Congressman Tim Ryan Secures Funding for Key Priorities in Recently Passed Government Funding Bill

Washington, DC – Congressman Tim Ryan announced a series of successful efforts to secure funding for policy priorities that will positively impact the 13th Congressional District, Ohio, and the United States. These funds and report language were secured as a part of the Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus Appropriation Funding Agreement, which passed the House today and funds the Federal Government through September 30, 2018.

“I am proud to have been able to leverage my position as a Ranking Member one of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittees to make sure our area receives the investments it needs to remain economically competitive so that our citizens can have good schools, good paying jobs, and secure retirements. From this position, I am also able to impact policy at a national level. I will always be proud to fight for our servicemembers and my constituents. The funding and program language outlined here is a direct result of those efforts,” said Congressman Ryan.  “The United States is at a critical juncture in its history. These investments mark a recognition that the old way of doing things are not always the best. Our healthcare and food systems are broken, and need to be retooled to incentivize heathy eating. Too many American families are struggling to make ends meet, and in communities across the country, skilled jobs are unfilled because of a lack of training. We need to do better. This bill helps fund important programs that will ensure the American people, and our workforce are ready for the 21st century.”  

The following program funding levels and report language were priorities of Congressman Ryan that were requested and ultimately passed as a part of the omnibus bill.

Agriculture

• $30 million for grants to purchase kitchen equipment, including salad bars in schools. Congressman Ryan introduced the Salads Bars in Schools Expansion Act and has been a leader in advocating for more schools to purchase salads bars to allow students access to healthier foods.
• $35 million for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).

Commerce Justice Science

• $275.5 million for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program. Congressman Ryan sent a letter earlier this year urging President Trump to protect COPS funding in his budget. This increase is $54 million mora than the FY 17 enacted level.
• $492 million for the Office on Violence Against Women.

Defense

• TechBelt Additive Manufacturing Industrial Supply Chain Program - $20 million program to survey and build up the domestic defense industrial base for additive manufacturing in the TechBelt area.
• $10 million for a Federal-to-State to technology transition program to bridge the gaps that exist between early-stage technology and operational capability.
• $19.5 million to improve simulated pilot training for 5th Generation Aircraft
• Increase in funding for directed energy research
• Study of Non-opiate Pain Management methods.  

Homeland Security

• Firefighter programs are funded at $700 million, an increase of $5 million each for the equipment program and the SAFER staffing program.
  • These grants have had an enormous impact on Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, allowing smaller departments to protect their communities.  

Interior

• $10.4 million for the National Asian Carp Control Plan.
• $300 million for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Labor HHS Education

• Approximately $3.7 billion in new resources to address the opioid crisis, including SAMHSA state grants, NIH research, CDC surveillance, and HRSA workforce training.  Congressman Ryan has led the effort in urging the Appropriations Committee and Administration to increase funding for these important programs.
• $37.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health.
• This bill included language that would urge the NIH to promote a study on the reducing teacher stress and promoting wellbeing by implementing stress management programs. This language is correlated to Congressman Ryan’s legislation, the Teacher Health and Wellness Act, which would create a pilot study at the NIH to reduce teacher stress.
• This bill included language that encourages Maker Education and an increase in makerspaces in school. Congressman Ryan recently discussed this issue at SXSW and his bill the 21st Century Shop Class Act, which increases funding for maker education and makerspaces, and increases training for teachers in this subject area.
• $35 million for CDC Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention.
• This bill included language that would support an increase in evidence-based strategies to address chronic absenteeism, which Congressman Ryan has prioritized and promoted the need to increase chronic absenteeism program in his legislation, the Chronic Absenteeism Reeducation Act.

Military Construction and Veterans Affairs

• The Omnibus includes bill language on improving security access gates at Air Force Reserve bases such as YARS.
• The Omnibus includes Congressman Ryan’s Veteran Wellness Act, which provides grants to Veteran Service Organization’s to create upgrade facilities into health and wellness centers and to promote complementary and integrative wellness programs.

Transportation HUD

• $1 billion for National Infrastructure Investments (TIGER) grants. Congressman Ryan has been a leader in pushing for an increase in the TIGER grant program. Just recently, the City of Akron received a $8 million TIGER Grant for the downtown promenade.
• $300 million for Community Development Block Grants. These formula grants help promote the economic development of communities across the country. Congressman Ryan announced $7,598,549 in CDBG federal grants to the 13th District to help revitalize our region.