Today, Congressman Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01) released the following statement upon passing the Funding for the People Act (H.R. 2471), an omnibus package of 12 fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills and supplemental funding to support Ukraine, and for 10 community projects in New Jersey’s 1^st Congressional District.

“I’m proud to support this historic, bipartisan funding bill that invests in the American people by providing good-paying jobs, increasing access to affordable education, lowering health care costs, securing our nation, and fulfils our commitment to support the people of Ukraine.

“This bill invests in key priorities I’ve been championing for years, including hundreds of millions in jobs training programs, increasing Pell Grants, and funding clean energy infrastructure to help fight climate change.”

The Funding for the People Act provides $1.5 trillion in discretionary resources across the 12 FY22 appropriations bills. It furthers House Democrats' commitment to investing for everyday working people with substantial increases to non-defense funding and an end to Trump budgets that held the American people back.

In total, the regular 12 appropriations bills include $730 billion in non-defense funding, a $46 billion increase over fiscal year 2021. This 6.7% increase in non-defense funding is the largest in four years.

Congressman Norcross’s Key Priorities in the Funding for the People Act

• Community Projects in South Jersey:
  • Monitor illegal dumping
  • Improve telehealth services
  • Support workforce training in South Jersey’s burgeoning wind energy sector
  • Identify residents most at-risk for food insecurity and provide direct services to them
  • Build capacity, reduce health disparities, and promote health equity in South Jersey
  • Boost community outreach, workforce development, and counseling for South Jersey’s most vulnerable populations
  • Improve training and medical equipment/facilities that provide trauma care to South Jersey residents thereby reducing health outcomes
  • Connect seniors with technology education programs to help them meet basic needs, socialize, and communicate their health needs remotely
  • Encourage local tourism by restoring historical sites and outdoor recreation for cyclists, runners, and walkers
  • Support mental wellbeing in local youth by providing education, social support, and stress reduction techniques
• Registered Apprenticeships: $235 million for registered apprenticeship programs, an increase of $42 million over FY21, which allow apprentices to “earn while they learn” a skilled trade and provide an opportunity to begin a good-paying career without a traditional four-year college background.
• Worker Protection Agencies: $1.8 billion, an increase of $35 million over FY21, to support the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; and the Employee Benefits Security Administration which collectively look after workers interests and ensure they are receiving the wages and benefits they earned fair and square.
• Federal Student Aid Programs: $24.6 billion, an increase of $35 million over FY21, to increase the maximum allowable Pell Grant by $400 to $6,895 – the largest increase in the maximum award in over a decade that will help working families pursue higher educational opportunities.
• Mental and Behavioral Health: $2 billion, an increase of $288.8 million over FY21, for the Mental Health Block Grant, which makes investments across the behavioral health continuum to support prevention, screening, treatment, and other services – a key priority for Congressman Norcross who has been pushing for mental health parity in insurance coverage.

Background

The text of the spending package, H.R. 2471, is available here. Explanatory statements are available here. A full summary of the 12 regular appropriations bills is here. A summary of the Ukraine supplemental is here and a one-page fact sheet is here. A summary of the coronavirus supplemental is here and a one-page fact sheet is here.