August 9, 2021 - WASHINGTON – Congressman Jim Costa (CA-16) released the following statement after his vote on H.R. 4502, a $253 billion package to fund the federal government in the next fiscal year that also makes historic investments in American jobs and opportunities for working families. If passed in the Senate, the bill would bring nearly $500 million to Rep. Costa’s district:

“As we emerge from the worst public health crises in our lifetime, it’s critical we make investments in our communities that will ensure no American is left behind during our recovery,” said Rep. Costa. “This bill works to reverse decades of disinvestment by improving our aging infrastructure, creating better paying jobs, and improving public health. This investment in our communities will build a stronger, cleaner, and brighter future for all Americans.”

This  legislation includes money for 9 Community Project Funding requests Rep. Costa submitted for consideration in April. In total, they provide nearly $11 million dollars to the counties of Fresno, Madera, and Merced to complete water projects and fund jobs, health, and educational programs:

• $3.5 million for the City of Madera to rehabilitate a 50-year-old corroded pipeline responsible for carrying the City’s wastewater to its treatment plant;
• $2 million for the Merced County Courthouse Museum to rehabilitate Merced County’s most historic building, community gathering place, and educational resource;
• $1.9 million for the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation to construct a 60,000-square-foot training center in West Fresno to assist women, minorities, veterans, ex-offenders, at risk and disconnected young adults, and other underrepresented individuals with job training and counseling;
• $950,000 for the City of Gustine to finish the water loop line from North Avenue to East Avenue, which will create a more stable and safe water distribution system;
• $625,000 for Madera Unified School District to ensure the district’s approximately 5,500 English Language Learners address unfinished learning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• $500,000 to study the viability of a project to expand the single purpose Los Banos Creek into a multi-purpose reservoir, which would provide long-term solutions to flooding, drought, overdraft, and subsidence in Fresno, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus Counties;
• $475,000 for Fresno City College to develop the Nurse Pipeline Extension Project, a collaborative program with Fresno State, to increase the number of Nurse Practioners in the San Joaquin Valley;
• $475,000 for UCSF Fresno to construct an Alzheimer’s Center and Center on Aging, which will provide clinical services for age-related care and serve as a center for geriatric and neurological education for students and residents;
• $279,000 for the City of Dos Palos to replace a water clarifier at the city’s aging water plant to ensure uninterrupted service for residents.

Local leaders shared the following insight on how these projects will benefit the Valley:

“The funding for the Avenue 13 (Pecan Avenue) Sewer Trunk Main Rehabilitation Project comes at a crucial moment, as the project is essential to protecting the quality of life in Madera. Failure of this sewage main would have severe if not disastrous consequences for our community. Today’s vote sends a clear message that sustaining the reliable and robust wastewater infrastructure necessary for our community to continue to safely grow and our City to thrive is a top priority of Congressman Costa's office. We are thankful for this funding and what it means for the citizens of Madera.” – Arnoldo Rodriguez, Madera City Manager

“The Merced County Courthouse Museum is a local landmark and source of community pride. In addition to preserving our local history, it serves as an educational resource for many students. The Board of Supervisors is committed to maintaining the Courthouse Museum for future generations, and this Community Project Funding will go a long way toward making that happen.” - Daron McDaniel, Merced County Board of Supervisors Chairman.

“The Fresno County Economic Development Corporation is pleased to have the support of Congressman Costa for the Central Valley Training Center. The Central Valley Training Center will be on the Fresno City College West Fresno Campus and will serve at risk and/or disconnected youth, women, minorities, veterans, ex-offenders and other underrepresented individuals.  Congressman Costa has always been a staunch advocate for Workforce Development in our region. The EDC appreciates that he recognizes our efforts to place our central valley residents into high quality training programs that will lead to careers to support their families, especially our residents that live in areas with some of the highest rates of unemployment in the country. We look forward to working with Congressman Costa and our many workforce, labor, education, and business partners on this much needed center in our Valley.” -  Lee Ann Eager, Central Valley Training Center President & CEO

“We appreciate Congressman Costa’s deep and consistent support of the residents of Gustine. Whether it be helping us to secure funding for a fire truck or completion of our Water Loop Line, the efforts of the Congressman prove pivotal. The Water Loop Line Completion Project will ensure Gustine achieves resource equity, while also creating a more stable water distribution system and sufficient water pressure throughout the city that minimizes public health risks and safety concerns.”- Doug Dunford, Gustine City Manager

“The Madera Unified Governing Board is committed to helping all our secondary multilingual learners acquire English proficiency and gain access to the most motivating opportunities. With Congressman Costa's partnership, this $625,000 of aid will jumpstart our efforts with resources and training for our hundreds of teachers and thousands of students from grade 7 - 12. Simply put, this partnership will change student outcomes and lives for years to come!” -  Todd Lile,  Madera Unified School District Superintendent

“We are grateful to House leadership on the passage of the Appropriations Bill.  One of the many lessons from the pandemic is that the San Joaquin Valley of Central California needs more healthcare professionals, specifically nurses.  On behalf of Fresno City College and California’s largest nursing program, we are grateful for Congressman Jim Costa’s leadership and dedication to the health of the Valley in his efforts to secure $475,000 for the Fresno City College Nurse Pipeline Expansion Project.  The College has already taken several proactive steps to collaborate with Fresno State University in hopes that funding would materialize.  Now our programs will work together to expand the number of bachelor prepared nurses through a dual enrollment model.   The ADN-BSN-MSN will be a dual enrollment program will be designed to simplify the process and decrease the time needed to achieve a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree. The San Joaquin Valley is a medically underserved area and this funding will greatly aid in the development of this needed program to provide health care to our multi-cultural communities.”  - Dr. Carole Goldsmith, Fresno City College Chancellor

"UCSF is thrilled that the UCSF Fresno Alzheimer Memory Center and Hillblom Center on Aging community project request was included in the FY22 LHHS Appropriations bill.  We are grateful to Rep. Costa and thank him for championing this important project that will help improve elder care in the San Joaquin Valley. This critical federal support will improve access to services for people living with dementia and their families, while providing valuable training for UCSF Fresno’s medical students and residents.  We know that the appropriations process is ongoing. We are grateful to be included and look forward to following this important legislation as it moves through the process." - Michael W. Peterson, M.D., UCSF Fresno Associate Dean

“Congressman Costa's consistent support for Dos Palos and his vote for this funding will enable our Water Plant to replace a 50-year-old contraption with a modern unit that improves both water quality and operating efficiency.  Made possible through a federal and local partnership, this is a critical piece of the puzzle to keep our existing plant running until a new plant is constructed.”  -- Darrel Fonseca, Dos Palos City Manager

In addition, $300,000 for Advance Peace Fresno to intervene and help prevent gun violence by investing in communities and individuals disproportionately impacted by violent crime, will be considered in a supplemental appropriations package in September.

“Advance Peace Fresno is in need of additional funding to help with the rising gun violence in Fresno. We have more gun violence than Los Angeles (per capita) and last year, Fresno had an increase of 126% in gun violence and a 55% increase in murders, according to Fresno Police Department. The Advance Peace model has proven its effectiveness in other cities like Richmond, California, where gun violence had a 66% reduction from 2010-2017. The success of the program has also spurred other cities, including Sacramento and Stockton, to pilot the program in targeted areas. In Fresno, our program invests in individuals who are most at risk of cyclical retaliatory gun violence in our urban areas. We transform people’s lives who are most affected by gun violence by providing opportunities and placing them in a high-touch, personalized fellowship to help develop and heal their lives. This funding would greatly increase the impact our staff have in the community. We are thankful for the opportunity Congressman Costa is providing for this funding to improve the lives of people in our community.” -  Isaiah Green, Fresno EOC & Advance Peace Fresno

H.R. 4502 will help create good-paying American jobs, grow opportunities for the middle class and small businesses, and provide a lifeline to working families with historic, transformative increases in funding in:

• Health: $102 billion for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Food and Drug Administration to tackle hunger and nutrition insecurity by expanding access to SNAP, WIC and child nutrition programs;
• Education: $102 billion for the Department of Education, including $1 billion for English Language Learning programs, $17.2 billion for Special Education programs, $36 billion for local Title I grants, and and increase of the Federal Pell Grant to $6895 for college students;
• Public Health: $119 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services, including an increase of $40 million for targeted research related to the impact of COVID-19 on children and mental health and a $50 million increase to support rapid vaccine development for emerging infectious diseases;
• Veterans: $279 billion to the Department of Veterans Affairs and related agencies, of which $97.6 billion will go towards mental healthcare, women’s health, suicide prevention outreach, and homeless assistance programs;
• Infrastructure: $84.1 billion for the Department of Transportation to improve the safety of our highways, aviation, transit, and rail systems, creating thousands of construction related jobs. 

The funding includes more than $468 million to the 16th Congressional District to provide critical support to children, displaced workers, veterans with:

• $216 million in Title I educational funding to support 160,000 children, including 45,000 children living in poverty, who are at risk of failing out of school;
• $205 million for veterans’ healthcare, benefiting nearly 10,000 veterans. The funding will enable the Veterans Health Administration improve access to healthcare in key areas such as women’s health, mental health, and opioid treatment and help recruit and retain nurses and physicians;
• $7.1 million in Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grants to enable disadvantaged youth, adults, and dislocated workers to receive training to help obtain good paying jobs. This would benefit 33,000 youth and 200,000 adults.

Nearly $5.1 billion for agriculture and rural communities with funding for programs that improve water resiliency, drought response, and forest management with:  

• $1.45 billion for rural and wastewater programs and more than $716 million in grants for reliable waters systems and sanitary waste disposal;
• $1.87 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund;
• $1.36 billion for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund;
• $191.4 million for drought response for the Bureau of Reclamation;
• $170 million for water infrastructure, including flood prevention and watershed rehabilitation projects;
• $67 million for WIIN Act water storage projects;
• $24.43 million for Nutria eradication;
• $10 million for the Healthy Forests Reserves Program which helps landowners restore, enhance, and protect forests on private property;

More than $470 million in programs that work to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions by providing:

• $150 million for Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Acts;
• $320 million for State and Local Air Quality Categorical Grants.

For a breakdown on funding in Rep. Costa’s district, go here.
For a fact sheet on H.R. 5402, go here.
Source: Congressman Jim Costa