Underwood Secures Funding for Local Priorities

WASHINGTON— Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14) released the following statement on the bipartisan, bicameral appropriations package for Fiscal Year 2020, signed by the President. The legislation includes legislation championed by Underwood to lower insulin costs, establish an electronic health record system for the Department of Homeland Security, research gun violence, and invest in Fermilab.

"Our community is strongest when we are armed with the resources needed to build successful businesses, raise families, and live fulfilling lives. From day one, I have fought to bring the voices of the 14th District to Congress and have worked hard to make sure our priorities are reflected in federal funding bills. I'm pleased to see that so many of the investments I fought for were supported and will go into effect in the upcoming year," said Underwood.

Underwood's key victories include:

Health Care

• Raising the tobacco and e-cigarette purchase age to 21 nationwide, to combat the teen vaping epidemic.
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: The bill provides $5.9 billion, a $140 million increase above FY 2019. for local communities or agencies fund important opioid and suicide prevention work with SAMHSA grants.
• National Institutes of Health: The bill provides $41.7 billion, a $2.6 billion increase above FY 2019. These critical investments will allow the United States to continue to innovate and find cures for rare cancers, chronic diseases and develop new pharmaceutical treatments.
• HRSA Nursing Workforce Development: The bill provides $260 million, a $10.5 million increase above FY 2019.
• VA Disability Claims Processing Backlog: The bill provides $125 million above the budget request for the Veterans Benefits Administration for hiring additional claims and appellate staff, and overtime pay in order to continue reducing the disability claims backlog.
• Defense Health Programs: The bill provides $34 billion in defense health programs to include $492.5 million for cancer research and $165 million for peer-reviewed psychological health and traumatic brain injury research programs.

Jobs and Education

• Creating Jobs: Reauthorization of the jobs-creating Export-Import Bank. Within IL-14 the Export-Import bank has supported local firms including Tru-Spec Metals of Waukegan and Miner Enterprises of Geneva.
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): The bill provides $13.9 billion IDEA programs, a $417 million increase above FY 2019. West Aurora, Sycamore and Waukegan received recent awards to serve students with individualized education programs from age 3-21.
• Strengthening Community College Training Grants: The bill provides $40 million in community colleges and eligible four-year partners. This new program will help meet local and regional labor market demand for a skilled workforce by providing training to workers in in-demand industries.

Keeping Our Communities Safe

• FEMA Nonprofit Security Grant Program: The bill provides $90 million in total, with $50 million for the Urban Areas Security Initiative Program and $40 million to NSGP-State. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) provides funding support for security-related and physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations, with funding allocations appropriated for nonprofit organizations located inside and outside designated urban areas. These funds help communities and organizations in the Chicago area and northern Illinois who are at high risk for a terror attack.
• Election Assistance Commission (EAC): The bill provides $425 million for a new round of election security grants to improve the security and integrity of elections for Federal office. Ahead of the 2020 elections, these funds will help communities upgrade vulnerable election systems and improve Cybersecurity.
• Gun Violence Prevention: The bill delivers $12.5 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and $12.5 million to the National Institute of Health for firearm injury and mortality prevention research.

Local Priorities for the 14^th District

• Fermilab: The bill provides $1.045 billion for the Department of Energy's High Energy Physics programs and allocations for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility/Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (LBNF/DUNE) at Fermilab.
• Biodiesel Tax: The bill extends the biodiesel tax credit, an important program that helps our rural economy continue to grow.
• Flood Insurance: The bill extends the National Flood Insurance Program, which serves communities across the 14th district.
• Transportation and Infrastructure: The bill increases TIGER and BUILD grants by $100 million, for a total of $1 billion. These grants support transportation and infrastructure projects directly serving northern Illinois, and this bill ensures rural and urban areas have parity in awarded funds.