WASHINGTON, DC – Pennsylvania U.S. Senator John Fetterman secured over $40 million in funding for Pennsylvania after the U.S. Senate passed its first bipartisan FY24 appropriations bill this afternoon. The legislative package includes millions of dollars in funding for Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food and Drug Administration; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs; and Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development. The bills will fund projects in Pennsylvania ranging from agriculture research to homelessness assistance to veterans’ health care.
“I am proud to have secured these critical funds for the people I was elected to represent during my first annual appropriations process. These projects will benefit our rural communities and farmers, our servicemembers and veterans, our unhoused population, and so many other Pennsylvanians, said Senator Fetterman. “Investing in these communities is critical. I’m particularly proud we were able to get the William Way LGBT Community Center funded after House Republicans stripped it out. They must stop playing partisan games and get to work so we can deliver these investments where they are needed.
Senator Fetterman has spent his time in the Senate fighting for forgotten communities that are typically left behind by Washington, and he ensured that these communities were not left behind in this appropriations cycle. He worked with his colleagues in the Senate to secure funds that will benefit the entire commonwealth. The Senate’s bipartisan process stands in stark contrast to the House’s partisan approach to funding the government by passing appropriations bills that are littered with extreme social policy riders.
Specific projects in Pennsylvania that Sen. Fetterman pushed for in Congressionally Directed Spending requests include:
- $3.3 million for the Dauphin County Bridge Improvement Program
- $2 million for the Abigail Pankey Apartments in Philadelphia
- $2 million for housing projects in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre
- $1.8 million for creating a safer, more efficient Clarion County Courthouse
- $1 million for the William Way LGBT Community Center
- $564,000 for the City of Clairton Public Library
- $494,000 for the Oil City Library
In addition, the appropriations bills funded critical programs that will greatly benefit Pennsylvania, including:
Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA, and Related Agencies
- Fully funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with no new restrictions on eligibility.
- Fully funds the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the school lunch program.
- $1.8 billion for agriculture research.
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
- $120.1 million for total military construction funding for PA.
- $20.2 billion for FY24 and $24.4 billion for FY25 for the Toxic Exposure Fund.
- Over $2 billion more funding than FY23 for mental health services, including suicide prevention outreach, the Veterans Crisis Line, and addiction services.
Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
- $3.4 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration, including a $32 million increase for FRA’s safety and operations budget.
- $2.45 billion for the Capital Investment Grants program (the biggest source of funding for transit infrastructure).
- $1.145 billion for bridge replacement and rehabilitation.
- $1.5 billion for the HOME Investment Partnership Program to construct 10,000 new affordable rental and owner-occupied housing units.
