hawaii Innocence Project. The program helps Hawaiian inmates obtain freedom after they have been unjustly incarcerated by investigating and retrying wrongful conviction cases.

With the catastrophic failure of the Ka Loko Reservoir Dam in March 2006 still fresh in his mind, Abercrombie paired with Representative Mazie Hirono to obtain $200,000 for studies into the certification of the approximately 100 levees throughout the state of Hawaii.

Among other Hawaiian programs receiving funds are the state energy program’s research of high yield feedstock and biomass, the University of Hawaii’s coral reef research, and the Department of Energy’s testing of polymeric hydrogels for use in nuclear facilities.

While this major breakthrough for Hawaii brings much-needed funds to the islands, Representative Abercrombie is committed to pushing for the passage of more spending bills when the House Appropriation Committee brings them to the House floor for a vote in July. -Edited by Lauren Goddard