CONGRESSMAN BISHOP SUPPORTS FISCAL YEAR 2023 APPROPRIATIONS PACKAGE INCLUDING $25 MILLION FOR MIDDLE AND SOUTHWEST GEORGIA PROJECTS

December 23, 2022
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02), Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, supported the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations package which funds the full range of defense and domestic programs that keep Georgians safe and improve their quality of life. The bill includes nearly $25 million for 15 projects in the Second Congressional District that will improve public safety, health care, job training, education, water and wastewater systems, and high-speed Internet services. The bill was approved by a bipartisan vote of 225-201 and now heads to President Biden for his signature.
"It is our responsibility to keep the government open so that it can serve and protect the American people. Democrats and Republicans have come together to pass this vital bill which funds our national defense and makes sure that federal programs are there to support families, businesses, and local communities," said Congressman Bishop. "As part of today's bill, I secured funding for 15 projects in Middle and Southwest Georgia. They help our law enforcement and first responders, make sure families and businesses have access to clean water and high-speed internet, as well as improve health care, education, and housing for our communities."
Congressman Bishop is also the Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs as well as a senior member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. Working across the aisle, he supported dozens of projects across Georgia in districts represented by both Democrats and Republicans as well as federal programs vital to the state.
Protecting & Improving the Lives of Americans
The Fiscal Year 2023 bill funds federal programs that affect all aspects of Americans' lives from the country's national security and military to its housing, healthcare, education, workforce, and businesses programs. It invests in the roads, railways, bridges, airports, ports, and telecommunications infrastructure vital to the U.S. economy. Some highlights from the bill include:
  • $4.4 billion for grants to state and local law enforcement
  • $1.7 billion for Job Corps which supports workforce development programs across the country, including at the Turner Job Corps Center in Albany, Georgia
  • $9.2 billion for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based in Atlanta, Georgia
  • $118.7 billion for Veterans medical care which will serve the 7.3 million patients expected to be treated by the VA in fiscal year 2023
  • $3.8 billion for agricultural research, education, and extension – including 1890s, improvements for the Fruit and Tree Nut Research facility in Byron, Georgia (and other ARS facilities), as well as increases for whitefly, peanut, pecan, and floriculture research crucial to Georgia's economy
  • $3.5 billion for rural development – including the Rural Housing Service and rental assistance, Rural Business programs, Rural Utilities Service and broadband infrastructure, and the Rural Community Facilities program
  • $188.5 billion for domestic nutrition programs – includes full funding for SNAP, WIC, and Child Nutrition programs and $40 million for the Summer Electronic Benefit program as well as $30 million for school kitchen equipment grants
  • $3.1 billion for farm and conservation programs
  • $2.7 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
The bill also contains language authored by Congressman Bishop that urges CMS to delay its policy preventing Medicare patients from using ambulance transportation to kidney dialysis and diabetes-related wound care.
Helping Communities in Middle and Southwest Georgia
Congressman Bishop also secured funding for 15 projects in Georgia's Second Congressional District. These include:
  • $1,000,000 to Albany Technical College for recruitment efforts in its service area in Georgia to identify and transition interested students into allied health professions, with the overall goal of addressing the nursing shortage throughout Southwest Georgia
  • $2,000,000 to Augusta University's Southwestern Regional Campus of the Medical College of Georgia in Albany to provide for longitudinal workforce training and workforce expansion for graduate students, to ultimately increase the number of medical professionals in Southwest Georgia
  • $1,500,000 to the City ofBainbridge for Phase 2 of the Downrange Industrial Park Water and Wastewater Project
  • $1,850,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany, Inc., for facility renovations and upgrades necessary to provide safe, positive, and innovative programs for 25,000 youth when they are out of school in Albany (Dougherty County), Montezuma (Macon County), and Plains (Sumter County)
  • $1,187,200 to the City of Colquitt for a wastewater pollution control plant project
  • $562,490 to the City of Donalsonville for broadband internet infrastructure improvement and expanding service to over 1200 households
  • $949,146 to the City of Leesburg for a sewage and clean water infrastructure project
  • $4,000,000 to Columbus State University for engineering, design work, and start-up construction costs to build a STEAM Collaboration Center with the Muscogee County School District for students to learn more about robotics, engineering, coding, and 3D design/fabrication technologies by creating a space specifically tailored to the needs of educating the community in the field of STEAM
  • $161,167 to Miller County for improvements to its Emergency Operations Center communications system
  • $1,000,000 to the Golden Triangle Resource Conservation and Development Council, in Dawson,for equipment & workforce training of heavy equipment operators
  • $400,000 to Keryx Ministries, Inc., to support a community-based, Mercer University medical student-run clinic in the poverty-stricken Unionville Community in Macon, Georgia, which will improve the healthcare of children, senior citizens, and homeless individuals who desperately need medical and mental health attention
  • $5,000,000 to the Mt. Olive Community Outreach Center, Inc., in Albany, to help replenish housing lost due to Hurricane Michael and tornadoes
  • $367,362 to the Southwest Georgia Children's Alliance, Inc., in Americus for child abuse treatment and prevention programs
  • $3,941,986 to the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission, in Camilla, to meet public safety needs for multiple counties (Baker, Calhoun, Colquitt, Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, Mitchell, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas, and Worth) by replacing obsolete and outdated radio equipment critical to ensuring that police, fire, and EMS can communicate within and across counties to respond to crime and natural disasters
  • $1,020,047 to the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, in Americus,to increase awareness of Alzheimer's Disease programs & resources for caregivers
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Issues:Federal Budget, Appropriations, & Taxes