WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (CT-05) announced the inclusion of $9.64 million to support ten Community Project Funding (CPF) requests from the Fifth District in the $1.5 trillion budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. All projects submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations by Congresswoman Hayes were successfully included in the final budget.
“After months of hard-fought negotiations, I am thrilled to have secured more than $9.64 million on behalf of the Fifth District to advance an array of critical projects” said Congresswoman Hayes. “Throughout the appropriations process, I advocated with a particular emphasis on projects that were less likely to receive funding from any other sources. These projects were at risk of being stripped from the budget on several occasions, but I fought to ensure they were included. With passage in both houses of Congress, I look forward to this budget heading to the President’s desk and working alongside local leaders for the completion of these projects.”
Congresswoman Hayes secured funding for 10 projects that will directly benefit residents of the Fifth District:
- WOLCOTT: $3,200,000 for Wolcott Police Department fixed network equipment upgrade;
- CORNWALL: $3,000,000 for Wastewater Treatment Facility;
- TORRINGTON: $1,100,000 for Northwest Hills Animal Control Facility;
- NEWTOWN: $480,000 for Environmental upgrades for waterflow at Fairfield Hills Campus;
- SOUTHBURY: $444,946 for Southbury pedestrian safety improvements;
- AVON: $424,000 for Avon sidewalk replacement;
- SHARON: $400,000 for Sharon Hospital facility, equipment and telehealth improvements;
- NEW BRITAIN: $350,000 for Thomas Aquinas School building remediation and demolition;
- LITCHFIELD: $225,000 for Northfield Fire Department modernization; and
- NEW BRITAIN: $15,000 for New Britain Police Department Midnight Basketball Program.
Community Project Funding will support improvements across the Fifth District, including construction of a firehouse in Litchfield serving over 180,000 residents; an animal control facility in Torrington serving the Northwest Hills region; the New Britain and Wolcott Police Departments, environmental upgrades at the Fairfield Hills Campus in Newtown. The funding will also develop a wastewater treatment facility in Cornwall; expand hospital telehealth support for Sharon Hospital; remediate and demolish a dangerous building in New Britain; sidewalk and road improvements in Avon; and pedestrian safety improvements in Southbury.
The FY 2022 funding bill includes transformative investments to help working families with the cost of living, create American jobs, and support vulnerable communities. This legislation also provides needed support to Ukraine by allocating $13.6 billion to help fund defensive efforts and respond to the humanitarian and refugee crisis caused by the Russian attacks.
The government funding legislation includes significant investments to:
- Help Connecticut Families With The Cost of Living: reducing costs by expanding child care and early learning programs to more working families, investing in America’s K-12 public schools, increasing the maximum Pell Grant award by $400, expanding access to homeownership, and bringing the promise of rural broadband to more communities;
- Create American Jobs: putting folks to work in good-paying jobs rebuilding our infrastructure, helping small businesses grow and thrive, fostering the green energy jobs of tomorrow, and supporting high-quality job training and apprenticeship programs so every American can contribute and succeed;
- Support the Vulnerable: meeting Americans’ basic needs by strengthening nutrition assistance, funding more affordable housing and strengthening the social safety net;
- Honor Our Promise to Veterans: funding benefits, bolstering the VA’s health care system and reducing backlogs; and
- Deliver Justice for Women and Girls: cracking down on gender-based violence with a long-overdue reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Furthermore, the funding package also addresses other key issues facing our nation:
- Protecting Our National Security: with robust funding for defense, diplomacy and global development, a strong focus on cybersecurity, and investments in responsible border and maritime security that keeps us safe and respects the rights and dignity of migrants;
- Confronting the Climate Crisis: through a renewed focus on environmental enforcement, pioneering funding for environmental justice, and historic investments in clean energy and climate science; and
- Strengthening Public Health: by rebuilding our health care infrastructure, establishing funding for President Biden’s new cancer research initiative, and confronting urgent health crises – including maternal health, mental health, substance misuse, and gun violence.