U.S. Senators Manchin and Capito, both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, vote to secure a number of West Virginia priorities in a bipartisan appropriations package

by WV Press Sharing on March 24, 2024

WV Press Sharing Author

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Funding included for WVU, Marshall, WVSOM and numerous other schools and projects

WV Press Association Sharing

Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Shelley Moore Capito, members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, voted to secure a number of West Virginia priorities in a bipartisan appropriations package, which included the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs funding bills.

The six funding bills included critical priorities that Senators Manchin and Capitol championed such as strengthening border security, blocking drugs at the border, stopping the ban on gas stoves and improving miners’ health and safety. Included in the legislation are many Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) projects that Senators Capito and Manchin authored after having consulted and worked with entities and organizations across West Virginia.

They included $138,442,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests, or earmarks, for 80 West Virginia projects.

Senator Manchin’s Statement:

“Today, I voted for the remaining six of the FY24 funding bills. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I was proud to secure key priorities for our state and our nation that will help address the crisis at our southern border, reign-in radical federal regulations, promote all-of-the-above American energy, and ensure West Virginia coal miners and their communities get the federal resources they deserve. This package also includes more than $138 million in Congressionally Directed Spending for projects like creating a state-of-the-art neurosciences institute at the Charleston Area Medical Center, expanding and renovating the West Virginia University School of Dentistry and constructing the Marshall Community Health Institute at Marshall University. I look forward to seeing President Biden sign this legislation into law and I will continue advocating for West Virginian and American priorities while also working to promote fiscal responsibility.”

Senator Capito’s statement:

“I wish we could have had an appropriations process that was open for floor discussion on each separate bill, including amendments, and free of shutdown drama. Unfortunately, that is not what Leader Schumer prefers,” Senator Capito said. “Regardless, after negotiation and compromise, I am pleased that so many West Virginia priorities I have fought for were addressed in these bills—particularly in the Labor-HHS bill, which I helped author. This six-bill package includes important resources that increase pay for our troops and strengthen our national defense and the relationships with our global allies, in addition to the practical impacts to West Virginians. These bills help fight the opioid epidemic, improve our healthcare facilities and workforce, and strengthen economic development initiatives. I’m proud that as a leader on the Appropriations Committee, I had a hand in drafting these bills.”

West Virginia Priority Highlights:

Strengthening Border Security: Provides a record-setting $496 million to hire 22,000 Border Patrol Agents; provides $125 million for increases to Border Patrol overtime pay; provides funding for 7,500 more detention beds and provides $720 million for ICE deportation and transportation operations, which is $290 million above funding levels from FY 2023.
Saving Our Gas Stoves: Prohibits the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from promulgating, implementing, administering, or enforcing any regulation to ban gas stoves.
Blocking Drugs at the Border: Requires a report on granting Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Title 21 authority to investigate drug crimes, as well as Senator Manchin’s language requiring a report on designating drug cartels as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations.”
Promoting All-of-the-Above American Energy: Extends Price-Anderson authorities that are critical for new nuclear to come online and raises concerns that the Department of Treasury is considering limitations and restrictions for the 45V Hydrogen Protection Tax Credit not authorized by law, as well as $10 million for clean hydrogen technology development at West Virginia University (WVU).
Supporting Our Military: Includes over $500 million in Department of Defense direct investments in West Virginia, more than double what the state received last year, including funding for multiple military programs run by the WVNG, such as $7 million for the Ridge Runner Irregular Warfare Exercise; $2 million for the Army Interagency Training and Education Center; and $2 million for the WVNG’s leadership of the U.S. team in the international Locked Shields Exercise.
Fighting for Rural West Virginia: Includes language requiring the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to work with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service on implementing a new rural definition that would better capture the mountainous and rugged terrain of Appalachia and ensure West Virginia communities receive the federal funding they deserve.
Improving Miners’ Health and Safety: Includes $425 million for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund; $29 million for Special Benefits for Disabled Coal Miners; $12.1 million for Black Lung Clinics; and $387.8 million for the Miner Safety & Health Administration (MHSA).