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 priorities for
Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
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
·
$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 the
Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Water Trails
Examples of requests from Senator Cardin for entities or projects based in Prince George’s and/or Montgomery Counties include:
·
$300 million to finalize the
consolidation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at White Oak in Montgomery County. The consolidation will enable over 9,000 FDA employees to better regulate the drug and medical devices industries and protect the country against bioterrorism.
·
$150 million to fulfill the federal government’s obligation for the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro).
The federal funds would be matched by the supporting jurisdictions, resulting in approximately 7,140 jobs created or retained.
Seventy percent of Metro’s more than 10,000 employees are residents of Maryland.
Other major transportation projects include
:
o
$10 million for the
Purple Line, a proposed 16-mile transit line
extending from Bethesda to New Carrollton
o
$5 million for the
Corridor Cities Transitway, a proposed 13.5-mile transit line that extends from Rockville through Gaithersburg and Germantown
o
$5 million for roadway construction and improvements at key access points to
Andrews Air Force Base
o
$5 million for roadway construction and improvements in the vicinity of the
National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda plus an additional $4 million
for improvements at the adjacent
Medical Center Metro station
·
A number of military health care projects including:
o
$6 million for the
Fibrin Adhesive STat (FAST) Dressing, the only bandage effective against all kinds of severe blood loss. Once FDA-approved, the dressing will save thousands of military and civilian lives.
o
$10 million to develop a
Rehabilitation Technology Transition Center to transition federally supported research in revolutionary prosthetics into patient care to improve the quality of life for injured servicemen and veterans
·
$10 million for the
Blue Plains Waste Water Treatment Plant
for the
upgrades to reduce nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay by over 4
million pounds per year, and an additional $1.8 million for the
Sligo Creek Urban Watershed Restoration Project, a joint Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties effort to reduce stormwater pollution
·
$3.18 million to support high priority research projects at the
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, the flagship of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service
·
$3 million for the
University of Maryland at College Park to develop tools that can help all sectors of the food industry, including regulators,
ensure the safety and security of our food supply
·
$1 million for
CentroNía
Teacher Training and Quality Improvement of Takoma Park to
develop statewide early education training, provide certifiable professional development for 200 teachers and full-day pre-K programs to 60+ low-income children
In addition, Senator Cardin has requested funding for the following projects:
·
Expanding Health Care Access to the Uninsured –
Holy Cross Hospital proposes to expand health care access to Montgomery County's uninsured by opening a third clinic in the Wheaton/Aspen Hill area, which will increase capacity to assist uninsured residents, improving their health and reducing the burden on hospital emergency rooms
·
Develop an
Hispanic Homeownership Public Education initiative, through the non-profit Housing Initiative Partnership, to promote public awareness and education about homeownership among Prince George’s and Montgomery County Hispanics.
·
Expansion and implementation of
Prince George’s Mental Health Court, allowing the court to be open 1 additional day every week for the entire year.
·
Bowie State University
, in cooperation with the Prince George’s County Public Schools, will implement a
Principals’ Institute that will help prepare individuals who wish to qualify as principals in elementary, middle/junior high, and
high schools in the County
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