WASHINGTON –
U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today announced his FY 2010 budget appropriations requests for Maryland, including projects that would benefit Western Maryland
.
  The Senate will take up the appropriations bills this summer. A complete list of Senator Cardin’s appropriations requests can be found at


cardin.senate.gov
.

“The appropriations process must be open and transparent. The American people have a right to know how their tax dollars may be used.
  I have carefully vetted every request for Fiscal Year 2010 to ensure that they reflect our regional and national priorities and will help Maryland meet the challenges of the future,”
said Senator Cardin. “My appropriations requests focus on creating new jobs through innovation and technology, improving our transportation infrastructure, supporting health research, strengthening homeland security, restoring the environment and lessening our dependence on foreign energy.”
 

More than 45 percent of all funds requested by Senator Cardin fund or supplement funding for federal programs that benefit Maryland. Approximately 30 percent of the funds requested would provide essential resources to our state and local governments.

Examples of statewide requests include:

• 
  $2 million for the State of Maryland for its
  First Responder Interoperability Project to help the state implement an interoperability radio system

• 
  $ 1 million for the
  Maryland State Police to upgrade the state’s computer aided dispatch/management system in order to coordinate resources and provide quicker deployments in case of an emergency

• 
  
  $2.5 million for the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s
  statewide oral health literacy campaign to educate low-income, high-risk families about the importance of oral health and preventive behaviors including working with dental and medical providers
  

• 
  $2 million for essential infrastructure of the
  Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Water Trails

Examples of requests from Senator Cardin for entities or projects based in Western Maryland include:

• 
  $5 million for the
  Corridor Cities Transitway, a proposed 13.5-mile light rail or bus rapid transit line in Montgomery County, Maryland, that would extend from the Shady Grove Metrorail Station in Rockville through Gaithersburg and Germantown

• 
  $4.2 million for the
  Naval Health Research Network Information Exchange to develop and deploy systems to exchange digital health information from civilian patient populations containing Veteran, Guard, Reserve, and DoD beneficiaries.

• 
  $4 million to resurface and rehabilitate
  I-68 in Allegany County

• 
  $3 million for Volvo Powertrain of North America (Hagerstown) to complete development of the
  hybrid electric truck powertrain for our military.

• 
  $2.3 million for the
  Appalachian Center for Ethnobotanical Studies at Frostburg State University, which is dedicated to the study and conservation of native plants and will help foster economic growth through the development of the area’s natural resources

• 
  $1 million for involves improvements to the existing
  Frostburg and Cumberland sanitary and combined sewer infrastructure to prevent combined sewer overflows.
   

• 
  $750,000 for the
  
  Garrett County Career Technology Training Center
  

In addition, Senator Cardin has requested funding for the following projects:

· 
Technical support and finance programs for the
City of Hagerstown’s
Minority and Women Owned Business Program

• 
  
  
  Comprehensive planning for the Middle Potomac River Watershed
  that combats a broad spectrum of problems and reflects the diversity of the landscape of the Potomac basin, which includes urban, rural, and natural areas in six different eco-regions and five local jurisdictions-MD, PA, VA, WV, and DC

• 
  
  Jennings Randolph Lake Dam Safety Project in Garrett County on the North Branch Potomac River, upstream from the mouth of Savage River at Luke, Maryland

• 
  
  Hagerstown/Washington County Disabilities Transportation Program to purchase additional buses to better provide transportation services to disabled residents.

For more details on the above requests and a complete list of all of Senator Cardin’s FY 2010 appropriations requests for Maryland, please go to

cardin.senate.gov