Murphy Announces Funding for Avon Mountain, Simsbury Library

Press Release

Yesterday, the President signed the omnibus appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2008, which included more than $880,000 in direct, one time grants secured by Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) for the Farmington Valley. Simsbury Public Library will receive $147,000 for renovations, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) will get $735,000 for safety improvements on Avon Mountain.

"After years of mismanagement of our taxpayer dollars, the Democratic Congress had its work cut out for us this year in crafting spending bills that will meet the needs of Americans. I am thrilled that I was able to secure much needed money for the Farmington Valley," said Murphy.

Connecticut DOT has indicated it will use the money allocated to balance the curves in the road so that they are not as sharp, uniform shoulders along the side of the road, medians, drainage improvements, and environmental mitigation.

"The federal government needs to be a partner in the future of Route 44, and I made it a priority to put this issue, which is vital to Farmington Valley commuters, on the map in Washington. This funding doesn't solve the problem, but it brings the federal government to the table," said Murphy.

Despite repeated threats from President Bush to veto spending bills that funded programs at levels above his request, Murphy was still able to secure this funding for Connecticut's Fifth District.

Other programs that were given a boost by Congress in the Fiscal Year 2008 budget bill include:

- $208 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, used for grants to states and local governments for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas. This amount is more than double what the President requested.

- $1.7 billion for global climate change, including funding for a National Academies' Climate Change Committee to study and investigate Global Climate Change and to issue a report making recommendations on strategies to address it.

- $750 million for Firefighter Grants, double what the President asked for.

- $24.8 billion for K-12 Education, more than a billion dollars more than what was appropriated last year.

- $2.6 billion for LIHEAP, the program that helps low-income people heat their homes in the winter, almost a billion more than what the President asked for.

- $3.6 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), almost a billion dollars more than what the President requested.

- $587 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, a $45 million increase from Fiscal Year 2007. The President had planned to cut the program by 94%.

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