McCollum Announces More Than $15 Million For Local Projects

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.) announced $15,217,036 in Community Project Funding that she has worked to secure for Minnesota’s Fourth District in the Fiscal Year 2024 spending bills that passed the House today. These projects were included in H. Res. 1061,legislation that establishes federal funding for multiple agencies across six Appropriations bills: Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration; Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; Interior and Environment; and Veterans Affairs and Military Construction. Her vote to pass this first of two anticipated Appropriations government funding packages for FY 2024 will allow federal resources to be directly invested in some of the most pressing needs in the East Metro. Congress must now act by March 22 to pass the remaining funding legislation for FY 2024 to avoid a partial government shutdown.

“This legislation is long overdue, and should have passed six months ago—but nevertheless, I am pleased that $15,217,036 in Community Project Funding I worked to secure within this bill will have a positive impact on Minnesota’s Fourth District,” Congresswoman McCollum said. “These investments are the result of strong partnerships led by local leaders for projects that will make families and our communities healthier, safer, and stronger.”

Rep. McCollum secured funding for 15 projects that will directly benefit Fourth District residents.

These include:

• $1,000,000 to Ramsey County for the Rice Street Reconstruction which will improve traffic flow and safety for pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and drivers.
• $2,965,000 to Ramsey County for their Emergency and Public Safety Communications Network Replacement to provide reliable communication infrastructure for first responders.
• $963,000 to Washington County to upgrade their Public Safety Equipment and Technology with two airboats and a digital evidence management system.
• $500,000 to Washington County to construct the Trunk Highway 96, Norell Avenue, and Stonebridge Trail Roundabout which will improve safety for all users on these roadways.
• $1,000,000 to the East Side Boys Girls Club to renovate and expand their facility to create a state-of-the-art Workforce Development Training Center for youth in the community.
• $1,666,279 to the City of Saint Paul to construct a new Fire Station 7 to improve fire and EMS coverage to the East Side and surrounding areas.
• $500,000 to the City of Saint Paul for the Riverview Library Renovation that will ensure this historic Carnegie library serves the next generation of Saint Paul’s West Side with upgrades to its technology and programming space, and improved accessibility.
• $500,000 to the City of Saint Paul for their Hayden Heights Library Renovation to create an innovative technology resource hub on the East Side that will meet residents’ business, economic, and community space needs.
• $963,000 to the University of St. Thomas for Analytical Equipment for Measurement Science that will allow research into complex questions about ecological and water issues in Minnesota.
• $1,000,000 to the American Indian Family Center to construct the Oyate Ota Center to provide a central community space to deliver services and supports to the American Indian community.
• $850,000 to the City of North St. Paul for their Community Center Revitalization to create a year-round, mixed-use community hub that will be safe and accessible to all residents.
• $959,757 to the City of Gem Lake for their Municipal Water Supply Project to provide safe drinking water for residents whose well water has been contaminated.
• $850,000 to the City of Woodbury for their reconstruction and improvement of Weir Drive to address safety concerns and access.
• $500,000 to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to guide the development of an Anerobic Digester Nutrient Recovery industry that would reduce nutrient run-off into Minnesota’s waters.
• $1,000,000 to the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) for their Cereal Disease Laboratory, which conducts cutting-edge research to support the stability of our global food supply.

H. Res. 1061 includes six of the 12 Appropriations bills that provide regular funding for the federal government. For the last five months, the government has remained open through passage of four temporary funding bills.  These Continuing Resolutions were required because Republicans controlling Congress pushed extreme partisan measures in the funding legislation instead of working with Democrats to craft responsible bills based on agreements in the bipartisan Fiscal Responsibility Act that was signed into law in June 2023.

House Appropriations Democrats, working with the White House, were successful in accomplishing two major goals in H. Res. 1061:First, removing harmful, extreme House Republican policy riders that attempted to make abortion illegal everywhere, slash efforts to fight climate change, and threaten our national security. And secondly, Democrats rejected extreme Republican funding cuts that would have decimated Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) funding for families facing food insecurity, taken away affordable housing vouchers for tens of thousands of Americans, and a massive cut to heating assistance, literally leaving families out in the cold, among other cuts.

This government funding package invests in America’s future and delivers for the American people by:

• Protecting women’s rights by blocking attempts to limit women’s access to reproductive health care, including abortion, and by increasing funding for gender-based violence prevention and prosecution programs.
• Confronting the climate crisis, fighting climate change, and ensuring America’s energy independence with robust, transformative investments in deploying clean energy technologies in communities across the country, and providing funding for cutting-edge scientific and climate-related research.
• Honoring our commitments to our veterans by ensuring they receive the care and benefits that they have earned and investing in veterans’ health care, including targeted investments that advance women’s health, mental health, and homelessness assistance.

H. Res. 1061 is expected to be passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Biden later this week. A detailed summary of the bill is available here. By March 22, Congress must pass the remaining Fiscal Year 2024 funding bills: Defense, Legislative Branch, Financial Services and General Government, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, and State and Foreign Operations, in order to avoid a partial government shutdown.

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