WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, voted last night to pass the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 government spending package. The vote came a day after U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) voted to pass the bill out of the U.S. House of Representatives.

This appropriations package includes funding for all government agencies and programs through the end of Fiscal Year 2022 in September as well as $97 million for key Delaware projects including a new fuel cell hangar for the Delaware Air National Guard, housing relief, health and education, parks improvements, and more. The bill also includes $13.6 billion in funding to aid Ukraine and the Ukrainian people facing the Russian military invasion, including over $4 billion in humanitarian aid.

“This critical funding bill will help communities up and down the First State,” said Senator Carper. “I’m proud that the congressional delegation secured funding that will foster economic development in disadvantaged neighborhoods, provide affordable housing and infrastructure investments, deliver health care to the far reaches of our state, improve public safety, and support our children. This legislation will help Delawareans and Americans for generations to come — and I’m delighted to send it to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.”

“After months of negotiations, I am glad to pass a strong, bipartisan agreement on an appropriations package that will fund the government through September out of the Senate and onto President Biden’s desk,” said Senator Coons. “As the first Delaware senator in more than 40 years to serve on the Appropriations Committee, I am proud that this deal will fund critical government programs and invest in Delaware communities up and down the state – supporting better services, cleaner parks, and stronger infrastructure.”

“I am incredibly pleased to vote to fund the government and to fund nearly $100 million worth of projects back home in Delaware,” said Representative Blunt Rochester. “I am proud to have fought for funding that will make our communities healthier, safer, stronger, and even more resilient. These investments support under-resourced areas and foster economic development, making a real difference in the lives of so many Delawareans.”

Background: The appropriations package advanced today includes two components: (1) Programmatic Funding, which funds all federal government programs, and (2) Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS), which runs through the Senate and House Appropriations Committees and allows representatives and senators to target funding to specific projects in their home states. The appropriations package has now been passed by the House and Senate, and it is expected to be signed into law by President Biden early next week.

Some of the Delaware projects receiving funding in the appropriations package include:

  • $17.5 Million for Hangar Replacement for the Delaware Air National Guard – This funding will replace the outdated Delaware Air National Guard Fuel Cell/Corrosion Control hangar at New Castle County Airport. The Fuel Cell/Corrosion Control hangar is one of two hangars required for the maintenance of the Delaware Air National Guard's eight C-130 aircraft.
  • $10 Million for the Kingswood Community Center at REACH Riverside – This funding will be used to build a new Kingswood Community Center (KCC) in the Riverside neighborhood of Wilmington. Specifically, this funding will invest in a new, state-of-the-art facility that can support program growth, offer important amenities to residents, and strengthen community resiliency. A new KCC is part of REACH Riverside's effort to transform the Riverside neighborhood into a vibrant and healthy community by implementing the nationally recognized Purpose Built Communities model.
  • $8 Million to National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) – This funding will initiate a design-build construction effort for a current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) facility at NIIMBL to be located on the UD STAR Campus that will focus on ways to develop and make innovative biopharmaceuticals at the clinical research scale.
  • $3.5 Million for the Mental Health Therapist Fellowship Initiative at Jewish Family Services of Delaware – The purpose of this project is to establish a workforce development program to address Delaware's growing mental health crisis, rising demand for counseling, and a lack of licensed mental health practitioners by creating paid fellowship positions for master’s degree-prepared and license-eligible counselors.
  • $2 Million toward Reducing Inequity in Access to Solar Power – This project at Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) will support the installation of residential solar energy systems in low-and moderate-income households throughout Delaware.
  • $11.6 Million toward Beach Nourishment – This funding for DNREC will support critical beach nourishment activities from Cape Henlopen to Fenwick Island and Rehoboth and Dewey Beaches. Maintaining Delaware’s beaches is critical to storm damage prevention and the First State’s economy.
  • $8.95 Million toward Dredging for the Port of Wilmington – This funding helps maintain ship access channels for the Port of Wilmington. The Port is responsible for 5,900 direct, indirect, and induced jobs; annually produces $436 million in business revenue for Delaware; and supports more than $409 million in personal income for the state and the region.

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