McCollum Successfully Secures $3.6 Million for Local Community Safety Projects

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (MN-04) released the following statement today after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Fiscal Year 2023 conference agreement, and President Biden signed it into law. The agreement includes funding for all 15 of Rep. McCollum's requested Community Projects that will directly benefit the Fourth District.

Within the Commerce-Justice-Science portion of the agreement, two of McCollum's CPFs were included, totaling $3.6 million to boost community safety in the East Metro:

• Project: Ramsey County Familiar Faces: Engaging Frequent Users of Emergency and Shelter Services ($2,000,000)
  This project will address the frequent users of emergency services who have cycled in and out of shelters, jails, and hospitals, for whom a much more targeted approach is necessary to ensure their needs are met and resources are allocated effectively.
• Project: Washington County Sheriff Office Hybrid Patrol Vehicles and River Patrol Boats ($1,600,000)
  This project will allow the Sheriff's Office to invest in the latest Hybrid vehicle technology to help reduce the fuel consumption and the impact the fleet has on the environment.

"I'm pleased to secure this critical funding for Ramsey County and Washington County," McCollum said. "Working together on the federal and county levels, these projects will help keep people safe and supported, and reduce our environmental impact – benefiting all of us in our East Metro communities."

"We are so thankful to Congresswoman McCollum for advancing our Familiar Faces ask in the Community Projects funding," said Ramsey County Board Chair and Heading Home Ramsey Vice Chair Trista MatasCastillo. "She understands this kind of creative, innovative approach can ensure our most frequent users of emergency services have the appropriate resources and community supports to help them stabilize and find sustainable housing solutions. We are pleased to work with her to move this pilot project forward. Her leadership and ‘know-how' to get things done in D.C. makes a difference in our community."

"Rep. McCollum's support for the county is greatly appreciated and her leadership in Washington, D.C., makes a difference for the residents of Washington County," said Washington County Board Chair Wayne Johnson. "The federal funds she secured allow the county to purchase state-of-the-art hybrid patrol vehicles for the Sheriff's Office, along with new river patrol boats. These improvements will have an impact on both public safety and the environment."

Background:

For 2023, the bill provides $84.2 billion, an increase of $6.1 billion – 7.8 percent above the comparable 2022 level.

The legislation:

• Supports safer communities with substantial funding for Federal, State, and local law enforcement, including greatly expanding gun violence prevention efforts
• Addresses violence against women with significant increases for Violence Against Women Act prevention and prosecution programs, as well as efforts to reduce the backlog of unprocessed rape kits
• Helps create good-paying American jobs with investments in economic development in distressed communities, with support for small businesses, including small and medium-sized manufacturers
• Confronts the climate crisis with strong funding for climate resilience and research at NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Science Foundation, and increased funding for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of DOJ to help combat the climate crisis and advance environmental justice

Read Chair McCollum's full statement on final passage of the omnibus here.

The text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 is available here. A list of bill highlights is here. A full summary of the appropriations provisions in the bill is here. In keeping with the Appropriations Committee's commitment to transparency, information on Rep. McCollum's Community Project Funding requests is available here.

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