DECATUR TRIBUNE: Budzinski Priorities Signed into Law in Bipartisan Government Funding Bill

Decatur Tribune

March 9, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) applauded President Joe Biden’s signing of a bipartisan government funding bill that includes key local priorities and $136.1 million for projects throughout Illinois’ 13th Congressional District.The government funding package signed into law today includes six of 12 appropriations bills that need to be passed by March 22nd in order to fully fund the federal government. Budzinski helped to pass the package in the House of Representatives earlier this week.

     “This week, I was proud to vote for a bipartisan government funding bill that will make critical investments in communities across Central and Southern Illinois” said Congresswoman Budzinski. “With President Biden’s signature, $136.1 million is headed to projects that serve communities across Illinois 13th District, and additional resources are headed to federal programs that serve our veterans, families and rural communities. Congress still has important work ahead to fully fund the federal government, but this is an encouraging and exciting step in the right direction.”   

     The following 15 projects championed by Congresswoman Budzinski will be receiving a combined $136.1 million in direct federal investments from the bipartisan government funding bill:

• $120,000,000 for the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Project (NESP) on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers
• $5,000,000 for the East Alton Water Treatment Facility Upgrades
• $1,607,182 for Springfield’s CAP 1908 Innovation Co-Working Center
• $1,059,097 for Alton Workforce Housing
• $1,000,000 for East St. Louis’s Youth Workforce Development Training Center
• $1,000,000 for Springfield’s Pillsbury Mills Redevelopment Project
• $1,000,000 for the Bethalto Boys and Girls Club Clubhouse
• $963,000 for the University of Illinois Police Champaign-Urbana Real Time Crime Center
• $850,000 for Champaign’s Garden Hills Revitalization Project
• $850,000 for Wood River’s 9th Street Detention Pond
• $800,000 for Staunton’s Force Main Project
• $500,000 for Decatur’s EnRich Educational Campus Housing Project
• $500,000 for the Macoupin Center for the Developmentally Disabled
• $500,000 for East St. Louis’s Parsons Place Preservation Project
• $500,000 for Village of Pawnee Water Main Replacement

     The legislation signed by President Biden also included a number of Congresswoman Budzinski’s priorities she championed during the House of Representatives appropriations process: 

     Increased funding for veterans: The bipartisan government funding bill ensures that veterans receive the compensation and benefits that they have earned with increased investments in health care, including targeted investments that support caregivers and advance mental health care, homelessness assistance and improved access to care. By identifying and advocating for local veterans’ needs during the appropriations process, Congresswoman Budzinski helped to secure the following resources:

• Full funding for the Toxic Exposures Fund (Honoring Our PACT Act) for fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025.
• An additional $2.3 billion for veterans’ mental health care.
• An additional $556 million for veterans’ caregivers in line with the Elizabeth Dole Home Care Act. Congresswoman Budzinski has cosponsored the legislation and voted for it to pass the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the full House of Representatives.
• An additional $418 million for veteran homelessness prevention programs in line with the Healthy Foundations for Homeless Veterans Actand the Return Home to Housing Actwhich Congresswoman Budzinski has cosponsored.
• An additional $60.6 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for veterans’ suicide prevention outreach initiatives.
• An additional $17 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinksi for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Medical and Prosthetic Research Program.
• An additional $5 million for rural health care in line with the Driver Reimbursement Increase for Veteran Equity (DRIVE) Actwhich Congresswoman Budzinski has cosponsored.

     Increased funding for infrastructure, housing and rural development: The bipartisan government funding bill makes strong investments in programs that fund water system improvements, housing access, law enforcement and energy upgrades that greatly benefit communities in Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. By identifying and advocating for local infrastructure, housing and rural development needs during the appropriations process, Congresswoman Budzinski helped to secure the following resources:

• An additional $775.7 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF), a federal-state partnership that provides low-cost financing to communities for a wide range of water quality infrastructure projects.
• An additional $342.9 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA), which seeks to identify, stimulate and support successful and innovative state approaches to providing integrated supportive housing for people with disabilities.
• An additional $207.1 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) Program. In 2023, Springfield, Champaign, Belleville, Decatur, Alton and Edwardsville received a combined $322,977 from the program for equipment, training and technology.
• An additional $38 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). In 2023, Budzinski announced a $450,000 EDA grant for the City of Springfield for economic development strategy planning. Budzinski also announced that the EDA has selected Richland Community College in Decatur as a finalist for a $20-50 million investment.
• An additional $30 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Budzinski recently announced a combined $1.8 million in REAP grant funding for ten small businesses in Madison and Macoupin counties.
• An additional $13 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for the Department of Energy Bioenergy Research Centers (BRC) Program, which supports a viable and sustainable domestic biofuels and bioproducts industry. The Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation headquartered in Urbana, Illinois is funded through this program.
• An additional $10.5 million in funding requested by Congresswoman Budzinski for the Office of Electricity’s (OE) Energy Storage Program. An additional $8.5 million increase in funding for the Rural Energy Savings Program’s credit subsidy. Budzinski has introduced the Rural Energy Savings Act of 2023 to reauthorize the Rural Energy Savings Program in the next Farm Bill.
• $41 million for the Economic Development Administration’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program (Tech Hubs). In 2023, Budzinski successfully helped to advocate for the EDA’s designation of the iFAB Tech Hub in Champaign, Illinois as one of the 31 inaugural Tech Hubs in regions across the country that show potential for rapid growth in key technology sectors.
• Full funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Circuit Rider Program, which provides technical assistance to rural water systems that are experiencing day-to-day operational, financial or managerial issues.
• Full funding for the EPA’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), a financial assistance program to help water systems and states to achieve the health protection objectives of the Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Full funding for the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG), which manages the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s implementation of a number of broadband grant programs.

     Increased funding for nutrition programs: The bipartisan government funding bill includes additional resources for nutrition programs that help to feed hungry families in Central and Southern Illinois and across the country. By identifying and advocating for the needs of local families during the appropriations process, Congresswoman Budzinski helped to secure the following resources:

• An additional $1.3 billion for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program that served 6.6 million women, infants and children in fiscal year 2023. This increase in funding is in line with a request made by Congresswoman Budzinski and her colleagues for additional support.
• Full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) which served more than 42 million people in 2023. Budzinski has advocated extensively for the program on the House Committee on Agriculture and through her Farm Bill 101 initiative.
• An additional $4.7 billion in funding for school meals for all K-12 students through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) within the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Budzinski advocated for additional school meal funding during the 2023 appropriations process.