Bill 40 is a sincere effort by the City & County of Honolulu to provide a modicum of financial aid to struggling businesses along the Dillingham corridor during on-going rail construction. The bill, passed in early 2024, was quickly signed into law by the mayor.
Unfortunately, the wheels of bureaucracy move far too slowly for many businesses. The details of the bill and how to distribute the money took over a year to flesh out; the application deadline was even pushed back last month in hopes of getting more small businesses to sign up.
Bill 40 basically allows an annual grant of up to $10,000 for companies in the area generating under $750,000/year in revenue with fewer than 15 employees. So say a business is a surviving $700,000 car repair shop or fast food location, the government is basically offering a grant of less than 1.5% of your annual revenue as a sign of being supportive. Perhaps not much more can be done by the government.
This is a nice, albeit small, opportunity for interested local retailers, but for businesses that are/were off 30-75% in revenues over the past three years, it is neither a difference-maker nor savior. As I recently bumped along the undulating pavement known as Dillingham Boulevard, I noticed some old, favorite haunts now shuttered. I worked two blocks makai of Dillingham Blvd. for years, so I’m quite familiar with the (former) terrain.
With progress (HART) comes displacement and misery for many of the estimated 200 businesses in the immediate area. Now-familiar orange cones and “no left turn” signs are frustrating, off-putting, but begrudgingly accepted as necessities in this major construction zone.
Why it took a year to come up with the details of Bill 40 might be simply bureaucracy at play and/or busy people dealing with myriad other responsibilities but for some, this $10,000 offer comes too late, and for most, the offer won’t make up for fewer visitors and continuing sales losses.
Sure, everyone knew it was coming, but not everyone foresaw what the cumulative effect would be, nor the time this roadwork would (and will) take. Bill 40 is for companies that were open in this area prior to January 1, 2022, and unfortunately, that number keeps dwindling, further reducing traffic and thus opportunity for the remaining stalwarts in the Dillingham corridor. A nice plan, but too little, too late, for too many.
Think about it…