McCollum Successfully Secures $4.5 Million for Local Health, Equity, Workforce 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, paving the way for President Biden to sign 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 Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education portion of the agreement, McCollum secured $4.5 million across four local projects:

• Project: Gillette Specialty Healthcare Research Investigative Lab ($1,500,000)
  The investigative lab will be used to conduct research related to assessment of motor control, movement disorders, spasticity, and pain, and would include a rehabilitation research and clinical care space needed to advance the development of biofeedback, robotics, and exoskeleton development.
• Project: Penumbra Positive Racial Identity Development for Youth Program ($1,000,000)
  This funding will support the development, testing, and early implementation of Penumbra's PRIDE (Positive Racial Identity Development & Empowerment) curriculum, supporting children of all races as they learn about concepts and experiences of race, identity, and social justice at developmentally critical stages.
• Project: Sanneh Foundation Youth Workforce Development ($1,000,000)
  This program combines career exploration with local employers, tangible work experience, social capital building developmental relationships, and Social and Emotional Learning into a comprehensive year-long youth workforce development program to help bridge the opportunity gap for young people in Minnesota.
• Project: Hamline University Pipers to Professionals Program ($1,000,000)
  The funding will provide underserved students with wrap-around support services while they engage in a paid internship, to effectively promote student development for professional employment.

"Bringing federal taxpayer dollars to Minnesota's Fourth District for these projects will make a tangible, positive impact in our community," McCollum said. "This funding will bolster our collective future – whether through medical developments to improve children's lives or bridging the gaps to offer more economic opportunities for historically-excluded communities – I'm proud of the progress that will be achieved right here at home."

"At Gillette Children's we lead in pediatric specialty care through innovation and care coordination," said Gillette Children's President and CEO Barbara Joers. "Our providers and researchers are passionate about improving the lives of children living with complex healthcare needs and relentlessly pursue research to discover the newest and best evidence-based clinical care. Research is a crucial driver of how we advance diagnosis and treatment interventions for pediatric musculoskeletal and neurological conditions. This project will fund critical infrastructure to expand Gillette Children's research capacity and capabilities, positively impacting the lives of many children and their families."

"This funding will support the development of a racial healing curriculum for children of all races ages 2-22," said President of Penumbra Sarah Bellamy. "Guiding young people along a journey of positive identity development, children will cultivate self-esteem, social-emotional and regulation skills, a deep sense of cultural pride, and belonging. We are eager to contribute Penumbra's unique arts-based expertise to support change work within the education sector for children and families in the State of Minnesota."

"The Sanneh Foundation is grateful to have champions like Congresswoman McCollum advocating to bring resources to our underserved communities," said Sanneh Foundation CEO Tony Sanneh. "These investments in our youth set the foundation for our future workforce."

"Hamline University is thankful to Minnesota's congressional delegation for their dedicated work in securing funding for the Pipers to Professionals program," said Hamline President Fayneese Miller. "We're especially grateful to Rep. McCollum for introducing the funding request in this year's bill. Thanks to her support, hundreds of Hamline students will be able to pursue internships without the undue stress of working multiple jobs or making financial sacrifices."

Background:

For 2023, the LHHS bill provides $226.8 billion, an increase of $15 billion –7.1 percent – above 2022.

With this historic increase, the legislation:

• Creates and sustains good-paying American jobs through investments in job training, apprenticeship programs, and worker protection
• Grows opportunity with major investments in education, including significant funding for high-poverty schools and students with disabilities, and strong increases for programs that expand access to post-secondary education
• Bolsters our public health infrastructure with more resources for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and for states and local governments to strengthen infrastructure and capacity
• Strengthens lifesaving biomedical research with increased funding for the National Institutes of Health, as well as increased funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health
• Supports middle class and working families with increased funding for child care, Head Start, and preschool development grants
• Advances equal treatment for women by increasing funding for the range of health services, including family planning, covered by Title X and repealing the discriminatory Hyde Amendment
• Addresses our nation's most urgent health crises, including maternal health, mental health, gun violence, and substance misuse, while making strides to reduce persistent and unacceptable health disparities

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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