The Fiscal Year 2022 Government Funding Bill contains a number of significant, and quite specific, resources that will support a number of important Kentucky institutions and programs.
And some of them directly impact west Kentucky.
As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) reports that he’s advocated on behalf of the Commonwealth as part of this year’s government funding process — with measures bound for President Joe Biden’s desk.
The provisions are wide-varying and comprehensive:
— $73 million for the renovation of Vietnam War-era barracks at Fort Campbell.
— $350 million for the Essential Air Service program, which benefits the Barkley Regional Airport in Paducah and the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport.
— $321.5 million to support workers performing necessary environmental cleanup operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant.
— $30.1 million for the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) to support economic and infrastructure development in the Mississippi Delta region, which encompasses a number of counties in Western Kentucky.
— $40 million for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Community Facilities program, which provides funding for rural areas to improve their public services. McConnell worked to include a provision to place a focus on Western Kentucky communities impacted by last December’s tornadoes.
— $3 million for the Forest Services National Recreation Areas, including the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Areas, representing a $1 million increase from previous years. This is in addition to the regular regional allotment.
— And $520,000 for the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area’s Hillman Ferry Campground restroom replacement project.
McConnell also noted that Fiscal Year 2022 will direct FEMA to increase its disaster response cost-sharing from 75% to no less than 90% of costs associated with the five “Presidentially-Declared Disasters” that occurred in 2020 and 2021 in Kentucky, meaning communities in the Commonwealth will only need to cover up to 10% of response and rebuilding costs.
It also directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to identify funding streams for building temporary grain storage facilities at inland waterway ports, helping western Kentucky salvage grain storage capacity following the destruction of facilities during last December’s tornadoes.
And it instructs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to prioritize consideration of areas in western Kentucky for the $40 million in funding provided to the Community Facilities Grant Program, which grants resources to rural areas to improve utility services, such as broadband and wastewater, and facilities, including hospitals, fire departments and libraries.