Peters Secures Major Wins for Michigan, Helps Senate Pass Government Funding Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today helped the Senate pass an essential bipartisan government funding bill for Fiscal Year 2023. Peters successfully secured funding in the legislation for dozens of high-impact public local projects in Michigan that can benefit from federal assistance. Peters also supported or led provisions to protect the Great Lakes, support our veterans and troops, address PFAS contamination, fund the CHIPS and Science Act, bolster Michigan manufacturing, protect houses of worship, and keep investing in the bipartisan infrastructure law, among other priorities. This legislation now heads to the House of Representatives where it is anticipated to be passed quickly prior to being sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“There is no doubt that this government funding bill makes needed investments to improve the lives of Michiganders across our state,” said Senator Peters. “It includes federal resources for dozens of local high-impact public projects in Michigan that I fought for, which will meet the needs of Michigan communities and address the issues that matter most to them. I’m also proud to have supported and secured efforts that will help protect the Great Lakes, invest in key workforce training, education and manufacturing programs, upgrade our infrastructure, and support Michigan’s defense footprint.”

Peters supported or led the following key provisions on issues important to Michiganders:

Protecting the Great Lakes and Improving Water Quality in the Region

• Great Lakes: The bill includes $368 million to support the efforts of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. This funding will be used to combat the greatest threats to the Great Lakes, including invasive species, harmful algal blooms and loss of fish and wildlife habitats.
• Protect Against Asian Carp: The bill includes $47.9 million for the Brandon Road Lock and Dam project, which was supported by Peters in the Water Resources Development Act. This funding will be used to initiate construction on the project, which is critical to preventing the further spread of invasive Asian carp. The bill also invests $14.3 million for the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Dispersal Barrier at Des Plaines River, which is a key control mechanism for protecting the Great Lakes from invasive Asian carp.
  
  
• Addressing PFAS Contamination: Peters has pushed for continued efforts to address PFAS contamination. The bill includes $5 million for the Department of Agriculture to support efforts to address PFAS contamination in agriculture. It also includes $2.7 million for the U.S. Geological Service to conduct research on the transmission of PFAS substances in watersheds and aquifers, and $2 million for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to continue their work on PFAS and other contaminants of concern.
  
  
• Removing Lead from Drinking Water: The bill includes $30.5 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) lead testing in schools program, $25 million for its efforts to reduce lead in drinking water, and $7 million to support its work to improve drinking water infrastructure resilience and sustainability.

Strengthening Michigan’s Economy and Infrastructure

• Continued Investment in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: The bill includes $62.9 billion for the Federal Highway Administration. Part of this funding will meet the bipartisan infrastructure law’s obligations for federal-aid highway programs and the remaining funding will be used to reduce the backlog of structurally deficient bridges.
  
  
• CHIPS and Science Act: The bill includes $1.8 billion in new funding to implement the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act. Peters helped author and pass the bill, which includes a provision he and Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) secured to boost the auto sector’s manufacturing of semiconductor chips.
  
  
• Supporting Michigan Manufacturing: Peters helped secure $188 million for Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs) like Michigan’s Manufacturing Technology Center. MEPs like the Center provide technical assistance to small and medium-sized manufacturers on business operations, advanced technologies, workforce and skills development, cybersecurity and more. Over the past year, Michigan’s MEP has created over $78 million in new sales, generated $46 million in cost savings, and created and retained over 4,000 Michigan jobs.
  
  
• • The bill also includes Peters’ bipartisan Manufacturing.gov Act, which would establish a single coordinated online portal to assist manufacturers in accessing available federal programs, grants and services. This will help small and medium-sized Michigan manufacturers access programs and information to help them grow their business, accelerate technology improvements, and bolster their workforce.
    
    
• Workforce Training And Development: The bill includes $2.9 billion for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State grants. It also provides $285 million for Registered Apprenticeships. This investment in workforce development activities is expected to increase employment, retention, earnings and occupational skill attainment.
  
  
• Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund: The bill provides $324 million for the CDFI Fund to promote economic and community development in low-income communities, an increase of $29 million over fiscal year 2022. These funds support a variety of projects in low-income and underserved communities from proposals that bring grocery stores to communities with no healthy food alternatives to investments in low-income housing. Peters has long supported CDFIs and their impact in local communities and is a member of the bipartisan CDFI Caucus.  
  
  
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans: The bill includes the bipartisan Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) Fairness Act, which Peters served as a cosponsor on and would allow many small businesses to offer ESOPs to their employees.
  
  

Investing in Our National Defense & Security and Supporting Servicemembers & Veterans

• Investing in Michigan’s Defense: Peters secured $16 million for Camp Grayling and $23 million for Northern Strike. Earlier this year, Peters welcomed U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth to Camp Grayling and U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to Alpena’s Combat Readiness Training Center – key parts of the National All-Domain Warfighting Center. While there, Peters, Secretary Wormuth, and Secretary Kendall viewed the current operational capabilities of the bases, observed an annual joint training exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard – Exercise Northern Strike – and discussed how Michigan’s military facilities are critical to our nation’s defense.
  
  
• Pay Raise for Troops: The bill fully funds a 4.6 percent pay raise for our troops, which Peters helped authorize during his support of the National Defense Authorization Act.
  
  
• Supporting Our Veterans: The bill includes $5 billion for the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund, which provides additional funding to implement the landmark PACT Act that expands eligibility for health care services and benefits to veterans with conditions related to toxic exposure during their service. Following the passage of the PACT Act, Peters held events across Michigan to raise awareness about these new benefits for veterans and their families.
  
  
• Safeguarding Houses of Worship: Peters secured $305 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program for houses of worship and other nonprofit organizations that want to secure their facilities against potential attacks. Grants can be used to harden facilities, promote emergency preparedness training, and strengthen security coordination between communities, emergency responders and state and local government agencies. In 2022, $8.4 million in grant funding was awarded to nonprofits and faith-based organizations across Michigan. Peters joined his colleagues in calling for the program to receive robust funding last week.
  
  
• Support for Ukraine: The bill includes $44.9 billion in emergency assistance to Ukraine, including for equipment, security assistance, and other humanitarian and economic assistance.
  
  
• Protecting Against Threats Posed by Unmanned Aircraft Systems: The legislation includes a short-term extension of authorities for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to counter threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems, commonly known as drones. Peters helped secure this extension and will continue pushing his bipartisan legislation to expand these authorities and provide increased resources to federal agencies who are charged with protecting the public from this evolving threat.
  
  
• Identifying Vulnerabilities in Medical Supply Chains: Peters helped secure a provision, based on his bipartisan bill, that will help increase visibility into our medical supply chain and provide the Food and Drug Administration with a clearer picture of foreign-made medical products. The provision builds off of findings from Peters’ 2019 report, A Price Too High: Cost, Supply, and Security Threats to Affordable Prescription Drugs, that identified vulnerabilities in our nation’s medical supply chain and provided recommendations to address growing shortages of critical drugs and national security concerns related to our nation’s dependence on foreign sources for these products.

Other Priorities Supported by Peters

• Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Census: The package includes $1.4 billion in funding that Peters helped secure for the U.S. Census Bureau to prepare for the 2030 Census. Robust and steady funding for census operations will help ensure that every community is counted. The legislation also includes a provision that Peters secured to push the Bureau to expand programs that help address 2020 Census undercounts – such as those in Detroit. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Peters chairs, is responsible for conducting oversight of the U.S. Census Bureau. Peters convened a hearing in downtown Detroit on the 2020 Census and its impacts on local communities.
  
  
• PROSWIFT Act: The bill includes $1.75 million for Space Weather Research to Operations, including the development of a space weather testbed, as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) implementation of Peters’ bill, the Promoting Research and Observations of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act.
  
  
• Electoral Count Reform: The bill includes the Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, legislation that Peters cosponsored. The legislation would take several steps to modernize the Electoral Count Act of 1887, including by clarifying the role of the Vice President and raising the threshold to lodge an objection to a state’s electors – which would help safeguard our democracy and prevent another January 6th type effort to overturn the election results.

The bill also includes funding secured by Peters for high-impact public local projects in Michigan that can benefit from federal assistance, including to improve public safety, upgrade and build more resilient infrastructure and strengthen skills training programs. For a full list of projects Peters supported that were included in the bill, click here.

Rebuilding Our Roads, Transportation and Community Infrastructure

• Mound Road/Detroit Arsenal Connector Project: The Mound Road/Detroit Arsenal Connector Project is located on 5 miles of the 8-lane Mound Road Industrial Corridor in the Cities of Warren and Sterling Heights. The $2.5 million in federal funds would be used for planning and final design of the project – which will strengthen a corridor that’s home to the Detroit Arsenal, GM Tech Center, BAE, GDLS, as well as Stellantis and Ford plants up and down the corridor and a massive supply base and supporting industry.
  
  
• Brown, Giddings, Silverbell Roads – Orion Township Industrial Corridor: The Road Commission for Oakland County will receive $1 million in funding to help rehabilitate, reconstruct, and resurface Brown Road from Jamm Road to Giddings Road; Giddings Road from Brown Road to Silverbell Road; and Silverbell Road from Giddings Road to M-24. This project will complement the work being done at General Motor’s Orion plant in the area, which is converting for the production of full-size electric vehicle pickups.
  
  
• Gerald Ford International Airport: Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids will receive $5 million towards the design and eventual replacement of its Air Traffic Control Tower. This will improve safety, efficiency, and capacity at Michigan’s second-largest airport.
  
  
• Joe Louis Greenway: The City of Detroit will receive $1.38 million towards the Joe Louis Greenway West Chicago Connector, which will significantly expand the region’s bicycle and pedestrian connectivity from Belle Isle to Island Park, across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario and to existing and future trails stretching across the state.
  
  
• Bay County Health and Human Services Complex: Bay County will receive $2 million to support the development of a new community-based health center that will bolster health and human services through integrated efforts.
  
  

Building More Resilient and Sustainable Water Infrastructure

• Midland County Flood Plain Reconnection and Enhancement Project: The County of Midland will receive $55,000 to help Midland improve stormwater drainage and allow stormwater to flow into formerly disconnected floodplains. Doing so would not only help the county prepare against future flooding – but could also help it continue to recover after the 2020 dam failure that resulted in catastrophic flooding and property damage.
  
  
• Marquette County's K.I. Sawyer Clean and Safe Water Initiative: $1.5 million in funding would be used to assist Marquette County in properly managing and disposing of approximately two million gallons of PFAS-contaminated wastewater, which is in the area after Air Force’s previous use. Proper management and disposal of the contaminated sludge will allow additional capacity of the treatment plant which will support planned business expansions and additional jobs.
  
  
• City of Benton Harbor Water System Improvements: $800,000 in funding would be used to make necessary improvements to the City of Benton Harbor water system, especially after elevated levels of lead were detected in the water system.
  
  
• Michigan Combined Sewer Overflows: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would receive $6 million for a project in Lansing, Michigan. The funding would be used to facilitate separation of four blocks of combined sewers along two streets in downtown Lansing, including replacement of other underground facilities and the road surface above the sewers.
  
  
• Oscoda Charter Township for Water Distribution System for Potable Water: Oscoda Township will receive $3 million in funding to provide safe, potable water/sewers/roadways for residential, commercial, industrial, and public use areas throughout Oscoda Charter Township. This project will help remediate the impacts that PFAS contamination has had in the Oscoda area – including for residents around the former Wurtsmith Air Force base.
  
  
• City of Hamtramck Water System Improvements: The bill includes $3.4 million in funding that will be used to support the City of Hamtramck in replacing lead service lines in the city.
  
  
• City of Midland Sylvan Pump Station Detention Basin Project: The bill includes $1 million in funding to support the City of Midland’s planned Sylvan Pump Station Detention Basin project, which will benefit a sizable number of residents.
  
  

Criminal Justice and Building Trust Between Communities & Law Enforcement

• Clinton Township Police Social Worker: The bill includes $675,000 to supplement Clinton Township’s existing police department with a social worker, who would offer assistance and expertise when the police are called upon to assist in mental health matters.
  
  
• Detroit Police Department Body Worn Cameras: The bill includes $1 million in funding that will support the purchase of new body worn cameras (BWCs) for the Detroit Police Department, replacing current BWCs with new devices that have updated camera equipment, storage capacity and global positioning systems.
  
  
• Northern Michigan Law Enforcement Training Group Capital Improvement Plan: The bill includes $1 million in funding to support the Northern Michigan Law Enforcement Training Group’s Capital Improvement Plan.
  
  

Expanding Opportunities for Education, Skills Training, and Workforce Development

• GRCC Center for Automation: The $998,000 in funding would be used to create a state-of-the-art, fully automated training laboratory at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC). The lab will serve as a training hub for students pursuing careers in the high-demand fields of advanced manufacturing and automation and will allow for upskilling for those already working in the field who need advanced credentials for promotion. This builds on GRCC’s extensive workforce training programs and is geared towards the future of manufacturing in Michigan.
  
  
• North Central College: North Central College will receive $2 million for the Career and Technical Education Enhancement (CATEE) Complex to scale the school’s Nursing, Allied Health, and Skilled Trades programs.
  
  
• St. Clair County Community College: St. Clair County Community College will receive $955,000 for the acquisition of interactive equipment which students use to engage in STEM learning at the Challenger Learning Center.
  
  
• Washtenaw Community College: Washtenaw Community College will receive $2.5 million to support the development of the Electric Battery Technician & Electric Charging Station Maintenance Curriculum/Lab Project. This skills training program will address workforce needs in the movement to electrification.
  
  
• Wayne-Westland Community Schools District: Wayne-Westland Community Schools District will receive $3.5 million to renovate and repurpose a vacant school building, Marshall Upper Elementary School, into a recreation and community center that will provide early childhood learning, STEM programming, senior services and other community and family services for residents.
  
  
• Wayne County Community College: Wayne County Community College will receive $330,000 to support the creation of a mobility certification program focused on Automotive Electrification and Testing.
  
  
• Mott Community College: Mott Community College will receive $650,000 in funding to support the purchase of equipment to improve educational opportunities for in-demand jobs.

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