Pappas Secures New Hampshire Priorities in Appropriations Package

Today, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) issued the following statement after helping pass a package to fully fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year 2023:

“The priorities included in this bipartisan package will ensure New Hampshire communities remain healthy and safe, deliver law enforcement and first responders the resources they need, and that help Granite State families heat their homes and bring down their costs. I fought to secure those and additional provisions to fight fentanyl trafficking, strengthen border security, improve care for veterans, and bolster New Hampshire’s manufacturing workforce. The final package is the product of months of work listening to and working directly with Granite Staters to secure the resources they need and know how to use best. I urge President Biden to sign this into law, and I remain committed to delivering results for New Hampshire.”

Package includes provisions Pappas fought for to fight fentanyl trafficking, strengthen border security, improve care for veterans, invest in our infrastructure, and lower home heating costs for Granite Staters

Package will also fund New Hampshire projects to improve public safety, support first responders and law enforcement, boost manufacturing and support our skilled workforce, invest in infrastructure, and help families and children.

The government funding package will:

Provide over $18 million in funding secured by Pappas for community projects. The package includes funding secured by Pappas for key projects that will support public safety, first responders, law enforcement, strengthen New Hampshire’s manufacturing sector and skilled workforce, invest in our infrastructure, and help New Hampshire families and children.  

Ensure law enforcement can keep deadly fentanyl analogues out of our communities. At Pappas’s urging, the package will extend his bipartisan fentanyl analogue scheduling legislation to ensure there is no lapse in scheduling while he fights for passage of the permanent fentanyl analogue scheduling legislation he introduced. 

Improve Customs and Border Patrol detection and interdiction of fentanyl, opioids, and related dangerous chemicals. The package includes funding for the adoption of a common operating platform that will allow DHS to build on the success of its existing pilot program, keeping precursor chemicals associated with the production of fentanyl and other illegal drugs off our streets and out of communities across the United States. 

Invest in public safety. At Pappas’s urging the package includes $9 million in grants for local police departments to seek accreditation, in line with his EAGLE Act, and $10 million in funding to help children exposed to trauma, in line with his National ACERT Grant Authorization Act. The package also provides resources for local law enforcement to keep our communities safe through over $770 million for Byrne Justice Assistance grants and $662.9 million for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) programs which includes $324 million specifically for hiring new officers, $135 million for the STOP School Violence Act, and $700 million for Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) prevention and prosecution programs. In addition, the legislation protects our communities from drug trafficking and its consequences with $302 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program and $109 million for the Drug-Free Communities Program.

Support Granite Staters struggling with substance use disorder. The package will help Granite Staters recovering from substance use disorder by providing funding including $2 billion for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grants, $1.575 billion for State Opioid Response Grants, and $6 million for Comprehensive Opioid Recovery Centers. The package also includes the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act, legislation supported by Pappas which makes it easier for health care practitioners to prescribe life-saving treatments to individuals struggling with substance use disorder. The Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment Act was introduced by Senator Hassan in the U.S. Senate. 

Support veterans and improve key functions of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The package includes three bills introduced by Pappas to improve VA’s debt collection process, secure VA supply chains, and combat sexual harassment and discrimination within VA. The package also delivers $322.7 billion in funding to support veterans and their families, reduce veteran suicide, fully implement the Honoring Our PACT Act, and heed Pappas’s calls to ensure adequate care for veterans suffering from severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) who require long-term residential care.

Strengthen New Hampshire’s workforce and small businesses. The package invests in New Hampshire’s economy and workforce by providing funding for job training, apprenticeship programs, Community College Training Grants, and Small Business Development Centers; providing $175 million for Manufacturing Extension Partnerships which help small and medium-size U.S. manufacturers create and preserve jobs; as well as providing $1.2 billion for SBA to support investments in programs to help underserved entrepreneurs access capital and contracting opportunities, $320 million for Entrepreneurial Development Programs, and $40 million in funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission to target the economic development needs of distressed portions of New Hampshire.

Support New Hampshire’s rural communities. The package connects New Hampshire’s rural residents to our 21st-century economy by providing $1.5 million for rural export centers which Pappas is fighting to permanently authorize and $455 million for the expansion of broadband development, including $348 million for the ReConnect rural broadband program. The package also delivers $1.47 billion for rural water and waste program loans, over $500 million in grants for clean and reliable drinking water systems and sanitary waste disposal systems, and strengthens rural housing loans and rental assistance with $30 billion in loan authority for guaranteed single-family housing loans, $1.25 billion in direct single family home loans, and $1.49 billion for rental assistance and vouchers for low-income and elderly Americans. 

Help Granite Staters keep their heat on. The package provides $5 billion in funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which provides critical home energy assistance to those most in need for heating and cooling assistance, including $1 billion in emergency supplemental funding requested by Pappas. 

Ensure our communities have access to clean water and safe water infrastructure. The package cleans up our water by providing $2.76 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, and $50 million to address Combined Sewer Overflows, an issue Pappas has championed in Congress.

Secure our elections. The package includes the Electoral Count Reform Act, which will secure the process of casting and counting electoral votes and the presidential transition process to ensure that Congress counts the votes as required by the Constitution.

Support our allies abroad. The package will strengthen our alliances, promote democracy, support vulnerable people, bolster public health infrastructure, and improve our diplomatic capabilities. Specifically, it delivers $1.8 million for International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance for Greece and funding for the Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and United States 3+1 Cooperation Interparliamentary Group as requested by Pappas, and provides emergency funding for Ukraine as they continue to fight back against Russia’s unprovoked invasion.

Preserve New Hampshire’s natural environment. The package will appropriate $900 million to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, invests in renewable energy development with $219.96 million for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and $470 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency to support new energy technologies, and provides funding to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for climate research and mitigation efforts to protect New Hampshire’s coastal communities. 

Enact provisions of Pappas’s Connecting America’s Active Transportation System Act. The package provides $45 million for active transportation infrastructure, to build connected active-transportation routes including trails, sidewalks, and bikeways that support the health and economic growth of our communities. This transformative approach meets growing demands from rural, suburban, and urban communities across America for convenient, accessible, well-maintained biking and walking routes.