August 01, 2024

Manchin Secures West Virginia Priorities, Over $114 Million In Congressionally Directed Spending In Bipartisan Appropriations Bills

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured a number of West Virginia priorities in the markup of four bipartisan appropriations bills, which included the Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Services and General Government; Labor, Health & Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Defense; and Energy & Water Development funding bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee continues to work through the last remaining funding bill, Homeland Security, in hopes that all 12 appropriations bills can be voted on by the full Senate later this year.

Today’s bills included critical priorities that Senator Manchin championed, including implementing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as intended, combatting supply chains of illicit substances like fentanyl, supporting the West Virginia National Guard, and improving the health and well-being of coal miners. The Senator also included $114,701,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests, or earmarks, for 61 West Virginia projects.

“The four bipartisan funding bills we advanced out of Committee today include historic wins for West Virginia and our entire country,” said Senator Manchin. “The packages also include more than $114 million in targeted awards for essential West Virginia projects that include cutting-edge medical research, support for small businesses, essential investments in our hospitals and universities and much more. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am committed to working with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner to bring back regular order, pass these annual funding bills through Congress and deliver for the Mountain State.”

West Virginia priority highlights:

  • Implementing the IRA as Intended: Includes language secured by Senator Manchin pushing the Department of the Treasury to revisit the rules it has issued on certain IRA tax credits to ensure true alignment with the IRA and its goals.
  • Strengthening the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program: Provides $290.2 million in funding for HIDTA, which will ensure law enforcement agencies have the resources necessary to reduce the supply of illicit drugs like fentanyl, prevent overdoses, protect communities and save lives across the Mountain State.
  • Boosting Additional Federal Drug Control Programs: Provides funding for multiple federal programs to combat the drug epidemic, including:
    • $30.8 million for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to prevent overdoses and ensure strong regulations on opioids;
    • $137.512 million in discretionary funding for initiatives such as the Drug-Free Communities program and Community-Based Coalition Enhancement grants;
    • $2.048 billion for the Substance Use and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Substance Use, Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services (SUPTRS) Block Grant Program to support lifesaving substance use disorder treatment, prevention and recovery services;
    • $1.6 billion for SAMHSA’s State Opioid Response Grant Program to ensure states have the necessary resources to address the drug epidemic from every angle, as well as language including a 15 percent set aside for states with the highest age-adjusted mortality rate related to substance use disorders, including West Virginia.
  • Fully Implementing the Protecting Jessica Grubb’s Legacy Act and Jessie’s Law: Includes language secured by Senator Manchin to improve implementation of the Protecting Jessica Grubb’s Legacy Act and to fully implement Jessie’s Law.
  • Reducing Dental and Vision Costs: Includes language reflective of Senator Manchin’s DOC Access Act, encouraging the Department of Labor to not allow dental and vision insurers to avoid state laws, such as West Virginia’s, regulating anticompetitive practices.
  • Creating a Student Loan Dashboard: Includes language reflective of Senator Manchin’s SMARTER Debt Act, that would direct the Department of Education to study how to establish an interactive, online dashboard to educate students on existing student loan repayment programs used to draw workers to highly needed professions, such as teachers, healthcare, and public service.
  • Improving Coal Miners’ Health and Economic Well-Being: Provides funding for multiple programs to protect and care for coal miners, including:
    • $392.8 million for the Mine Safety and Health Administration, which works to prevent death, illness and injury from mining;
    • $485.7 million for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund to ensure adequate funding for benefits for individuals with black lung and their survivors;
    • $7 million for the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities;
    • $1.095 billion for the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Dislocated Coal Miners program, which provides employment and training assistance to individuals affected by coal plant closures or substantial layoffs at coal mine operations and their immediate family.
  • Boosting the West Virginia National Guard’s Programs: Includes funding for multiple military programs run by the West Virginia National Guard, including:
    • $10.5 million for next year’s Ridge Runner exercise, which brings in allies from around the world to West Virginia to train to counter Russian and Chinese malign tactics;
    • $50 million for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academies, which provide at-risk youth across West Virginia and the country with the education and structure they need for a bright future;
    • $20 million for the National Guard STARBASE Program, which is an educational program where young students can participate in challenging, hands-on activities in aviation, science, technology, engineering, math and space exploration.
  • Constructing the Joint All-Domain Training Center: Includes $16.5 million to support the construction of a modernized training center in Southern West Virginia.
  • Providing Fair Benefits for Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Police Officers: Includes language secured by Senator Manchin that directs the FBI and OPM to report to the Appropriations Committee legislative solutions to provide FBI police officers with the same rates of pay and retirement benefits as other federal law enforcement officers.
    • The FBI facility in Clarksburg is home to 10% of the FBI’s federal workforce, including a large number of FBI police officers.
  • Supporting the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC): Provides $200 million for the ARC, including $15 million to expand broadband access in economically distressed areas.
    • Also includes language recommending relocating the ARC Headquarters to West Virginia.
  • Supporting West Virginia’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL): Provides $146 million for the NETL headquartered in Morgantown.
  • Addressing Cancer in Rural Areas: Includes language encouraging the National Cancer Institute to support Cancer Centers that are primarily providing care to rural patients, conducting cancer research with rural populations, or otherwise are focused on cancer in rural America, such as cancer hospitals in West Virginia.
  • Updating Federal Classifications for Rural America: Includes language secured by Senator Manchin encouraging the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) to adopt the Road Ruggedness Scale to better capture the mountainous and rugged terrain of Appalachia so West Virginia can receive its fair share of federal resources.
    • Also includes language to direct the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to adopt the Road Ruggedness Scale into their definition of rural.
  • Getting the Bureau of Fiscal Service Back to Work: Includes language secured by Senator Manchin requiring the Bureau of the Fiscal Service to publicly disclose how many people are working in the office currently and what their plans are to get the totality of their workforce back to the office.
    • Despite the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau, which employs more than two-thirds of its workforce in Parkersburg, still allows its employees to telework all but two days a pay period. Consequently, the economic activity of downtown Parkersburg and the surrounding areas has been severely impacted.

A full list of West Virginia priorities can be found here.

Senator Manchin also secured $114,701,000 in CDS requests in these funding bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee allows members of Congress to submit CDS requests, which provide opportunities for state and local governments, non-profits, and other public entities to receive targeted funding for projects that bolster their communities.

West Virginia CDS highlights:

  • $15 million to renovate the West Virginia University School of Dentistry.
  • $15 million to develop a state-of-the-art medical simulation center at Marshall University.
  • $11.9 million to establish a center for Neuromodulation and Brain Therapeutics at West Virginia University.
  • $10 million to establish a new long-term care and nursing facility in Mercer County.
  • $6 million to upgrade equipment at the University of Charleston Library and Learning Center.
  • $5 million to renovate a building to house the Concord University Center for Rural Healthcare Workforce Solutions.
  • $2.2 million to renovate the inpatient floor of Roane General Hospital.
  • $1.8 million to purchase equipment and develop a site for a farm waste to fuel project in Randolph County.
  • $1.6 million to increase the capacity of the Fairmont State University Aviation Center to train more commercial pilots.
  • $1.5 million to construct a new specialty physicians facility in Greenbrier County.
  • $950K to expand support services and technical assistance programs for businesses in Raleigh County.

A full list of West Virginia CDS projects can be found here.