“My priorities in the House funding bills reflect the diverse needs of our district, including support for projects on public lands, ensuring goods from Washington state farms get to market, increasing access for inexpensive rapid COVID tests for schools and workplaces, and making sure that counties can apply for federal reimbursement when they fight increasingly catastrophic wildfires,” Rep. Schrier said. “As we re-emerge from this pandemic, I will continue to go to bat for my constituents.”
This week, the House passed nine government funding bills for the upcoming fiscal year. This package included landmark investments in nutrition, public health, education, Veteran support, and other key social programs that will get Americans back to work and prioritize working families in the wake of the pandemic.
Rep. Schrier successfully secured funding increases for numerous Washington priorities including:
- Support for Legacy Roads and Trails – unique line-item request included in the bill to fund $8 million in trail remediation projects affecting water quality and fish passage on Forest Service lands
- Rapid COVID testing – funding to help private and public sectors continue to work together to innovate and lower the cost and accessibility of rapid COVID testing
- Support for local municipal and county recycling programs – secured $55 million in funding to strengthen local recycling programs
- Help for Washington farmers:
- Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI) – pushed for full program funding while ensuring matching waiver language was included so Washington state can continue to access critical research funding
- Funding to expand critical weed management research that affect PNW wheat crops
- Led an amendment directing the Federal Maritime Commission to enhance assistance to U.S. exporters and importers who continue to face barriers to export their agricultural goods to foreign markets
- Support for state and local fire departments:
- Led an amendment to ensure small municipalities are eligible to receive federal funding after assisting with inter-jurisdictional wildfires
- Secured $20 million in funding for the Volunteer Fire Assistance program, an increase of $1 million from FY2021 funding levels
- Secured $75 million in funding for the State Fire Assistance program, an increase of $1.6 million from FY2021
This year’s Appropriations funding bills included a new program for Community Project Funding for specific local projects. Rep. Schrier submitted 10 projects from the 8th District. All 10 of these projects were included in the package that passed the House this week, securing over $9 million in federal funding for the 8th District. These projects include Auburn’s Consolidated Resource Center, a PFAS treatment plant in Sammamish, a food bank expansion in Ellensburg, a wildfire protection plan in Roslyn, and senior facility improvements in Enumclaw. More information on the projects can be found here.
The above is a press release from Rep. Kim Schrier. The Auburn Examiner has not independently verified its contents and encourages our readers to personally verify any information they find may be overly biased or questionable. The publication of this press release does not indicate an endorsement of its content.