Durbin: Appropriations Bills Provide Critical Funding For Illinois

Statement

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced Illinois priorities included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration; and Financial Services and General Government Appropriations funding bills. The legislation passed the Senate Appropriations Committee today and will now be sent to the Senate floor for final consideration. Durbin also urged his fellow Committee members to take the fast growing epidemic of youth vaping into consideration for future bills related to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"I am proud to secure federal funding for Illinois in the bills that passed the Senate Appropriations Committee today," said Durbin. "Today's bills fund important functions and programs within our government and in Illinois. I hope the full Senate considers them quickly."

Today's bill included the following priorities for Illinois:

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development

-BUILD Grants: $1 billion in nationwide funding for the BUILD program (formerly "TIGER'), of which Illinois has been a major beneficiary since the program was created in 2009.
-Amtrak and Quad Cities: $2 billion in nationwide Amtrak funding, and the bill includes Durbin's language urging the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to provide a multi-year extension of the current grant agreement to establish the new Quad Cities to Chicago State-supported Amtrak route.
-Blocked Crossings: The bill includes Durbin's language directing the FRA to report on its efforts to collect data on blocked crossings and what additional data would be needed to properly analyze the problem.
-Roadside Deaths and Distracted Driving: The bill includes Durbin's efforts to combat roadside personnel deaths, specifically $5 million for testing technology, barriers, and other solutions to improve driver awareness and protect roadside personnel. The bill also includes Durbin's language directing the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to report on deaths and motor vehicle accidents involving roadside personnel.
-Expanding the Chicago HEAL Initiative: In Illinois, Durbin has launched the Chicago HEAL Initiative with 10 major hospitals to reduce violence, strengthen neighborhoods, and overall improve community health. The bill includes Durbin's language encouraging the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to replicate the Initiative across the country by providing incentives for new projects that coordinate with both housing providers and health care organizations.
-Assessing the Current Public Housing Backlog: The bill includes funding for HUD to complete an updated capital needs assessment of the nation's public housing stock. The most recent assessment was completed in 2010 and estimated a $26 billion backlog projected to increase by an average of $3.4 billion per year.
-Improving Public Housing Safety: The bill includes Durbin's language directing HUD to change the process by which emergency safety and security grants are allocated, from a lottery to regionally, based on need.
-East St. Louis Receivership: The bill includes Durbin's language directing HUD to review the progress made during the three-decade-long administrative receivership of the East St. Louis Housing Authority and to report to Congress on transitioning Public Housing Authorities out of receivership.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration

-Protecting SNAP Benefits for Illinois Seniors: The bill includes Durbin's bill language to protect SNAP nutrition assistance benefits for 8,000 low-income seniors and elderly people in Illinois. In recent years, USDA has sought to strip SNAP eligibility and participation from 150 supportive senior living facilities across Illinois, and the Durbin amendment blocks this regulatory overreach.
-Lowering Prescription Drug Costs: The bill includes Durbin's report language to lower the cost of prescription drugs by speeding the FDA approval process for lower-cost generic insulin and studying efforts by pharmaceutical companies to block competition by abusing the patent system.
-National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research: The bill includes $1.424 billion for the Agricultural Research Service. This amount ensures continued funding for research labs across the country, including the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, where more than 250 scientists and staff are conducting important research to create new markets for food waste, biofuels, and plant-based biochemicals.

Source