Jenniffer González Announces Puerto Rico Funding in the Federal Budget Agreement

Washington DC- Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón announced that the federal Budget agreement to be approved this week by Congress will include funding for important appropriations for the Island.

The funding will include the continuation or start of projects requested by the Resident commissioner to the Army Corps of Engineers as a result of discussions with the Corps leadership and meetings with community organizations and municipal leaders. The Corps will be appropriated $281,000 for inspections of completed projects, $2.3 million for the San Juan Harbor Estuary program, $1,460,000 for improvements to the San Juan Harbor shipping channel and $750,000 for the Caño Martin Peña community waterway improvement program.

González-Colón was able to include the Caño Martín Peña funds after meetings with the community and the Corps of Engineers.

"This is the first inclusion of specific appropriations I have achieved since arriving in Congress. To this end I met with municipalities, federal agencies and communities. Some involved programs already planned and underway but which needed to have specific appropriations to continue in the face of national budget cuts. So together with the members of the majority we discussed priorities un capital improvements, special projects and appropriations. The meetings will continue in order to maximize the utilization of these resources," the Congresswoman explained.

The budgetary measure also includes the initial amount needed to fund this Fiscal Year's Medicaid program in the territory, $295,900,000. "we expect to be able to complete the funding in the S-CHIP reauthorization bill in September", González-Colón added.

The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program for state-federal cooperation on coastal entry, Operación Stonegarden, a House and Senate proposal was included to allow CBP to sustain or expand this effort in Puerto Rico using budgeted funds. "This is a result of several meetings I had with the Homeland security component in the Island" the Congresswoman explained.

"We were also able to include $2 million in funding available for NIFA (National Institute of Food and Agriculture) Grants for development and education in agricultural and food sciences with a focus on distance education. This later aspect allows the programs in the territories to collaborate more closely with leading educational institutions in the mainland. This is an investment in improving access to new techniques for our farmers, fulfilling a commitment I had made to them," the Resident Commissioner said in closing.

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