Government Funding Package Will Bring Millions of Dollars Back to Washington’s Ninth District

SEATTLE, WA – Today, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the $1.7 trillion government funding package, sending it to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The government funding package provides historic investments for workers, families, and communities across the country. Importantly, this package includes over $24 million for projects that Rep. Smith successfully secured in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 appropriations process, which will help fund 15 community projects across Washington’s Ninth District.

“This year’s government funding package not only allows us to make good on our commitments to keep the government open and running smoothly, but also provides additional funding to bolster important social and economic programs that make us stronger as a nation. In negotiating this package, we were able to secure many important victories on health care which will expand access to affordable, quality health care, expand mental health care services, and advance research and development that will lead to future scientific breakthroughs. This funding package will also allow us to send more crucial military, humanitarian, and economic aid to Ukraine as they continue their fight for democracy. There are many things to be proud of in this bill, but I am especially excited about the funding that will go directly towards community projects in the Ninth District. These projects will invest in affordable housing and health care, workforce development, public safety, small business, local economy, and more and will uplift the most vulnerable and underserved individuals and families in our region. Thanks to the tireless work of community leaders and organizations in our district, these projects will undoubtedly make our community a better place to live. I look forward to these federal dollars coming to Washington’s Ninth.”

See below for more information about the FY 2023 government funding package.

Ninth District Community Projects 

• $4 million for El Centro de la Raza, Pattison’s West Community Campus Property Acquisition in Federal Way 

• $4 Million for Somali Health Board, Somali Community Cultural Innovation Hub in the Rainier Valley
• $675,000 for Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment for Women (ANEW), Pre-Apprenticeship Commercial Driver’s License Program in South King County 
• $1 Million for Plymouth Housing, Eastgate Permanent Supportive Housing and Health Clinic in Bellevue 
• $4 Million for Friends of Little Saigon, Little Saigon Landmark in Little Saigon, Chinatown-International District
• $750,000 for Low Income Housing Institute, Skyway Affordable Housing and Early Learning Center in Skyway
• $750,000 for African Chamber of Commerce of the Pacific Northwest, African Business Innovation Center (ABIC) in Tukwila 
• $2.2 Million for Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Kent Medical Clinic and Affordable Housing Mixed Use Facility in Kent  
• $1 Million for Central District Community Preservation and Development Authority (CD CPDA), McKinney Center Capital Project in the Central District
• $750,000 for Southeast Seattle Senior Foundation, Southeast Seattle Affordable Housing and Home Ownership in the Rainier Valley
• $500,000 for Congolese Integration Network, Washington Refugee Healing Center in SeaTac 
• $500,000 for UTOPIA, Mapu Maia Clinic in Kent 
• $1.5 Million for Public Defender Association, Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program in Chinatown-International District and Southeast Seattle 
• $1.5 Million for City of Renton, Logan Place Market in Renton 
• $1 million for Cowlitz Indian Tribe, Cowlitz Tribal Health Clinic in Tukwila 

 Find more information about the FY 2023 Community Project Funding Requests, including project descriptions, here.
 
Additional Selected Projects Benefiting the Ninth District

• $750,000 for Byrd Barr Place, Minority-Owned Small Business Emergency Assistance Program
• $4.4 million for Public Defender Association, JustCare Program
• $900,000 for Tabor 100, Minority and Women Business Enterprises Support Services Program
• $2 million for African Community Housing & Development, Affordable Homeownership Cooperative Pilot
• $2.23 million for Americans for Equality, MLK-Gandhi Empowerment Initiative
• $225,000 for South Seattle Women’s Health Foundation, Rainier Valley Birth & Health Center
• $4 million for Food Lifeline, South Seattle Community Food Hub
• $1 million for City of Seattle, El Barrio Small Business Development

These are just some of the projects that received funding in the government funding package at the request of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell that will benefit the 9^th District.
 
Find a summary of Democratic funding priorities here.
Find a full summary of the appropriations-related provisions of the package here.
 
Other Key Provisions

• Provides another consequential round of security, economic, and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine to support them in their fight against Russia’s unlawful invasion.
• Provides increased funding for the National Labor Relations Board for the first time in more than a decade.
• Includes the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, helping ensure pregnant workers are not discriminated against and receive the reasonable accommodations they deserve.  
• Includes emergency disaster support to help victims of hurricanes and wildfires throughout our country, to address the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, and $1 billion for Puerto Rico’s electrical grid.
• Reforms the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which will help thwart future attempts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power like what we saw attempted leading up to January 6, 2021.

Key Health Care Wins

• Requires all states to cover children on Medicaid and CHIP for 12 months regardless of changes in income, reducing unnecessary coverage loss for the 40 million children on Medicaid and CHIP.
• Makes permanent the option for states to provide women with uninterrupted Medicaid coverage for 12 months postpartum, which will help address the maternal mortality crisis that has been especially devastating for communities of color.
• Extends COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities for two years, through December 31, 2024.
• Funds 200 new graduate medical education residency positions, with 100 specifically going towards psychiatry or psychiatry subspecialty residencies.
• Provides payment stability for physicians through a 2.5 percent increase in the physician fee schedule conversion factor for 2023, and a 1.25 percent increase for 2024.
• Strengthens, expands, and establishes more programs that collectively aim to provide crisis care coordination and response, and support mental health care and substance use disorder prevention, care, treatment, peer support, and recovery support services in communities across the nation.
• Includes the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act of 2021, which eliminates the X-waiver and lifts the patient cap on practitioners registered to dispense buprenorphine for opioid use disorder maintenance or detoxification treatment.
• Includes funding for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to accelerate the pace of scientific breakthroughs for diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cancer.
• Provides an increase in funding for National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support a wide range of biomedical and behavioral research.

Find a summary of the health care provisions included in the package here.