WASHINGTON, DC – With 2023 rapidly approaching, Congressional leaders have finally reached a bipartisan agreement on a $1.7 trillion appropriations package for the remainder of fiscal year 2023 (which began October 1, 2022 and runs through September 30, 2023).

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and the Chairman of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, says the Fiscal Year 2023 Consolidated Appropriations package will fund the federal government and invests in priorities to help hardworking Americans nationwide.  

The bill includes key increases for health care, education, seniors, veterans and energy assistance programs and will help improve our infrastructure; strengthen national defense and U.S. supply chains; and put America on course for stronger economic growth. 

Reed, who has spent the last year working with his fellow appropriators to craft and pass the legislation, successfully included $199,891,239 in ‘Congressionally directed spending’ (also known as ‘earmarks’ or ‘community project funding’) for numerous projects across Rhode Island.  These targeted federal funds will fund impactful projects to support the work of state agencies, municipalities, military installations, universities, hospitals, public safety departments, and a range of nonprofits.

Senator Reed stated: “This long-awaited package provides critical funding for our country and communities.  It wasn’t easy getting here and this isn’t a perfect bill, but it delivers real wins for Rhode Island and working families everywhere.  It will strengthen neighborhoods and communities and help make life better for people.

“I was able to steer nearly $200 million of earmarks to Rhode Island.  These dedicated federal funds are a reflection of community need, requested by cities, towns, and nonprofits to advance projects that make a positive community impact. 

“These funds will go directly to things like infrastructure upgrades, education and public health enhancements, job training, and other critical care and services. 

“A relatively modest federal investment in a local transportation project or clean water upgrade can really have major, positive effects on a community, families, local businesses, and job creation.  These projects directly serve community interests, and, in funding them, we keep the federal government working for the people.”

Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the power of the purse and the authority to decide the amount of federal dollars spent and to direct how they are spent.

Earmarks are transparent, publicly-vetted investments that help ensure federal dollars are being directed to areas of community need.  They are limited by Congress to less than 1 percent of all discretionary spending.  There is a strict ban on the funds going to for-profit entities.  And the Government Accountability Office (GAO) performs a required audit to ensure the funds are properly spent.

Overall, the $1.7 trillion appropriations package includes $772.5 billion for domestic priorities, including a significant increase in federal funding for veterans and new federal funding to improve child-care programs, combat substance abuse, and help needy families access food. 

The bill also provides $858 billion in defense discretionary spending, which is consistent with the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that Senator Reed helped enact. 

Rhode Island will benefit from several key provisions in the defense section of the bill that Reed helped author, including $14.7 billion for submarines, which will help modernize the Navy’s submarine fleet and fuel a hiring boom for Rhode Island workers in good-paying manufacturing jobs. Reed also helped include $104.1 million for Navy applied research on undersea warfare technologies, led by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC).

The package also includes $40.6 billion in emergency supplemental funding for disaster relief to aid communities nationwide.  It also directs $44.9 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine and our NATO allies for humanitarian, security, and economic assistance.

Notably, the bill also includes language based on the Electoral Count Reform Act to close loopholes in the formal electoral vote counting process.

As many families struggle with high energy prices this winter, Senator Reed successfully led effort to boost funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by an additional $1 billion, raising the overall LIHEAP total for FY23 to $6.1 billion. This vital program helps millions of Americans stay safe and warm.

Senator Reed also helped raise the maximum Pell Grant award to $7,395 and worked to include $18.387 billion for Title I-A grants to K-12 schools, which will support public schools across Rhode Island.  It also provides a much needed $1.85 billion boost for child care, for a total of $8 billion, and increases funding for Head Start Programs to nearly $12 billion.  These programs support working families and our youngest learners.

Reed also successfully led efforts to include $501.6 million for the Suicide Prevention Lifeline to successfully transition to 988.  This is a nearly $400 million increase over last year.  988 is the Lifeline’s new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and is now active across the United States.

And as America charges ahead toward a cleaner energy future, the omnibus also includes Senator Reed’s Electric Vehicle Grid Readiness, Improvement, and Development (EV GRID) Act directing the U.S. Department of Energy to study and develop a plan to prepare the nation’s power grid for the influx of electricity demand related to EV adoption.

Now that members of the Appropriations Committee have reached bipartisan and bicameral agreement, both the House and Senate must pass identical versions of final omnibus appropriations bills before it can be sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

Congress must pass the bill by Friday in order to keep the federal government operating before current stopgap appropriations law expires on December 23.

 

Senator Reed secured a number of community projects and priorities in the spending bills that will benefit Rhode Island, including:

FY23 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (AG) Appropriations: $8,025,000

•           $5 million for Flood Mitigation in the Pocasset River Watershed Floodplain

•           $2.2 million for the Renovation and Expansion of the Warren Police Station

•           $825,000 for Water Supply and Fire Protection in Touisset Point

 

FY23 Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations: $7,500,000

•           $1.66 million for Save the Bay to Build a Pipeline of Habitat Restoration Projects

•           $1.3 million for URI to Increase Aquaculture Resiliency

•           $1 million for the Providence Police Department’s Crime and Gun Violence Reduction Initiative

•           $1 million to Establish a Quantum Information Science Research Initiative at URI 

•           $500,000 to Upgrade Public Safety Communications Equipment in Tiverton 

•           $500,000 for the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation to Conduct Research, Gear Development, and Gear Removal    

•           $490,000 for Police Equipment in Glocester            

•           $375,000 for Police Vehicles and Equipment in North Smithfield            

•           $200,000 for Domestic Violence Prevention and Survivor Support at the Providence Housing Authority           

•           $175,000 for the Bristol Police Department to Upgrade its Mobile Command Unit

•           $150,000 to Strengthen Nonviolence Interventions

•           $120,000 for Communication Dispatch Equipment in Foster

•           $30,000 for Mobile Data Terminals for the Portsmouth Police Department

 

FY23 Energy and Water Development (Energy & Water) Appropriations: $29,159,000

•           $23.16 million for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects such as: Providence River and Harbor; Little Narragansett Bay; Woonsocket Flood Control; Fox Point Barrier, Narragansett Bay; and Silver Creek, Bristol.

•           $5 million for Energy Improvements in Rhode Island Public Buildings

•           $750,000 for Energy Efficiency Upgrades at the Providence Performing Arts Center

•           $250,000 for Energy Efficiency Retrofits at Groden Network Group Residences

 

FY23 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations: $3,336,000        

•           $2 million for Skills for Rhode Island’s Future to Establish a Minority/Women-owned Small Business Hub       

•           $812,000 for Farm Fresh RI to Provide Marketing Assistance for Local Food Producers

•           $232,000 for the Social Enterprise Greenhouse to Provide Entrepreneurship Assistance

•           $165,000 for Enhanced Exhibit Space at Stages of Freedom

•           $127,000 for Hope & Main’s Food Business Incubator

 

FY23 Homeland Security Appropriations: $1,525,000

•           $1 million to Create an Emergency Operations Center in Glocester

•           $525,000 to Update the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Operations Center

 

FY23 Interior and Environment Appropriations: $15,880,000

•           $3.16 million for Sewer CCTV and Cleaning in Pawtucket

•           $2.5 million for the Replacement of a Water Distribution Line in Jamestown

•           $2.4 million for a New Pump Station in Warwick

•           $2.28 million for Lead Pipe Remediation in Providence

•           $1.4 million for the Wastewater Infrastructure Improvements in Warwick

•           $1.2 million for Stormwater Improvements in Cumberland

•           $840,000 to a Utility Extension in Smithfield

•           $536,000 for Upgrades to the Apponaug Pump Station in Warwick

•           $500,000 for the Restoration of the Broad Street Synagogue

•           $500,000 for the Restoration of the Kelly House in Lincoln

•           $300,000 for a Tree Planting Program

•           $212,000 for the Providence Water Supply Board to Assess Cybersecurity Risks

 

FY23 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor H) Appropriations: $25,909,239

•           $4 million for Butler Hospital’s Short-Stay Unit

•           $2 million to Renovate and Expand Block Island Medical Center Facilities

•           $1.95 million for Salve Regina University’s Mobile Healthcare Unit

•           $1.69 million for the Environmental Science and Engineering Laboratory at Roger Williams University

•           $1.2 million for Research Facility and Equipment Improvements for the University of Rhode Island’s (URI) Pharmaceutical Development Institute

•           $1 million for High Performance Computing Equipment at URI

•           $1 million for an Early Childhood Connection Continuum at Meeting Street

•           $1 million for the Renovation and Expansion of Tri-County Community Action Agency’s Health Center

•           $1 million for the Expansion of the RI Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner’s Westerly Job Training Center

•           $1 million for Providence College’s School of Nursing & Health Sciences

•           $1 million to Expand Comprehensive Community Action’s Warwick Health Center

•           $850,000 Mental Health Care Services for Children

•           $842,000 to Upgrade CODAC Behavioral Health’s Clinic

•           $803,000 for a New Labor and Delivery Unit at Women & Infants Hospital

•           $790,000 for Equipment and Programs for the RI Nursing Education Center

•           $760,000 for United Way to Improve RI’s 211 Referral System

•           $513,600 to Expand East Bay Community Action Program’s Health Center

•           $500,00 to Conduct Childcare Facilities Needs Assessments

•           $385,000 for Family Service of Rhode Island to Provide Mental Health Screening

•           $350,000 for the RI Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner’s Reconnect to Finish Program

•           $300,000 for the Federal Hill House to Expand its Services

•           $300,000 for a Skills Training and Mentorship Program at Polaris MEP

•           $263,000 for Healthcare Workforce Development Programming by Genesis Center

•           $250,000 for the Refugee Dream Center to Provide Refugee Integration Programs

•           $250,000 for the Center for Southeast Asians to Offer Workforce Readiness Training

•           $201,639 for an Adoption and Foster Care Certificate Program

•           $200,000 for Stages of Freedom to Expand its Swim Safety Program

•           $150,000 for DownCity Design to Expand its Youth Skills Training Programs

•           $100,000 for the Center for Dynamic Learning’s Teen Apprenticeship Program

•           $100,000 for Tides Family Services to Offer Bilingual Behavioral Health Services

•           $50,000 for the Empowerment Factory to Conduct Out of School Time Arts Programs

•           $50,000 for Westbay Community Action to Expand its Senior Nutrition Program

•           $18,000 for Senior and Family Services in Burrillville

•           $15,000 for Rhode Island Center for the Book’s Reading Across Rhode Island Program

 

FY23 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon VA) Appropriations: $46,000,000

•           $46 million for a Consolidated Headquarters, Medical, and Dining Facility at Quonset Point Air National Guard Base

 

FY23 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations: $62,557,000

•           $10 million for the Preservation of Mount Hope Bridge

•           $4.5 million for Green Infrastructure at the Riverwalk at Town Landing in Pawtucket

•           $4.4 million for Rocky Point Park

•           $4 million for Bridge Repair and Replacement in Woonsocket

•           $4 million for a Senior Center in North Smithfield

•           $3 million for a Community Center in East Providence

•           $2.9 million for Enhancements to the Woonasquatucket Greenway in Providence

•           $2.6 million for Central Falls to Repurpose the Osram-Sylvania facility

•           $2.5 million for the Purchase of New RIPTA Buses

•           $2 million for a Cove Homes Housing Development

•           $2 million for the Renovation of the Boys & Girls Club of Providence’s Wanskuck Clubhouse

•           $2 million for the Purchase and Renovation of a Woonsocket Clubhouse for the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Rhode Island

•           $2 million for the Acquisition and Restoration of the Historic Atlantic Mills Complex in Olneyville

•           $2 million for Curbing and Sidewalks in North Kingstown

•           $2 million for a Foster Forward Affordable Housing Initiative

•           $2 million for an Olneyville Housing Corporation Affordable Housing Project

•           $2 million for Pawtucket to Acquire Property for an Affordable Housing Development

•           $1 million for Crossroads Rhode Island to Develop a Health and Housing Facility for Medically Vulnerable Adults Experiencing Homelessness

•           $1 million for Resurfacing and Sidewalk Rehab in East Greenwich

•           $1 million for an Outdoor Recreation Facility in North Providence

•           $1 million for Sidewalks in Bristol

•           $1 million for Terminal Upgrades at T.F. Green International Airport

•           $750,000 for Cranston to Rehabilitate the Budlong Pool Campus

•           $750,000 to Renovate the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County’s Clubhouse

•           $750,000 for Accessibility Improvements at Trinity Repertory Company’s Lederer Theatre

•           $465,000 for Building Demolition in Hopkinton

•           $350,000 for a New Facility for Higher Ground International

•           $342,000 for the Genesis Center’s Culinary Hub of Providence (CHOP)

•           $250,000 for Polaris MEP to Provide Advanced Manufacturing Job Training