For A Full List of Local Projects Funds That Brown Secured, Click HERE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last night, the Senate passed a funding package that provides funding for essential priorities for American families. U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was able to secure key wins for Ohio including in education, childcare, healthcare, the environment, science and research, agriculture, public safety, local projects and many more. It also includes a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, and historic assistance to the Ukrainian people. The package passed the House earlier this week and now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“This is a bipartisan success for Ohio that builds on our work to create jobs, invest in workers and their families, and lower costs for Ohioans. We are making critical investments that our state needs to do everything from expanding manufacturing partnerships to cleaning up Lake Erie to supporting local communities and economic growth,” said Brown. “This will also get vital resources to the people of Ukraine, whose heroism and resolve have surprised and embarrassed Vladimir Putin, and inspired the world. This historic infusion of resources will help Ukrainians defend their country, provide humanitarian relief, and enforce the punishing sanctions the president has led the free world to impose on Russia.”

Brown secured priorities that will help create jobs, lower costs for families, and invest in Ohio communities. In addition, the bill includes significant funding increases for biomedical research and our public health infrastructure to support our continued fight against COVID-19 and address other urgent public health crises, including health disparities, maternal and infant mortality, addiction, and mental health.

Creating Jobs and Supporting Workers:

Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program funding:

Brown secured $158 million for this program, $8 million above the FY 2021 level to help small- and medium-sized American manufacturers create and preserve jobs. This program is a public-private partnership consisting of MEP centers throughout all 50 states. Brown has been a strong supporter of the MEP, which provides approximately $5 million a year to Ohio’s seven MEP centers. These centers help small- and medium-sized manufacturers increase sales and achieve cost-savings.

Research Funding Support:

  • $3.5 billion for agriculture research programs including the Agricultural Research Service and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture to support American farmers as they feed the world.  A portion of these funds will be used to assist 1890 Historically Black Land Grant Institutions.
  • $1.9 billion for the Farm Service Administration to continue to provide direct assistance to farmers, including many family-owned farms.

Cleaning Abandoned Mine Land:

The bill provides $122.5 million for the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Program. The program helps reclaim abandoned mine land while promoting economic growth and good-paying jobs. Of this total, Ohio is estimated to receive $26.6 million in grants. Brown recently joined Interior Secretary Haaland to announce AMLER funds provided in the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Supporting Workers:

The bill helps to create and sustain good-paying American jobs through investments in job training, apprenticeship programs, and worker protection, including:

  • $1.8 billion for Worker Protection Agencies, including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which helps keep workers safe on the job. OSHA receives $612 million, an increase of $20 million more than last year’s bill. OSHA works to ensure that employers are following the law and providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees.
  • $9.8 billion for the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, which funds WIOA state grants and support for apprenticeships.
  • $106 million for the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB), an increase of $10 million more than last year’s bill. This will allow ILAB to work with trading partner countries on their commitments to labor requirements under trade agreements and ensure American workers are not undermined by trading partners seeking to exploit labor to gain a competitive trading advantage.

Strengthen Enforcement of Unfair Trade:

  • The bill provides $570 million for the International Trade Administration (ITA), a $29 million increase above FY2021. The increase allows ITA to address growing antidumping and countervailing duty trade needs, including a growing number of circumvention cases of our trade remedy laws.
  • The U.S. International Trade Commission receives $110 million, an increase of $7 million above FY2021 to execute a record trade caseload, including petitions on unfair trade practices and dumping cases.

Lowering Costs:

Improving Taxpayer Service:

The bill includes $675 million above the FY 2021 enacted level – the largest increase since 2001. This additional funding will help the IRS deal with the unprecedented backlog that is delaying taxpayer refunds, hire more people to answer the phone and assist taxpayers, and update their obsolete technology.

Increase in Grant Funding for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program:

Brown secured $30 million in grant funding for FY2022. The VITA program provides support to free tax preparation sites that help individuals and families file their income tax returns. Brown has long fought to secure funding and support the VITA grant program, which was authorized for the first time when Brown’s VITA Permanence Act became law in 2019.

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development:

  • Supplemental Highway and Public Transit Investments: $2.444 billion of new investment to repair and upgrade roads, highways and bridges under the Highway Infrastructure Programs account and $504 million for additional investments to upgrade and improve public transit services under the Transit Infrastructure Grants program.  These funds supplement the investment provided under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 
  • $20.7 million through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program.
  • Making housing more affordable and investing in our communities: The bill provides critical funding to create and preserve safe, affordable housing for low-income Ohio families, seniors, and persons with disabilities; make the dream of homeownership accessible to more Ohioans and remove lead paint and other home health hazards; and help Ohio’s rural communities, towns, and cities grow and thrive.  

Education and Child Care Funding:

  • $100 million for the HBCU/Minority Institution Research and Education Program: An increase of over $18 million from FY21.
  • $885 million for MSIs overall, including $363 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)s: An increase of over $25 million for HBCUs from FY21.
  • $75 million for Full-Service Community Schools Program: An increase of $45 million from FY21. Last year, Brown led the Full-Service Community Schools Expansion Act, which would support a $443 investment in the Full-Service Community Schools program to match the President’s FY22 request.
  • $6.2 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant: an increase of over $250 million from FY21.


Investing in Ohio Communities:

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs:

  • $19 million to support an Army Reserve Training Center at Wright-Patt.
  • $8.7 million to widen the Assault Strip at Youngstown Air Reserve Station (YARS).
  • $24 million to build a Child Development Center on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
  • $7.8 million to support a Red Horse Logistics Complex at Camp Perry.

Lima’s Joint Systems Manufacturing Center (JSMC)

  • $1.08 billion to continue Stryker vehicle upgrades.
  • More than $1.145 billion for upgrades to the Abrams Tank.

Homeland Security:

  • $633 million for the State Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSGP), including $113 million
    for the SHSGP Nonprofit Security Grants Program.
  • $728 million for the Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI), including $113 million for the
    UASI Nonprofit Security Grant Program.
  • $720 million for firefighter grant programs.

Public Safety:

  • $30 million for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program which has provided funding to over 13,000 law enforcement jurisdictions for the purchase of more than 1.4 million lifesaving vests since 1999. Brown leads a letter every year to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies urging them to provide this funding to Bureau of Justice Assistance, which is headed by Ohioan, Karlhlton Moore. 
  • $246 million for grants to police departments to hire and rehire additional law enforcement officers.
  • $35 million in grants to statewide law enforcement agencies to investigate activities related to the distribution of heroin or unlawful distribution of prescription opioids, or unlawful heroin and prescription opioid traffickers through statewide collaboration.
  • $40 million for community policing development activities.
  • $88 million to provide services to victims of human trafficking.

Critical funding for NASA programs in Ohio:

  • $1.4 billion for NASA’s Orion project. An Orion module is being tested at NASA Glenn’s Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky.
  • $22.6 billion for NASA, including $784 million for aeronautics research. A portion of that funding will go to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
  • $29.5 million for the Department of Defense to carry out the activities necessary for the reactivation of previously decommissioned synthetic air hypersonic propulsion test facility at NASA Armstrong Test Facility.

Energy and Water:

$195 million to fund the Appalachian Regional Commission to promote economic and community development, education and job training, and critical infrastructure throughout the region.

$467 million is provided for cleanup at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, an increase of $36.7 million over the prior fiscal year which will ensure that cleanup continues as planned. Brown fought to ensure that workers at Piketon receive the necessary funding to maintain workforce levels and keep cleanup on pace.

$348 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) which plays a critical role in restoring and reclaiming the Great Lakes and its tributaries: GLRI is a results-driven program, and this funding ensures that it has the resources it needs to address the most serious issues that threaten the ecological and economic wellbeing of the Great Lakes basin, including invasive species, pollution, and toxic contamination. This $320 million is the largest annual investment in the Great Lakes’ health, ecosystem restoration, and water quality, and has already helped combat harmful algal blooms, invasive species, and pollution in the Great Lakes.

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF): The bill provides $900 million now permanently available from the LWCF as a result of enactment of the Great American Outdoors Act. These allocations include $418 million for the federal program, $330 million for the state grants program, and $152 million for other non-federal grant programs. Brown cosponsored the legislation to permanently fund LWCF.

New NIOSH Facility in Cincinnati: The bill protects funding for the Cincinnati NIOSH facility, a project which Brown secured $110 million for, and includes requirements for the Department of Health and Human Services to provide quarterly reports on the ongoing project to keep Congress updated on its progress in completing the new facility.

$107 million for Local Projects across Ohio:

Brown and his office worked with local entities across Ohio to secure Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funding through the Senate Appropriations Committee. Brown’s office offered a reliable, easily-accessible and user-friendly program for local leaders across Ohio to submit CDS requests, with the goal of using every tool available to get resources to Ohio communities.

  • For a full list of local projects funds that Brown secured, click HERE.

In addition, the omnibus spending bill includes landmark legislation to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA):

The bill reauthorizes VAWA through 2027, preserves advancements made in previous reauthorizations and includes a number of additional improvements to the current law. It also includes Brown’s Trafficking Survivors Housing Act of 2021, which would require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to study and report, in partnership with federal agencies, survivors, and the organizations that serve them, on the availability and accessibility of homelessness and housing services for survivors of trafficking. Brown reintroduced this bipartisan legislation in June 2021 and previously introduced it in 2019 and 2018.

Finally, the Bill Includes Essential Support for Ukraine And Our NATO Allies:

Humanitarian Assistance:

More than $4 billion to address the dire humanitarian needs of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled Ukraine or have been displaced within Ukraine.

  • $2.65 billion through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s International Disaster Assistance program to provide emergency food assistance, health care, and other urgent support.
  • $1.4 billion for Migration and Refugee Assistance to support refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Defense Assistance:

Provides strong support to Ukraine and American allies and partners in the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe so they can defend themselves against Russian aggression:

  • More than $3 billion for European Command operations mission support, the deployment of personnel to the region, and intelligence support,
  • Builds capacity to deter Russian aggression in Ukraine and its neighbors, including NATO Eastern Flank countries, with $650 million in funding toward the Foreign Military Financing Program (FMF), and
  • Increases the President’s authority to transfer defense equipment to Ukraine and other allies to $3 billion.

Economic Assistance:

The bill includes nearly $1.8 billion to flexibly respond to macroeconomic needs in Ukraine and its neighbors, including energy and cybersecurity efforts.

The bill provides $25 million to the U.S. Agency for Global Media to combat disinformation and $120 million for USAID Transition Initiatives to support local actors, such as activists and independent media, through flexible short-term assistance in Ukraine and promote accountability for Russian human rights violations

Sanctions Enforcement

Provides substantial new funding to the Departments of Treasury, Commerce, and Justice to implement and enforce tough, comprehensive new sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus, to implement powerful new export controls limiting sophisticated technology to Russia, and to prepare for and respond to cyber threats.

 

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