House Passes Government Funding Package with Over $8.1 Million Secured by Congressman Higgins for Western New York Projects

Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced the House of Representatives has approved a funding package that will create jobs and invest in communities across the Western New York region and the nation.

Congressman Higgins fought for the following projects to be included in the bill, which total $8,165,000 for Western New York:

• $490,000 for the USS The Sullivans Preservation Project at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval Park
• $950,000 for the West Side Bazaar Expansion Project led by Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI)
• $1,500,000 for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center toward the purchase of a CT scanner for lung cancer screening
• $900,000 for The Western New York Land Conservancy’s Riverline project
• $1,000,000 for AK360 Albright-Knox Expansion Greenspace Repatriation
• $1,000,000 for Riverwalk Improvements alongside the NFTA’s DL&W Station
• $750,000 for the Small Business Development Center at Buffalo State College to support e-Commerce technical assistance for WNY small businesses
• $1,000,000 for Erie County Department of Health for peer support workers to improve mental health and substance use treatment
• $575,000 for a green infrastructure workforce development initiative through the Buffalo Sewer Authority

Higgins said, “The pandemic presented Western New York residents, businesses and communities with significant challenges. This bill provides the resources to help the region and local families to come out of this smarter, stronger and healthier.”

The package funds government projects and programs for fiscal year 2022.  Below are some of the highlights:

Veterans/Military:

• Military Pay: includes funding to support a 2.7 percent pay raise for U.S. military
• Homeless Veterans: boosts the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program by $3 million, and increase the Homeless Assistance programs by $246 million
• Veteran Healthcare: increases VA medical care support by $7.5 billion, including $2.9 billion more for mental healthcare and $149 million more for opioid abuse prevention
• VA Construction: $458 million above FY21 for improvements to VA facilities
• VA Benefit Support: provides an increase of $274 million to address the backlog in VA benefit processing
• Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station: $10.6 million for a gateway project

Public Health:

• Accelerating Research: $1 billion to establish the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), designed to speed the pace of scientific breakthroughs for diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and cancer
• Cancer Moonshot: boosts funding for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) by $353 million, to $6.9 billion, including $194 million dedicated to the Cancer Moonshot
• National Institutes of Health: increases funding overall by $2.25 billion supporting a range of research including health disparities, opioids, HIV & maternal health
• Defense Research: adds $577.5 million for cancer research and additional increases in funding for traumatic brain injury, spinal cord, and toxic exposure research
• FDA: increase of $29 million to address the opioid crisis, medical supply chain surveillance, rare cancers, and other activities
• Healthcare Workforce: $61 million, an increase of $5 million, to grow, strengthen and support healthcare workers
• Substance Abuse & Mental Health: increases funding by $530 million providing additional resources for programs such as suicide prevention, substance use treatment and various initiatives that address adult and child mental health
• Community Health Centers: provides an additional $65 million for federally qualified community health centers
• Preparedness: increases funding for public health emergencies including $140 million more for the Strategic National Stockpile and $148 million in additional funding for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority

Public Safety & Security:

• Police: increases grants for state and local law enforcement programs by $506.4 million
• Election Security: $75 million to help states protect election integrity
• Border Technology: $10 million for Port of Entry Technology
• Transportation Security Administration (TSA): provides $176 more in FY22 to support airport screening equipment & technology
• Firefighters: includes $720 million for firefighter grant programs

Jobs & Economic Development:

• Northern Border Regional Commission: provides $35 million, a $5 million increase, which supports economic development in distressed communities across several states and includes Niagara County
• Economic Development: boosts Economic Development Administration funding by $27.5 million, supporting job creation, apprenticeships, & brick-and-mortar projects in distressed communities
• Small Business: Increases Small Business Administration funding by $109 million
• Workforce Training: increases funding for Department of Labor programs including YouthBuild, Registered Apprenticeships, Job Corps, and Strengthening Community College Training Grants
• National Service: increases funding for the AmeriCorps and SeniorCorps by a combined $18 million
• Community Development Block Grants:  includes $3.3 billion for the CDBG program which provides millions of dollars in flexible federal funding for community projects and programs in WNY

Infrastructure & Environment:

• Army Corps: $8.3 billion to support waterway improvements and maintenance including: $20.9 million for Buffalo Harbor and $10.6 million for Black Rock Channel & Tonawanda Harbor
• Environmental Protection Agency: includes a $323 million increase in funding to support programs such as: Brownfields cleanup, Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, Combined Sewer Overflow grants, Superfund cleanup and Environmental Justice activities
• Transportation: increases funding provided through the U.S. Department of Transportation by $16.2 billion, supporting highway, aviation, transit and rail improvements, this is in addition to the funding provided through the bipartisan infrastructure law

Family & Community Investment:

• Food Security: $1.77 billion more for school nutrition programs including $30 million for school kitchen equipment upgrades; $15 million in additional funding for Senior Nutrition programs
• Broadband: $382 million, a $8 million increase, to support the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband expansion and access efforts
• Early Education: increases funding for Head Start, Preschool Development Grants and Child Care and Development Block Grants
• K-12 Education: increases elementary and secondary education programs, including special education, by $2 billion
• Pell Grants: increases the maximum Pell Grant available to college students by $400 to $6,895
• Work Study: provides an additional $20 million for students participating in the Federal Work Study program
• Higher Education: includes a $452 million increase in higher education funding

The funding legislation will now proceed to the Senate for consideration and approval, which is expected to happen within the next week.