Pingree Secures $31.6 Million for Maine’s 1st District in FY2023 Funding Package
From climate resilience and mitigation projects to workforce development and community engagement projects, all 15 of Pingree’s submitted community projects are included in the House’s FY2023 Appropriations bills.
More than $31.6 million for Maine’s First District is included in the Fiscal Year 2023 House Appropriations bills, senior House Appropriations Member Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) announced today. From climate resilience and mitigation projects to workforce development and community engagement projects, all 15 of Pingree’s submitted community projects have been funded.
“After more than a decade, Congress finally took back the power to directly fund the needs of our constituents last year. The millions of dollars that came back to Maine in Fiscal Year 2022 are already making a difference in our communities, and I’m thrilled we were able to build on that success this year,” said Congresswoman Pingree, a longtime member of the House Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies. “These projects will enrich our communities and create a better, more resilient Maine for generations to come.”
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences Innovation and Education Wing Project: $10,622,000: This funding will support the construction of a new Innovation and Education Wing at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. The new Wing will house laboratory space for four additional Senior Research Scientists, increasing scientific productivity and understanding of the foundations of global ocean health. Further, this will allow expansion for two additional classrooms and teaching laboratories that will serve students and scientists across the state of Maine and around the world.
Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center: $619,000: The funding would be used to support the creation of Women Lead: an Enterprise Institute, a comprehensive entrepreneurial leadership training program for immigrant women and girls. Women Lead will prepare immigrant women and girls to pursue small business leadership and ownership through a variety of services, including business mentorships, educational programming, language services, and assistance with marketing and finance.
Boots2Roots Transition to Work Initiative: $597,076: The funding would be used to expand ongoing efforts to connect Maine small businesses with military members and military spouses transitioning to living and working in Maine. The Transition to Work Initiative will bring together an expanded network of small businesses in Maine in need of workers, identify their unique needs and types of jobs available, and promote small business opportunities in Maine to transitioning military members and spouses looking to live and work in Maine. The Transition to Work Initiative will also increase its capacity to serve more transitioning military members and spouses each year.
Town of Limerick Drinking Water Project: $1,000,000: The Limerick Water and Sewer District operates and maintains both the public water and sewer systems in Limerick. The current sewer mains were installed in 1920 and households in the project area are at serious risk from drinking water contamination from the lead joints and sewage potentially leaking into the water lines. This project will replace the water and sewer mains in the Hollandville neighborhood in Limerick and restore access to clean drinking water for the residents.
Saco Water Resource Resiliency Project: $3,452,978: The funding would be used to support the Headworks Phase of the Saco Water Resource Resiliency Project that will make the headworks resilient to the effects of sea-level rise, intensifying wet weather events, and climate change impacts. Saco’s existing headworks structure was built more than 50 years ago at low-lying elevation and has been flooded several times, most recently during an October 2021 storm. To address this and other indicated concerns, Saco plans to construct the new headworks at an elevation that accounts for additional sea-level rise.
Alfond Youth and Community Center Wellness Wraparound Pilot Program: $500,000: The funding would be used to support a Wellness Wraparound Pilot Program that would provide targeted support services to children and families in need. These services would include case management, on-site behavioral health services through a partnership with a community hospital, nutritional training, and unlimited access to wellness facilities and classes.
Northern Light Mercy Hospital English Language Acquisition Program: $1,000,000: This funding would be used to substantially increase access to English language acquisition services in greater Portland, with the goal of supporting participants in advancing in health care or related career pathways.
Maine Clean Energy Partnership Workforce Initiative: $2,750,000: The Maine Governor’s Energy Office has established a Clean Energy Partnership that convenes public and private sector entities to advise on workforce and innovation strategy in the weatherization and building performance, electrician, and HVAC industries. The funding would be used to support the Maine Clean Energy Partnership Workforce Initiative, which develops programming for workforce and training opportunities and provides direct training services to workers and potential workers in the clean energy sector.
Amistad, Freedom Place at 66 State: $535,000: This funding would be used to provide permanent, peer-supported, and recovery-focused housing for 38 women who previously experienced homelessness or incarceration, and who face challenges related to substance use disorder, mental health, and histories of trauma that include the experience of human trafficking and domestic violence.
Central Lincoln County YMCA Child Care: $750,000: This funding would be used to build a new childcare center at the Central Lincoln County YMCA’s main location to expand services and better meet the demand in the community.
Maine Irish Heritage Center: $3,000,000: This funding would be used to restore, prevent further deterioration, and weatherize their building so it can continue to operate as a community space for cultural education.
Sanford Library Association, Louis B. Goodall Memorial Library: $3,000,000: The funding would be used to renovate and expand the library’s existing space. A community room, study rooms, and office space for volunteers would be added to provide a crossroads of access to the town’s many resources. Additionally, funds would be used to update the existing technology currently used by the library.
Apex Youth Connection:$750,000: This funding would be used to acquire and start construction on the Apex Future Focus Job Readiness Center. This center will target the community’s most at-risk youth and young adults to teach job readiness and life skills.
Preble Street Food Security Hub: $1,000,000: The funding would be used to support a Food Security Hub that would provide assistance to those facing hunger and homelessness. This Food Security Hub would act as an industrial kitchen, food processing center, educational site, office space, and conference center dedicated to collective advocacy work and efforts to address hunger.
Knox Clinic Expansion: $2,105,000: This funding would be used to establish a Federally Qualified Health Center that would provide much-needed primary care, dental care, and mental health care to the citizens of midcoast Maine. Funding would support renovations of an existing space and construction of new medical and dental offices.
Background
Each year, the United States Congress considers and enacts annual appropriations bills that provide the federal government with the funding it needs to operate.
In 2021, the House Appropriations Committee reestablished Community Project Funding after the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress found that congressionally directed spending boosted bipartisanship, facilitated member-to-member cooperation, and gave members an equal stake in the success of appropriations bills.
Pingree secured millions of dollars in federal funding for 10 community projects in Maine’s First District for the 2022 Fiscal Year.
For the 2023 Fiscal Year, each House member was permitted to submit 15 projects for consideration, which had to be thoroughly vetted and publicly disclosed on their website.
In addition to the 15 community projects, as a senior member of the House Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, she fought to include $5 million in flexible-use funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the Appropriations bill to assist producers impacted by “forever chemical” exposure in Maine and across the country.
Pingree has been a member of the House Appropriations Committee since 2013 and has served as Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies since January 2021. Pingree’s Interior and Environment $44.8 billion funding bill will create jobs, confront climate change, support infrastructure on tribal lands, and ensure access to safe drinking water.
