WASHINGTON — Hawai'i would receive about $59 million in special projects under three spending bills approved by a Senate panel.

As well as the special project funding, one of the three bills approved last week, the transportation spending bill, contains an additional $143 million as the state's allotment next year under the federal highway program and $35.1 million for O'ahu transit projects. The transit money is to pay for new buses and vans as well as for the construction of transit centers.

"The programs seek to improve all aspects of our quality of life in Hawai'i — from aiming to make it easier to move from one destination to another on O'ahu ... to seeking greener and less expensive energy options," said U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i.

The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved all three bills, sending them to the full Senate for its action. But the process of funding federal operations in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 is still in the very early stages, with little likelihood it will be completed before the November elections.

The transportation bill also includes $20 million for preliminary engineering and other costs for Honolulu's mass transit project and $2 million for Hawai'i, Maui and Kaua'i counties to use to buy buses to expand routes and increase service.

Inouye, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he was "especially pleased" by the mass transit funding because it's harder to obtain federal money during tough budgetary times.

Another $5 million would be used for improvements to the Kina'u and Lusitana street H-1 on-ramps.

The three bills also include: