Duckworth Highlights Key Omnibus Priorities Set to Become Law

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today highlighted several of her key priorities that are set to become law when President Biden signs the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) Omnibus appropriations bill that the Senate passed last week. 

“Our state and our nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families—and that’s what this bipartisan funding agreement does,” Duckworth said. “I’m particularly proud that we’ve taken action on so many of my key priorities like helping lower costs for working families, creating jobs, increasing access to affordable college education, supporting our Veterans and reducing harmful air pollution.”

Duckworth’s priorities would:

• Make college more affordable by increasing the maximum Pell grant award by $400, which will help 7 million students pursue a postsecondary education
• Increase access to affordable and convenient child care options for student parents by boosting funding for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program
• Duckworth re-introduced a bill last August to permanently reauthorize and fully fund the CCAMPIS program.
• Strengthen the Head Start program by including a cost-of-living adjustment for Head Start teachers and staff
• Address the continuing burden of harmful air pollution on communities across the country by investing in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) clean air programs
• Build climate resilient water infrastructure by investing in the State Revolving Loan Funds
• Last year, President Biden signed into law bipartisan legislation authored by Duckworth aimed at investing $35 billion in projects that put Americans back to work fixing and upgrading our nation’s crumbling and dangerous water infrastructure, in part by providing states with increased funding and program flexibilities to invest in community water projects through the State Revolving Loan Funds.
• Clean up hazardous waste sites and tackle contaminated properties by investing in the EPA’s Superfund program and brownfield grants
• Support communities transitioning away from coal-fired power plants by increasing funding for the Assistance to Coal Communities Program within the Economic Development Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Duckworth has introduced legislation that would invest in coal workers and coal communities to ensure they have the resources needed to transition local economies to 21^st Century alternatives.
• Address the disproportionate impacts of pollution on communities of color and low-income communities by expanding funding for environmental justice programs at EPA
• Duckworth co-founded the Senate’s first-ever Environmental Justice Caucus in 2019 and has introduced sweeping legislation that would help achieve health equity and climate justice for all, particularly underserved communities and communities of color that have long been disproportionately harmed by environmental injustices and toxic pollutants.
• Strengthen health services for 9.2 million Veterans by increasing funding for VA Medical Care, which includes funds for rural health programs, veterans’ homelessness prevention and mental health
• Help prevent military hunger by investing in food assistance for servicemembers and their families who are struggling to put food on the table
• Duckworth recently introduced bipartisan legislation with U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to tackle military hunger and secured a provision in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act that required the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to create a limited-duration basic needs allowance for servicemembers below 130% of the federal poverty guidelines to assist them with affording basic necessities, particularly food.
• Bolster local law enforcement by increasing investments in the State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant programs and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grant programs

Last week, Duckworth highlighted the funding she secured for Illinois projects in this bipartisan bill alongside U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL).

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