Kayak SF to Hawaii

One billion $ budget for this year alone?

How many coast guard employees are there? Are they state employees basically?

They are not state employees; they are members of the US Military (hence "national budget").  The $1B budget isn't just human resources costs... it's the budget for all operating costs of assets assigned to search and rescue (boats, ships, aircraft, communications, fuel, power, etc.).  The USCG is just over 40k active duty members with ~7k reserve and ~30k civilian Auxiliarists.

and for every life saved and every family member recovered, it is worth every penny. 

and for every life saved and every family member recovered, it is worth every penny.

Amen to that! 

“There’s no mechanism for the Coast Guard to put the costs on a recreational boater,” Kroll said.

I think i finally understand.  Defendants who are adjudged guilty are often hit with restitution fines.  Here, with a rescue, there's no criminal act, just a wayward adventurer exercising his liberties, however far fetched or ill-advised and unlucky.  No crime, no fine (or restitution).

That's all of our tax dollars at work, and what the USCG are trained and budgeted to do. 

“There’s no mechanism for the Coast Guard to put the costs on a recreational boater,” Kroll said.

I think i finally understand.  Defendants who are adjudged guilty are often hit with restitution fines.  Here, with a rescue, there's no criminal act, just a wayward adventurer exercising his liberties, however far fetched or ill-advised and unlucky.  No crime, no fine (or restitution).

That's all of our tax dollars at work, and what the USCG are trained and budgeted to do. 

Exactly!  When it does venture into the territory of a crime committed, such as the folks who think it's funny to call mayday from shore stations, then restitution can be demanded by courts.  The USCG does recoup some of its funds through those legal channels for malicious offenders.  However, you are free to be as dumb as you want (which has been made pretty obvious in the past few years)... whether the USCG likes it or not