The Compact of Free Association

So, I listen to NPR like many latte sipping, Prius driving, public transportation taking, arugala eating liberals. This past Sunday I heard this story involving the Marshall Islands.

One thing people do not know about is that the State of Hawaii is one of the first places Marshallese came and settled after the treaty that allows them to come to the U.S. to live and work entered into force in 1986, and saw major revisions in 2003.

One of the major problems with the renewal of the Compact arose from the fact that these people could enter the U.S. but could not qualify for federal aid. Instead the state had to pay for their eduction and other social services entirely without any aid from the federal government, and they are excluded from the direct spending programs like Medicaid. Instead, we created Compact Impact Payments, a sort of lump sum grant distributed to the states based on the impact. The result though is that the State of Hawaii, parts of the West Coast, and parts of Arkansas must bear almost the entire burden for these people's social services. While they do pay state and federal taxes, they get very little of the federal share back.

Sadly, this is one of these issues people know little about. We did not enter into the COFA out of kindness because we bombed them, but we did get certain other rights too. And as these islands sink into the sea because of global warming, Hawaii and these areas will have a disparate impact. We should welcome them, but we need to figure out a way to help these states and local governments as well.