WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 -- Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R-Alaska), and Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono (both D-Hawaii), introduced legislation this week to increase the amount that hospitals in Alaska and Hawaii can be reimbursed by Medicare to perform outpatient procedures for enrolled seniors. Historically, rural states have faced significant cost disparities for Medicare reimbursement that drive up costs  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 -- Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R-Alaska), and Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono (both D-Hawaii), introduced legislation this week to increase the amount that hospitals in Alaska and Hawaii can be reimbursed by Medicare to perform outpatient procedures for enrolled seniors. Historically, rural states have faced significant cost disparities for Medicare reimbursement that drive up cos  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: Following calls led by U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i) and U.S. Representatives Ed Case (D-Hawai'i) and Jill Tokuda (D-Hawai'i), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will increase the recently-authorized summer meal benefit for children in Hawai'i to account for the higher cost of food in the state. This summer, children in Hawai'i will receive $59 pe  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and U.S. Representative Grace Meng (D-NY) led 48 other Senators and Representatives in sending a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), urging the lawmakers to block an attempt by Republicans to exclude undocumented immigrant  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and six colleagues in introducing the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, legislation that would crack down on companies that help landlords increase rents in already high-priced markets. These services allow landlords to collude to set prices via software and price-setting algorithms. Reporting by ProPu  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i) and U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) introduced the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act, a bill that would provide federal employees with a 7.4 percent pay increase in calendar year 2025. Schatz previously introduced similar legislation in the 115th, 116th, and 117th Congresses. The federal government has a history of chronic underinvestment in its mo  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation Housing and Urban Development, today released the following statement after Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi signed the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit's updated full funding grant agreement (FFGA). With the FFGA finalized, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is now set to release millions in remain  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, introduced Admiral Samuel J. Paparo, Jr. at a full Committee hearing considering his nomination to serve as the next Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). As Commander of INDOPACOM, Admiral Paparo would be responsible for all military opera  more

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -- Sen. Mazie K. Hirono, D-Hawaii, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed the CEOs of five major social media platforms--Meta, X Corp., TikTok Inc., Snap Inc., and Discord Inc.--about the dangers that underage users face on these platforms. In the hearing, Senator Hirono called out the companies for attracting children to their platforms and then failing to protect them from harm on those sa  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 -- Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) in introducing the Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act to prevent companies from using algorithms to set higher prices for consumers.    more