March 25, 2024

Duckworth, Durbin Announce Illinois Priorities Secured in Second "Minibus" Government Funding Bill

 

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced the Illinois priorities they helped secure in the second “minibus” of government funding bills, which follows passage of the first “minibus” of six funding bills earlier this month.  The package includes funding bills for Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs for Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24). Duckworth and Durbin secured numerous priorities for Illinois in these appropriations bills, both through Congressionally Directed Spending requests—also known as earmarks—and through the programmatic appropriations process.

“Our state and nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families, and that’s what these bipartisan funding bills do,” said Duckworth. “I’m relieved we were able to pass a strong bipartisan package that not only prevents a partial government shutdown that would have hurt working families across our nation, but that also fully funds the government for the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year and secures critical support for projects all throughout our state. The Congressional Directed Spending we secured in these bills will help strengthen Illinois’s economy, providing much-needed improvements to infrastructure, cleaning up our drinking water and helping keep our communities safe.”

“While I am frustrated at this year’s unnecessarily drawn out process of funding the government, I am encouraged to see strong, bipartisan support for the second ‘minibus,’” said Durbin. “These bills complete funding for Fiscal Year 2024, bolstering programs that benefit Illinois’ families, communities, and economy.” 

These funding bills include the following Illinois priorities secured by Congressionally Directed Spending requests:

Financial Services and General Government

  • Clean Technology Initiative, Chicago: $475,000 to Evergreen Climate Innovations to support Illinois-based clean technology startups through business development training, professional mentorship, market strategies, and networking opportunities. 
  • Digitization and Preservation Initiative, Naperville: $800,000 to the Naperville Heritage Society to preserve and digitize archives, artifacts, and records that demonstrate the diverse history and inhabitants of Naperville and the State of Illinois.  These efforts will allow the collection to be accessible to individuals regardless of location. 
  • Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative, Chicago: $675,000 to mHUB, a manufacturing innovation center, to develop a regional supply chain network to connect domestic suppliers and contract manufacturers with hard-tech entrepreneurs through technical assistance and network development.  Such industry associations will help lower barriers to entrepreneurship and manufacturing and improve startups’ chances of success. 
  • Photographic Digitization Initiative, Bloomington: $550,000 to the McLean County Historical Society to continue the digitization of 1.5 million photographic negatives of The Bloomington Pantagraph.  These images will be accessible to the public and tell the story of life in Central Illinois between 1930-2000.
  • Professional Development, Illinois (statewide):?$500,000 to Women's Business Development Center to support business entrepreneurship training for childcare providers throughout Illinois in an effort to boost the number of affordable childcare providers. 

Homeland Security

  • Storm Water Improvements, Normal: $1.55 million to the Town of Normal to install storm sewer extensions in Uptown Normal to prevent flooding that impacts local businesses, hotels, and Illinois State University dorms housing more than 2,200 students.
  • Emergency Operations Center, Macomb: $1,550,000 to the Board of Trustees of Western Illinois University to help fund renovations to Currens Hall Library to support the development of a state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center in western Illinois. 
  • Flood Mitigation, Crystal Lake: $1,383,069 to the City of Crystal Lake to help fund a flooding mitigation effort to re-establish Crystal Creek into an open water channel. 

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

  • Addressing Mental Health Among Adolescents, Chicago: $450,000 to Communities United to implement a violence prevention youth development program and community engagement activities for youth.
  • Advanced Practice Nursing Program, River Forest: $1 million to Dominican University to create a new Masters in Nursing program that will support curriculum development, advanced practice nursing simulations, the hiring of qualified nurse educators, and scholarships.
  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program Support, Jacksonville: $911,000 to Illinois College to renovate classroom space, acquire new technology, and provide scholarship opportunities to increase enrollment of nursing students from rural Illinois and address health care shortages.
  • Behavioral Health Program for Youth, Chicago: $1.25 million to the Sinai Health System to expand trauma-informed mental health services at Holy Cross Hospital.
  • Building a Rural Nurse Educator Workforce, Lebanon: $980,000 to McKendree University to elevate nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing to a Master’s of Science in Nursing degree, to build a pipeline of qualified nurse educators and faculty in southern and south-central Illinois.
  • Career Pipeline Program, Oak Lawn: $500,000 to Advocate Christ Medical Center to provide summer internships to local college students for exposure to career opportunities in the health care field.
  • Clinic in West Garfield Park Wellness Center, Chicago: $3 million to Erie Family Health Center to offer primary health care services within the larger Sankofa wellness center.
  • Emergency Services Trainings Center Equipment, Palatine: $1 million to Harper College to provide safety equipment and technology, including a fire engine, fire training simulators, and fire training equipment for Harper College’s Emergency Services Training Center.
  • Foglia Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation, Crystal Lake: $1.06 million to McHenry County College to purchase equipment for the Foglia Center for Advanced Technology and Innovation’s two training labs.
  • Gale Elementary School-Based Health Center, Chicago: $415,000 to Tapestry 360 Health to relocate and expand an existing school-based health center at Gale Elementary School.
  • Health Care Career Facility, Canton: $1 million to Spoon River College to address health care workforce shortages by constructing a simulation laboratory to educate more students in registered nursing and allied health profession programs in rural Illinois.
  • Health Center Expansion, Chicago: $1 million to the Inner-City Muslim Action Network to double the capacity of its Health Center from 10,000 to 20,000 patients.
  • Integrated Practice Unit for Adolescent Health, Danville: $450,000 to Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness to fund the one-time cost of capital equipment purchase and limited-scope renovation at Aunt Martha's Vermilion Area Community Health Center, creating a new clinical space for an Integrated Practice Unit where low-income teens and young adults will receive personalized health services. 
  • New Site in Southwest Chicago, Chicago: $498,000 to Alivio Medical Center to build a new clinic, expanding access to 15,000 new patients with obstetrics and midwifery services paired with a birth center, behavioral health, pediatrics, internal medicine, urgency care, dentistry, and a pharmacy.
  • School-Based Mental Health Services, Chicago: $1.5 million to the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois to expand school-based health services delivered by the University of Illinois and Rush University in Chicago.
  • Social Work Behavioral Health Simulation Lab, Chicago: $1 million to Loyola University Chicago to train social workers and allied behavioral health professionals, through the purchase of equipment to enable simulation trainings.
  • Trauma-Informed Facility, Chicago: $500,000 to Connections for Abused Women and their Children to construct a new, trauma-informed facility that will provide beds for 45 survivors of domestic violence and expand the delivery of counseling, legal advocacy, and crisis intervention services.
  • Upgrading Science Facilities and Building a Nursing Pipeline, Greenville: $665,000 to Greenville University to support technology upgrades and provide scholarships to nursing students.
  • Upskilling Teacher Aides to Special Education Teachers, DeKalb: $1.66 million to Northern Illinois University to support its College of Education’s LEAP program, which enrolls local paraprofessionals and upskills them in two years into special education teachers by helping them obtain a bachelor’s degree and licensure.
  • Violence Recovery Services, Chicago: $1.1 million to University of Chicago Medical Center to fund a collaboration with Metropolitan Family Services to deliver street outreach and violence recovery services. 
  • Career Pathway Training, Palatine:?$500,000 to William Rainey Harper College to fund the development and implementation of a career pathway program to increase education and training opportunities and improve access for individuals seeking employment in jobs generated from the CHIPS Act to expand microchip manufacturing across the U.S. 
  • Welding Program Improvements, Pulaski County:?$336,000 to Shawnee Community College to enhance and update the welding program at Shawnee Community College to meet the educational and employment needs of the community. 
  • Education Career Preparation, Rockford: $300,000 to?Rockford Public Schools to fund an initiative between Rockford public schools and Rockford University to allow high school students interested in pursuing a career in education to transition to a teacher prep program through Rockford University. 
  • Veterans Resource Center, Chicago:?$145,000 to Northeastern Illinois University to fund the creation of a Veterans Resource Center to support Veteran students' transition from military service to higher education and careers. 
  • Drowning Prevention, Illinois (statewide):?$400,000 to Illinois State Alliance of YMCAs to fund the expansion of the YMCA Safety Around Water drowning prevention program to YMCAs throughout the State of Illinois. 
  • Grief Support, St. Clair County:?$120,000 to Heartlinks Grief Center at Family Hospice of Belleville Area to fund the creation and distribution of Grief LAB: Life After Bereavement, which is an easily accessible, inexpensive, peer-focused grief support curriculum for K-12 schools. 
  • Refugee & Immigrant Assistance Center, Chicago:?$150,000 to Centro Romero to fund a Latino immigrant and refugee-serving community center to enhance their domestic violence counseling services, immigration legal services, after-school programming, public benefits access and more to enable program participants to thrive through financial self-sufficiency. 
  • First Responder Training, Chicago:?$500,000 to The Black Fire Brigade Organization to fund a program to train and place young people in career positions of EMT, EMS or Paramedic through after-school programs, employment programs, vocational training, job readiness training and online high school and GED programs. 
  • Healthcare Worker Training, Carterville:?$1,235,000 to John A Logan College to help expand healthcare classrooms and labs, upgrade outdated healthcare classrooms and train healthcare workers to fill critical shortages in rural southern Illinois. 
  • Playground for Children Experiencing Homelessness, DuPage County:?$280,000 to DuPagePads to fund the construction of an outdoor playground for more than 130 children experiencing homelessness who are receiving emergency shelter at the DuPagePads 24-hour Interim Housing Center (IHC). 
  • Services for People with Disabilities, Chicago:?$168,000 to Illinois Medical District (IMD) Guest House Foundation to enhance the services that IMD Guest House delivers to their guests with permanent or temporary physical disabilities. 
  • Crisis Intervention, Chicago:?$425,000 to The National Runaway Safeline (NRS) to enable NRS to partner with Chapin Hall, a national leader in youth homelessness research, to conduct an analysis and study of NRS crisis intervention and prevention services data. 
  • Clinic Pharmacy, Chicago:?$122,000 to the Chicago Family Health Center, Inc. (CFHC) to help fund the construction of a pharmacy at CFHC's south Chicago clinic location. 
  • Hospital Upgrades, Pickneyville:?$192,000 to Pinckneyville Community Hospital to provide innovative and advanced cardiac monitoring and vital signs capabilities to replace devices no longer supported. New systems will be placed in the Emergency Department, Oncology Unit, Surgical Unit and Medical Floor. 
  • Milk Bank Expansion, Elk Grove Village:?$850,000 to Mothers' Milk Bank of the Western Great Lakes to help fund the Mothers' Milk Bank relocation to a new, expanded facility in Elk Grove, Illinois. 
  • Health Clinic Renovations, Chicago:?$516,000 to CommunityHealth to fund the renovation of their office space to allow for more employee workspaces and additional rooms for health workshops, vaccine clinics, health education classes and more. 
  • Services for Students with Disabilities, Macon and Sangamon Counties:?$250,000 to Best Buddies International, Inc. to fund the Best Buddies in Illinois Inclusion Project for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to create more inclusive school communities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships, inclusive activities and leadership training. 
  • Career Training, East Peoria:?$547,000 to Illinois Central College to help purchase training materials for Illinois Central College's Truck Driver Training Program, including tractor trailers, one Class B truck and stipends for participating students. 
  • College Preparation Program, Cook, Sangamon and Champaign Counties:?$700,000 to the Hispanic Federation to expand the Hispanic Federation's College Readiness, Achievement and Retention (CREAR) Futuros program to two additional universities in Illinois and support its existing program at the University of Illinois, Chicago. 
  • Electric Vehicle Innovation Hub, Decatur:?$1,100,000 to Richland Community College 
    to help contribute to the development of the EV Innovation Hub at Richland Community College. 
  • Child Development, Chicago:?$355,000 to Malcolm X College to help fund the expansion of Malcolm X College's child development program. 
  • Career Training, Cook County:?$800,000 to Oakton College to help create a health career hub in Evanston at the NorthShore Hospital complex to provide quality education and experiential learning for students entering the medical field. 
  • Health Services, Kankakee:?$450,000 to Aunt Martha’s Health and Wellness to fund the development of an integrated practice unit that will provide patient-centered coordinated care, including primary care, behavioral health and youth wellness services for more than 3,000 low-income adolescents and young adults in Kankakee, Illinois. 

These funding bills include additional Illinois priorities secured through the programmatic appropriations process:

Defense

  • Defense Medical Research: $3.287 billion in defense medical research, which includes $40 million for Melanoma research, $110 million for prostate cancer research, $40 million for ALS research, and $12 million for epilepsy research.
  • Defense Science and Technology Research: $21.43 billion for science and technology research.
  • C-130Js: $840 million for eight new C-130J aircraft for the Air National Guard in support of units such as Peoria’s 182nd Airlift Wing.
  • Baltic Security Initiative: $228 million to strengthen security cooperation with the Baltics, including in the face of Russian aggression. 
  • Impact Aid: $70 million to support school districts across the country that serve military families.  
  • Funding to Support Rock Island Arsenal, including:
    • Arsenal Sustainment Initiative: $120 million to continue stabilizing labor rates at all three arsenals.
    • AM-General / RIA Partnership: $120 million to continue manufacturing of the Shop Equipment Contact Maintenance Vehicle (SECM).
    • Advanced Manufacturing Center for Excellence: $12.5 million to support the Arsenal’s Joint Manufacturing Center of Excellence.
    • U.S. Army Real Estate Pilot: $5 million to fund the pilot, which was created to help utilize available space at Army facilities such as the Arsenal.
    • Army Organic Industrial Base and Arsenal Sustainment Initiative: Includes report language to prevent layoffs without advanced warning and stabilize labor rates at the Arsenals.
  • Scott Air Force Base: Retains language prohibiting a divestment of any C-40 aircraft from the current Air Force fleet, with exception only in the case of a mishap, protecting the 932nd Airlift Wing.

      

Financial Services and General Government

  • U.S. Department of the Treasury: $1.8 billion.
    • Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund: $324 million to promote access to capital and local economic growth in low-income urban and rural communities across the nation. 
    • Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN): $190 million to safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering.
    • Money Laundering: Report language was included urging the IRS to increase the number of special agents in the Criminal Investigations unit responsible for investigating money laundering, violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, and criminal violations of the tax code.
    • Global Sanctions Enforcement: Includes report language directing U.S. Treasury to fully implement all sanctions and divestment measures, particularly those applicable to the Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Burma (Myanmar), Belarus, designated rebel groups operating in and around the Democratic Republic of Congo, and those designated for sanction under the Global Magnitsky Act.
  • U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): $2.2 billion.
    • Investor Advisory Committee: Includes report language regarding the selection of the Investor Advisory Committee to ensure the SEC hears from all investors, especially retail investors.
    • Mandatory Arbitration: Includes report language directing the SEC to maintain its longstanding position that mandatory arbitration clauses violate the antiwaiver provisions of securities laws.
  • Election Assistance Commission: $27 million for the necessary expenses to carry out the Help America Vote Act of 2002, of which $1.25 million shall be made available to the National Institute of Standards and Technology for election reform activities.
    • Election Security Grants: $55 million to the Election Assistance Commission for necessary expenses to make payments to states for activities to improve the administration of elections for Federal office, including to enhance election technology and make election security improvements.
  • Defender Services: $1.451 billion for Federal Defender organizations to help ensure that our nation’s courts can continue to operate efficiently, and ensure the government is meeting its constitutional obligation to provide counsel to indigent defendants.
  • U.S. Postal Service: $49.8 million to the Postal Service Fund and provision stating that no funds may be used to close rural post offices.
  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS): $12.3 billion.
  • Small Business Administration: $1.04 billion.
  • Federal Fleet: Includes report language urging incorporation of zero emission vehicles into the federal fleet by encouraging General Services Administration (GSA) to develop a total cost of ownership procurement model that accurately reflects the environmental and public health savings of such vehicles.

Homeland Security

  • Addressing the Domestic Terrorism Threat: Includes a request directing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to appropriately monitor and analyze domestic terrorism activity.  This includes coordinating with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and key public safety officials across the country to promote information sharing and ensure an effective, responsive, and organized joint effort to combat domestic terrorism.  It also directs DHS to review the anti-terrorism training and resource programs that DHS provides to law enforcement agencies and ensure that such programs include training and resources to assist State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in understanding, detecting, deterring, and investigating acts of domestic terrorism and extremist activities targeting infiltration of law enforcement agencies.  Includes language directing DHS to report to the Senate Judiciary Committee within 90 days of enactment on DHS’ assessment of the domestic terrorism threat.
  • Non-Intrusive Inspections (NII) Equipment: $400 million for NII equipment for monitoring inbound traffic.  This funding will increase the percentage of passenger vehicles scanned at ports of entry, because passenger vehicles are the primary means by which fentanyl is brought into the U.S.  This funding also will expand CBP’s outbound operations on the southwest border with dedicated outbound capabilities to stop the flow of currency, firearms, and other contraband resulting from the sale of fentanyl.
  • Shelter and Services Program: $650 million to relieve overcrowding in CBP’s short-term holding facilities.  The funds are to be transferred to FEMA to fund states, localities, and nongovernmental organizations providing shelter and services to recent arrivals. 
  • Border Management Requirements: $1.7 billion, to include operations at border patrol processing facilities, migrant medical support, and lateral transportation along the southwest border.
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Citizenship and Integration Grant Program: $10 million to award grants to organizations that prepare lawful permanent residents for naturalization.
  • USCIS Refugee and Asylum Processing Funds, and Funds for Work Permit Backlog Reduction: $91.3 million for refugee processing; $34.4 million to address the employment authorization document backlog at USCIS; and $34.4 million for the processing of asylum applications that were initiated within the United States.
  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): $25.3 billion.
    • Disaster Relief Fund: $20.26 billion to respond to federally declared disasters, including two Illinois declarations for severe storms and flooding in 2023.
    • Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Grants: Of the Disaster Relief Fund amount, six percent is reserved for BRIC competitive grants, which Illinois municipalities seek each year. This includes report language expressing concern that FEMA does not consider the unique circumstances of local municipalities when assessing BRIC grant applications, particularly for local government applicants that are disadvantaged within the program’s technical criteria because their state has not yet adopted a statewide building code.  Illinois did not previously have a statewide building code, but enacted a bill requiring one last year, and its statewide building code will take effect at a later date.
    • Urban Flooding: Includes report language directing FEMA to incorporate urban flooding recommendations from a 2019 study that Durbin requested through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.  The language also urges FEMA to consider the capacity of urban stormwater systems and social vulnerability metrics via Census demographic data, as well as to ensure better coordination across agencies that play a role in flood management.
    • FEMA Grants: $3.5 billion for grant programs to help communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from both manmade and natural threats, including:
  • State Homeland Security Grant Program: $468 million for equipment and training for local first responders.
  • Urban Area Security Initiative: $553.5 million to address the unique planning, training and equipment needs of high-threat, high-density urban areas.
  • Nonprofit Security Grants: $274.5 million to help nonprofits, including houses of worship, to bolster their security.
  • Public Transportation Security Initiative: $94.5 million for train, including Amtrak, and bus security efforts.
  • Assistance to Firefighter and SAFER grants: $648 million in grant funding for firefighter training, vehicles, equipment, and staffing, among other uses.

Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies

  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): $222.2 billion.
    • National Institutes of Health (NIH): $48.6 billion.  This funding, which includes $1.5 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), supports the country’s premier medical research agency to find new cures and treatments for diseases and conditions.
    • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): $9.2 billion to support CDC’s work to protect our nation against dangerous health threats and respond when they arise.
    • ALS: $75 million to expand access to clinical trials for ALS patients, which will support the goals of Illinoisan Brian Wallach’s organization I AM ALS and the ACT for ALS law.
    • Community Violence & Trauma: 
      • CDC’s Community Violence Initiative: $18 million with new report language aligned with the work of Durbin’s Chicago HEAL Initiative.
      • CDC Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Program: $9 million for the CDC ACEs Program, to address the root causes of violence, addiction, and mental health challenges, which Durbin and U.S Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) created in 2018.
      • Mental Health: Includes $140 million for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Project AWARE school mental health program, including $12 million for the Trauma Support in Schools grant program, which Durbin created in 2018.
      • Firearm Injury Prevention: $25 million for CDC and National Institutes of Health (NIH) firearm injury prevention research, rejecting the House’s proposal to eliminate this funding.
      • Trauma-Informed Care: $99 million for the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, which supports university/hospital/community-based trauma research and treatment grants; and $2 million for the Interagency Task Force on Trauma-Informed Care that Durbin and Capito created in 2018 to coordinate federal trauma efforts and funding.
    • Congenital Heart: $8.25 million for CDC’s research, data collection, and awareness-building activities for congenital heart disease.
    • Child Care: $21 billion for child care, including $12.3 billion for Head Start and $8.75 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants.
    • Health Workforce: 
      • SIREN ACT Grants: $11.5 million for SIREN Act grants to rural EMS agencies for workforce development and equipment purchase, a program Durbin created in 2018.
      • National Health Service Corps: $128 million for the National Health Service Corps, along with $93 million for the Nurse Corps, programs that provide scholarship and loan repayment to health providers who work in shortage areas.
      • CDC Oral Health Program: $20.25 million for CDC’s Oral Health program, which Durbin and Marshall introduced the Promoting Dental Health Act to reauthorize; and $43 million for Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Oral Health Training programs, including pediatric residencies.
      • Rural Health: Aligned with Durbin’s “Roadmap to Grow Illinois’ Rural Health Workforce,” the bill includes $4 million for a new program to provide accounting assistance to stabilize financially vulnerable rural hospitals $47 million for HRSA’s Area Health Education Centers program, which builds the pipeline of local students into health careers; $12.7 million for HRSA’s Rural Training Track program to help hospitals open new rural residency programs; and report language directing HRSA to enable community colleges to apply for certain nursing grants.
    • Tobacco and E-Cigarettes: $246.5 million for CDC’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Programs, rejecting House Republicans’ proposal to eliminate the program. 
    • Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education (CHGME): $390 million for CHGME, supporting children’s hospitals in Illinois to offer residency slots to train the next generation of pediatric doctors. 
    • Title X Family Planning Program: $286.5 million to support the only federal program devoted to family planning services despite Republican attempts to eliminate this funding.
    • Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program: $51 million to protect children from lead exposure by funding programs that support surveillance and technical capacity, provide lead poisoning prevention training to public health professionals, support childhood blood lead surveillance systems, expand public health laboratory capacity, and ensure targeted screening and case management.
    • Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): $4.025 billion to assist low-income households and seniors with their energy bills, especially during cold winter months.  More than $176 million in LIHEAP benefits will go to Illinois in FY24.
    • Refugee and Entrant Assistance Account: $6.327 billion for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which provides resettlement benefits and services to refugees, asylees, unaccompanied migrant children, Cuban and Haitian entrants, immigrants arriving on Special Immigrant Visas, trafficking victims, torture victims, and Afghan and Ukrainian parolees. 
  • U.S. Department of Education: $79.1 billion.
    • Open Textbooks: $7 million. Over the last six years, Durbin has secured $35 million for the Open Textbook Pilot Program, a competitive grant program to create and expand the sustainable use of open college textbooks, which is based on Durbin’s Affordable College Textbook Act. 
    • Impact Aid: $1.62 billion to support school districts like North Chicago and Mascoutah County, which rely on federal funds to replace tax dollars lost as a result of federal property.
    • Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA): $2.06 billion to oversee the federal student loan program, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Income Driven Repayment, and higher education accountability enforcement – including borrower defense, gainful employment, and the 90/10 rule.
    • Career, Technical, and Adult Education: Includes up to $6.1 million for evidence-based school-based mentoring programs that focus on providing students social and emotional learning and career readiness skills, based on Durbin’s Mentoring to Succeed Act.
    • School-based Mental Health: $216 million to support student mental health, as well as addressing school violence and planning for emergency management response. 
    • Education for the Disadvantaged: $18.4 billion to provide financial assistance to school districts with high rates of low-income students and students at risk of not meeting academic achievement requirements. 
    • Nita Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC): $1.3 billion to help establish or expand afterschool and summer learning opportunities for disadvantaged students.
    • Migrant Education Program: $375.6 million to assist states in helping ensure migrant students receive a high-quality, comprehensive education.
    • Full Service Community Schools: $150 million for schools that support the integration of academic, social, and health services for children and families, particularly for children attending high-poverty schools.
    • Pell Grants: Keeps the maximum Pell Grant at $7,395 for the 2024-2025 school year.  Pell Grants help nearly 209,000 Illinois students.
    • Strengthening Predominately Black Institutions (PBI): $22.4 million to support schools that serve a high proportion of Black students.
    • Work Colleges: $11 million for work colleges like Blackburn College that require students to complete a work-learning service program, where they gain job skills and receive tuition discounts. 
    • International Education and Foreign Language Studies (Domestic and Overseas Programs): $85.664 million for institutions of higher education to increase the number of foreign language and international relations experts.
  • U.S. Department of Labor (DOL): $13.4 billion.
    • Automation Report Language: $10 million for DOL to include an Automation Impacted Industries Pilot Program to award competitive grants to industry or sector partnerships to support demonstrations and pilot projects relating to the training needs of workers who are, or are likely to become, dislocated workers because of automation.  The bill also includes report language stating support for funding to support demonstration and pilot programs relating to the training needs of workers who are or are likely to be dislocated due to automation.
    • Reentry Employment Opportunity (REO) program: $115 million for the program, which provides grants to nonprofit organizations that offer essential employment services and workforce preparation for formerly incarcerated adults and youth.
    • Apprenticeship Grants: $285 million for grants support registered apprenticeship activities through grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. 
    • Apprenticeship Opportunities Report Language: Includes report language supporting the prioritization of new industries and underserved and underrepresented communities.
    • Job Corps: $1.76 billion for Job Corps, which connects disadvantaged youth to education and job training pathways. 
    • Wage and Hour Division Report Language: Includes report language supporting more efforts to combat exploitative child labor and violations and directing the Wage and Hour Division to utilize strategies and enforcement in industries with a high number of violations.
    • YouthBuild: $105 million for YouthBuild, which supports activities authorized under Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to enable disadvantaged youth to obtain education and employment skills and foster development of employment and leadership skills.
    • WIOA Title I Programs: $885.65 million for Adult Employment and Training Activities; $948.13 million for Youth Activities; and $1.1 billion for Dislocated Workers Employment and Training Activities. These programs support job training programs—including state formula grants under Title I-B.  The bill also includes report language for $10 million to utilize demonstration grant authority under dislocated worker national reserve for grants to support national out of school time organizations that serve youth who need assistance with workforce readiness and soft skills.
    • Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Report Language: $2.5 million to reduce the processing backlog for WOTC and for technical assistance to modernize and computerize processing of certification requests which would include training and technical assistance to States was included.
    • Unemployment Insurance State Administration Grants: $2.75 billion to provide funding to help states implement unemployment compensation programs and assist states in modernization of technology, document sharing, and enhanced customer service.

Legislative Branch

  • Teaching with Primary Sources: $10.36 million for the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program administered by the Library of Congress, which Durbin worked to authorize in 2005.  The bill also includes report language regarding partnerships between the TPS program and educational institutions and foundations, like the original partner institutions in Illinois.

State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs

  • PEPFAR Reauthorization: Reauthorizes PEPFAR through March 2025.
  • Afghanistan SIVs: The bill authorizes an additional 12,000 Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan allies who assisted the US government during the war in Afghanistan.

-30-