Senator Peters Secures Funding for Key Michigan Priorities in Final Government Funding Legislation
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped the Senate pass the final six bills to fund the government through Fiscal Year 2024, which runs through September 30, 2024. Peters secured major funding wins in the bipartisan legislation for local projects and issues important to communities across Michigan. The final package of bills now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
“This bipartisan legislation delivers critical resources to communities across the state of Michigan and our entire country. It will help protect the Great Lakes, secure our borders, strengthen our national security, drive economic growth, and expand access to quality, affordable child care. It shows how much we can do when we put politics aside and bring home commonsense solutions for the American people,” said Senator Peters.
As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Peters helped the committee pass all twelve annual appropriations bills. Peters is the first Michigan senator to serve on this committee since 1959.
Peters led or supported the following provisions in the funding legislation on issues important to Michiganders:
Strengthening America’s National Defense and Homeland Security
Northern Border Coordination Center: Peters secured $3 million to stand up a Northern Border Coordination Center that would be located at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. It will help the Department of Homeland Security coordinate border security efforts across the Northern Border, and support personnel training and high-tech border security technology testing. Peters has also advanced bipartisan legislation in the Senate to establish the Northern Border Coordination Center and to ensure assets like Selfridge remain at the forefront of the nation’s homeland and national security missions.
Exercise Northern Strike: Peters secured a provision in this bill providing $23.5 million in funding to support Exercise Northern Strike – the National Guard Bureau’s largest joint service, multicomponent exercise. Northern Strike takes place annually at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC), which utilizes both the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Readiness Center, which are both based in Northern Michigan.
Collaborative Combat Aircraft: Peters secured language in the bill authorizing a report that will clarify the basing criteria for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) and evaluate whether existing Air National Guard units, such as Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, are appropriate basing candidates for CCA. These types of unmanned aircraft are the future of warfare, and this report will help Selfridge Air National Guard Base better position itself as an installation that has significant long-term value for the Air Force. Last year, Peters underscored the importance of CCA technology in a confirmation hearing for Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General David W. Allvin.
Stryker Armored Vehicles: The bill provides $4.2 million to help the Army update the Stryker Family of Armored Vehicles with driver-assistance technology. This funding will support autonomous capability efforts taking place at the Ground Vehicles Systems Center (GVSC) in Warren, and help ensure that Made in Michigan ground vehicles like the Strykers are operating with cutting edge technology designed to keep our servicemembers safe.
High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs): The legislation provides $47.5 million for the Army to upgrade its HMMWVs with anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control systems that will help prevent rollovers, which have claimed the lives of far too many servicemembers. These kits are made in Troy and this funding would help support over 150 jobs.
Hiring Additional Customs and Border Protection Personnel: The bill includes funding to hire additional CBP Officers to interdict illegal drugs like fentanyl and facilitate safe and secure lawful trade and travel and ensure that states like Michigan can remain international hubs of commerce. It also includes funding for additional Border Patrol Agents who support the border security mission between ports of entry. Peters has led bipartisan legislation to fully staff America’s ports of entry.
Border Security Technology The bill includes funding for critical technology for CBP and between ports of entry that enhances front line personnel to carry out their border security mission. This includes non-intrusive inspection systems, which enable CBP’s to inspect of vehicles and cargo entering the United States more effectively and efficiently. This also includes funding to support outbound inspections. Peters has led bipartisan legislation to increase the use of these systems to ensure secure travel and trade at ports of entry.
Gordie Howe International Bridge: The bill also helps the Department of Homeland Security continue to prepare for the completion of the Gordie Howe International Bridge by providing $1M to Homeland Security Investigations to increase capacity to support investigations resulting from the use of non-intrusive inspection systems that will be deployed at the bridge.
Blue Water Bridge: The bill requires Customs and Border Protection to report on its plans for completion of the Blue Water Bridge Plaza expansion project, as well as its steps taken in the last year toward completion. Peters has long worked with state and federal partners to modernize this port of entry.
Helping Communities Recover from Disaster: Peters secured significant funding in the bill for the Disaster Relief Fund, a program which enables the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help communities recover in the wake of disasters and emergencies. Peters has been a leader in passing legislation to help disaster survivors get back on their feet.
Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP): The bill includes funding for the NSGP, which Peters haschampioned, to help religious institutions, including synagogues, churches, mosques, gurdwaras, and other nonprofits strengthen their security in the face of rising threats and attacks. Peters helped lead the reauthorization of this essential program last Congress.
Support for Local Firefighters: The bill includes funding for FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant program, which provide resources to help local fire departments hire and retain personnel, purchase safety equipment, conduct trainings and access health screenings for firefighters. Peters passed bipartisan legislation in the Senate to extend these critical programs, which are set to expire.
DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office: The bill provides funding for DHS’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office, allowing it to continue operations through September 30, 2024. The office leads DHS’s effort to safeguard the country from threats posed by weapons of mass destruction, which include chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has led efforts to reauthorize and improve this vital office.
Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs: The bill provides funding for the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (SPEHA), which coordinates the Department of State’s diplomatic, family, congressional, and external engagements related to overseas hostage-taking and wrongful detention, such as in the case of Michigander Paul Whelan. SPEHA’s mission is to secure the freedom of U.S. national hostages and wrongful detainees held abroad, support their families, and end the practice of hostage-taking and wrongful detention as coercive diplomatic practices.
Office of the National Cyber Director: The bill includes funding for the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), which coordinates a whole-of-government approach to implement federal cybersecurity strategy. The ONCD’s mission is to advance national security, economic prosperity, and technological innovation through cybersecurity policy. As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has led numerous efforts to increase our nation’s cybersecurity defenses and build resilience across critical infrastructure sectors.
Investing in Education & Lowering the Cost of Child Care
Funding for K-12 Schools: The bill protects funding for K-12 schools through Title I-A grants to provide financial assistance to schools with high numbers of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children can receive a quality education and meet state academic standards.
Head Start: The bill increases funding for Head Start, which ensures children in low-income families can access quality preschool education.
Quality, Affordable Child Care: The bill increases funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which is the primary federal program that expands access to child care for low-income families and improves the quality of child care for all children. The bill also funds the Department of Defense’s child care programs, including increased funding for universal pre-K, which will double pre-K enrollment of children of servicemembers.
Assistance to Schools After Violent or Traumatic Events: Peters fought to protect funding in the bill for the Department of Education’s Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) Grant Program, which provides critical funding to help schools and colleges respond to and recover from violent or traumatic events.
Expanding Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care
National Institutes of Health (NIH): The bill increases funding for the NIH, including increased funding for mental health research, Alzheimer’s research, reducing maternal mortality, and cancer research.
Strengthening Our Health Care Workforce: The bill provides increased funding to strengthen the health care workforce through investments in community health centers, school-based health centers, and efforts to bolster public health infrastructure and rebuild the workforce at the state and local level.
Support for Young People Struggling with Substance Use Disorders: The bill protects funding for the Youth Prevention and Recovery Initiative that Peters established in 2018, which provides grant funding to local health care providers to help expand access to opioid addiction treatment for adolescents. The program also provides grant funding to schools, community organizations, and others to help raise awareness of the risks of fentanyl use among youth. Peters is currently working to renew this program and ensure this critical resource remains available to adolescents, families, care providers, and communities. His bipartisan provision to continue the programadvanced in the Senate earlier this year through the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act.
Protecting the Great Lakes
U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes Center of Expertise: The bill provides continued support for the U.S. Coast Guard Great Lakes Center of Expertise (GLCOE), which Peters established to examine the impacts of oil spills in freshwater environments and help develop effective responses. The center’s work is critical to protecting the Great Lakes, as current oil spill response technologies are primarily designed for saltwater environments. Petersauthored and passed legislation into law establishing the Great Lakes Center of Expertise in 2018, and thenannounced the center will be headquartered in two Michigan locations to maximize research and operational capabilities: Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.
Great Lakes Icebreaker: The bill provides $20 million for the procurement of a new Great Lakes icebreaker that is at least as capable as the USCGC Mackinaw. Peters has continuously pressed for funding to secure a new icebreaker for the Great Lakes to ensure safe and efficient commerce on the Great Lakes year-round. Icebreaking in the Great Lakes is critical not just for Michigan’s economy – but for our entire country. Icebreaking capacity in the Great Lakes supports more than 90 million tons of cargo annually. Acquiring an additional heavy icebreaker like the USCGC Mackinaw is needed to prevent ice jam flooding damage to shoreline communities and protect maritime commerce and jobs throughout the Great Lakes region.
Supporting Businesses, Manufacturers & Local Economic Development
LIFT Advanced Manufacturing Center: Peters helped secure $10 million for research and development of critical materials processing to support LIFT’s work scaling up commercialization of ceramic-related technology. LIFT, which Peters played a key role in establishing, is an organization in Detroit that brings together industry, academia, and government to advance our nation’s economy and national security by accelerating innovative advanced manufacturing technology and talent development.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund: The bill secures funding for the CDFI Fund, which Peters has championed, to provide credit, capital and financial services to underserved populations and communities in Michigan and across the country. It would also allocate funding for the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, which Peters has strongly supported, to help low-income-designated credit unions provide financial services for their members and spur economic growth in their communities.
Women’s Business Centers: The bill includes funding for Women’s Business Centers within the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide low-cost counseling and training for women who want to start, grow, or expand their small business.
Microloan Technical Assistance for Small Businesses: The bill provides funding for the Microloan Program to deliver technical assistance and small-scale loans to small businesses that are unable to qualify for conventional loans and other guaranteed loans.
Making Government More Efficient & Saving Taxpayer Dollars
Conducting Strong Oversight of Taxpayer Dollars: The bill includes continued support for the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), which conducts oversight, improves transparency and addresses fraud within the spending and distribution of pandemic response funds. Peters established this independent oversight committee through a bipartisan provision he authored and secured in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Supporting National Archives Digitization and Operations: The bill provides continued funding for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for digitization of records. This funding will also support NARA’s continuing work to provide veterans with access to service records for the purpose of receiving VA benefits.
The bill also includes funding secured by Peters for high-impact public local projects in Michigan that can benefit from federal assistance. For a full list of the projects Peters supported that were included in the bill, click HERE or see below:
Building Stronger, Safer Communities
Berrien County Emergency Operations and 911 Communication Center: Peters helped secure $3 million for Berrien County construct an emergency operations center and 911 Communications Center to improve community safety and better serve residents.
Michigan State University Emergency Operations Center: Michigan State University (MSU) will receive $750,000 to renovate its emergency operations center. This project will help improve campus safety and security in the wake of threats like the shooting at MSU in February 2023.
Cybercrimes Investigations and Training Center: Peters helped secure $1 million for Michigan State University to provide multi-day trainings for law enforcement agencies regarding cybercrime, investigative methods, and resources for victims.
Lake St. Clair Metropark: The Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority will receive $1.42 million to replace key components of the Lake St. Clair Metropark electrical grid to improve its safety, reliability, and resiliency.
Northern Michigan University (NMU) Security Operations Center: Peters helped deliver more than $1.1 million for NMU in Marquette to create a Security Operations Center, which will serve as a community-based cybersecurity resource for small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the Upper Peninsula.
Supporting Innovation, Economic Opportunity, and Workforce Development
Henry Ford College Student Success Center: Peters helped secure $3 million for Henry Ford College in Dearborn to support career education and training needs in southeast Michigan.
Alma Center for Business Innovation, Incubation, and Development: Peters helped secure $2 million in the bill for the City of Alma to help create a small business hub to support entrepreneurs in key economic sectors of Mid-Michigan.
West Michigan Center for Talent, Technology, and Transformation: Grand Valley State University will receive $2.5 million to launch a collaboration effort between regional employers and economic development organizations to grow West Michigan’s technology workforce.
Michigan Technological University: Michigan Technological University in Houghton will receive $250,000 to support their research in advanced materials and critical minerals used in our automotive and defense industries.
Capac Catalyst Innovation Center: The Village of Capac will receive $271,000 to support creation of Capac Catalyst, a workforce development center which aims to promote small businesses and entrepreneurs in the manufacturing technology industry.
Semiconductor Workforce Development at Delta College: The bill provides $284,000 to Delta College to develop curriculum and apprenticeship opportunities in semiconductor production and research. Peters has made strengthening domestic semiconductor manufacturing and supply chains a top priority. Peters helped author and pass into law the historic CHIPS and Science Act, which includes a provision Peters secured to support the domestic production of mature semiconductor technologies and ensure that projects supporting critical manufacturing industries are given priority status, which would include the automotive sector. This is in addition to $50 billion Peters already secured in the bill to incentivize the production of semiconductors of all kinds in the U.S. – for a total of $52 billion. The CHIPS and Science Act also included Peters’ bipartisan Investing in Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing Act, which will ensure federal incentives to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing include U.S. suppliers that produce the materials and manufacturing equipment that enable semiconductor manufacturing – bolstering semiconductors supply chains and Michigan manufacturers.
Expanding Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care
Supporting Expectant and New Mothers in Dearborn: The City of Dearborn will receive $1 million to provide education, supplies, and other resources for prenatal health and newborn care to support expectant and new mothers throughout Dearborn.
Supporting New and Expectant Mothers in Detroit: SisterFriends Detroit, through the Detroit Health Department, will receive $900,000 to train and certify doulas and provide both mothers and fathers with training and education during the perinatal and postpartum periods. SisterFriends works to improve birth outcomes and infant mortality rates in Detroit by connecting volunteer mentors with women who are pregnant or recently had a baby to gain access to services and resources.
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (NHBP) Health Clinic: The NHBP will receive $1.5 million to create a health clinic that will include medical exam rooms, physical therapy services, behavioral health counseling, and a pharmacy.
University of Michigan Survival Flight Fleet Upgrade: The University of Michigan will receive more than $2.2 million to acquire equipment and helicopters for Michigan’s Survival Flight program that provides rapid transport of critically ill patients and improve access to care in remote areas.
New Michigan State University Public Health Building in Flint: The bill provides $572,000 to help Michigan State University construct a new building to house its public health research and education in Flint.
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