When I was an intern for Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield, I had a front row seat to see just how important it is for our state’s priorities and values to be represented on the powerful Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for funding the federal government. Now, as chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment, I’m working hard to continue Senator Hatfield’s legacy and ensure that Oregon has a strong voice in the nation’s spending decisions – including investing in vital projects that meet our state’s diverse needs, from building wildfire resiliency to boosting affordable housing.
I call these investments “community-initiated projects” because Oregon communities identify their top priorities and I fight to get them funded. Community-initiated projects are effective because no one knows the needs of your community better than you, the folks who live and work in them every day. So, when you tell me which projects will help your communities most, I work hard to secure funding for as many of those projects as possible.
Just this March, Congress approved 139 of these community-initiated projects in the fiscal year 2024 government funding bills – projects that invest in Oregon’s working families by funding improvements in housing, health care, and education, as well as critical infrastructure, like water supply and sanitation systems.
To help address the housing crunch and ensure more families have access to a decent home, the city of North Bend will receive $4 million to build affordable housing for critically needed workers in education, public safety, and health care. And Community Action Resource Enterprises, Inc. (CARE) in Tillamook County will receive $500,000 to renovate a building to serve as the county’s first low-barrier navigation center for people experiencing homelessness, which will also include employment, support, and case management services.
To help close health care gaps and save lives, $2 million will go to the Curry Health Network to build a new chemotherapy clinic at the hospital in Gold Beach so folks living with cancer don’t have to drive far outside the county to receive lifesaving treatments. And, in Lane County, the Behavioral Health Stabilization Center will receive $1.5 million to help realize its vision of providing immediate support to anyone in the county experiencing behavioral health crises, including substance abuse.
It’s also critical to the health of our families to modernize our drinking and wastewater infrastructure. That’s why I pushed to secure nearly $1.9 million for the City of Astoria to replace a nearly 100-year-old cast-iron waterline with modern piping. And the City of Clatskanie will receive $3 million toward building a new wastewater treatment plant to replace their over 50-year-old plant that is experiencing structural and mechanical failures.
To invest in the education and workforce of our coastal communities, $896,000 is going to Oregon Coast Community College and its partners to create a maritime workforce education pipeline for high-skilled, high-wage, in-demand jobs in the “Blue Economy”, like maritime construction and welding.
These are just a few of the more than 475 community-initiated projects spanning all 36 Oregon counties that I’ve secured funding for over the last three years in partnership with Senator Wyden and Oregon’s representatives in the House. As the only member of the Oregon delegation on the Appropriations Committee, I’ll keep fighting to fund as many of these homegrown projects as possible.
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