Congresswoman Julia Letlow Announces Funding

On Monday (March 11, 2024), Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) announced she secured $37.39 million in community project funding that will directly go back to the Fifth District of Louisiana. In addition, hundreds of millions in programmatic funding will benefit the State of Louisiana in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024. “My number one mission in Congress is to give back to our communities,” said Rep. Letlow. 

For Washington Parish, funding included 

• $921,000 for the Washington Parish Government to replace a 911 data communications and telephone services tower.

• $825,000 for Our Lady of the Angels Hospital, located in Bogalusa, for a helipad to conduct emergency airlifts of patients.

The full Press Release can be seen below

Congresswoman Julia Letlow Announces Over $37 Million in Community Project Funding For the Fifth District and Hundreds of Millions in Funding for Louisiana

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) announced she secured $37.39 million in community project funding that will directly go back to the Fifth District of Louisiana. In addition, hundreds of millions in programmatic funding will benefit the State of Louisiana in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.

Congresswoman Letlow requested and received funding for the Fifth District and State through the following subcommittees: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies; and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.

“My number one mission in Congress is to give back to our communities,” said Rep. Letlow. “My office and I worked hard to secure the millions in funding that will be crucial for Louisiana’s economic growth and prosperity. Specifically, this funding positively impacts our crawfish industry and USDA programmatic and agricultural research that supports our farmers. It also provides critical funding through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that supports our inland waterway ports, Mississippi River, and operations of Louisiana ports and waterways. It includes full funding for veterans' healthcare programs. In addition, it provides critical funding for law enforcement programs, while holding the FBI and ATF accountable by decreasing their budgets. It also maintains long-standing policies that protect Second Amendment rights in the appropriations process. These substantial investments are crucial for small communities like mine, and I will continue to work through the appropriations process to bring home more funding for our region.”

Community Project Funding for LA-05

• $9 million for the Alexandria International Airport for runway extension and related airport improvements.
• $5 million for the Columbia Port Commission for dock improvements and electrification.
• $4 million for the Citizens Medical Center, located in Columbia, for emergency room expansion.
• $3.6 million for the State of Louisiana and the City of West Monroe for improvements to the Downing Pines and Mane Street commercial park roundabout.
• $3.5 million for Louisiana Tech University, located in Ruston, for domestic semiconductor technology research and workforce development.
• $3 million for the City of Ruston for improvements to the South Farmerville Street Multimodal Corridor.
• $2.5 million for the Town of Pollock for improvements to their wastewater system.
• $1.1 million for the North Delta Law Enforcement Planning District for new police cruisers for the Sheriff’s Offices in Caldwell, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union, and West Carroll Parishes.
• $1 million for the University of Louisiana Monroe and the City of Monroe for an entrepreneurial expansion and business incubator building.
• $1 million for the LSU Ag Center for precision agriculture initiatives and equipment in St. Joseph, Winnsboro, Hammond, Clinton, and Alexandria.
• $976,000 for the Central Louisiana Regional Port, located in Alexandria, for multimodal loading equipment and improvements to the commodity unloading site.
• $921,000 for the Washington Parish Government to replace a 911 data communications and telephone services tower.
• $825,000 for Our Lady of the Angels Hospital, located in Bogalusa, for a helipad to conduct emergency airlifts of patients.
• $569,000 for the Pointe Coupee Sheriff’s Office, for a new 911 computer-aided dispatch system and record management system for jail records and incident reports.
• $400,000 for the Town of Tullos for improvements to their wastewater system.

Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies

• Includes report language regarding improvements for crawfish producers under the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-raised Fish (ELAP) program.
• Significant funding for food programs that directly support Louisiana agriculture producers. 
• Includes report language and an increase of $500,000 for aflatoxin mitigation research at the Agricultural Research Service to support Louisiana corn growers.
• Includes an increase of $500,000 for sugarcane variety development research at the Agricultural Research Service to support Louisiana sugar farmers.
• Retains report language regarding Cotton Classing Office Upgrades including the office in Rayville.
• Includes a $300,000 increase for the Office of Pest Management Policy which will benefit Louisiana soybean growers by providing them with an advocate at USDA to ensure the EPA’s decisions are appropriate, science-based, and keep in mind agriculture needs.
• Retains report language regarding watershed scale planning at the Natural Resources Conservation Service which will improve water quality within the Mississippi River and Ouachita River Basins to benefit Louisiana rice growers. 
• Includes $500,000 to investigate West Nile Virus affecting farm-raised alligators.
• Includes $3 million for Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives to support Louisiana dairy farmers.
• Includes report language and an increase of $250,000 for daily high-resolution data analysis at the Agricultural Research Service.
• Retains report language regarding crop insurance policies for quality losses to help address the soybean quality loss disaster from 2022.
• Continues investments in the Distance Learning and Telemedicine program to support Louisiana's rural communities.
• $550 million in loan authorizations provided for the rural telecommunications loan program which will assist in providing better broadband connectivity to regions in Louisiana that are still unserved.
• Report language to evaluate the effectiveness of government-wide broadband programs in bringing internet access to not-yet-served areas. 
• Includes report language on Cattle Contracts Library to support our Louisiana cattle farmers.
• Provides level funding for programs supporting youth development at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
• Includes $4 million for the Veterinary Services Grant Program at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
• Includes level funding and report language for the Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative at the Agricultural Research Service.
• Includes an increase of $500,000 for Agricultural Research Service barley pest research.
• Includes $35 million for the Equine, Cervid, and Small Ruminant Health Program, which will address chronic wasting disease in deer.
• Includes $1.68 billion for multiple agricultural programs that benefit research at the LSU Ag Center and other educational institutions.
• Loan authority for rural communities' infrastructure improvements through the Department of Agriculture's Rural Water and Waste Disposal Account.

Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies

• $250 million for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), which benefits scientific reach for Louisiana Universities. 
• $21.7 million for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Autonomous and Uncrewed Technology Operations to provide hurricane forecasting and marine research partnerships with universities.
• Report language directing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to continue developing the Electronic Logbook program to study and collect data on vessels and the shrimp industry. 
• $924 million for the Department of Justice Byrne Justice Assistance Grants program, the leading source of federal funding for state and local law enforcement.
• $256 million for the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services Hiring Program to allow law enforcement agencies to hire officers. 
• $44 million for the Department of Justice Regional Information Sharing Activities Program to connect local, regional, and federal law enforcement databases for criminal investigations.
• $25.56 million for the Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons Land Mobile Radio upgrades to provide critical communications updates for federal prisons including USP Pollock and FCI Oakdale. 
• Report language addressing Bureau of Prison staffing shortages and the use of forced overtime. 
• $153 million for the Department of Justice DNA Initiative, which includes $120 million for the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program to support public crime laboratories' work processing DNA evidence. 
• $50 million for the Economic Development Administration Build-to-Scale or Regional Innovation Program grants to provide economic development opportunities for communities. 
• Bill language maintains all existing pro-life riders and pro-Second Amendment riders.

Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies

• $30 million for the Delta Regional Authority and $1 million for a pilot program that provides grant writing assistance to communities. 
• $368 million for the Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi River and Tributaries account.
• At least $455.97 million for the Army Corps of Engineers Construction funding for inland waterway projects.
• $10.5 million for the Army Corps of Engineers Operation and Maintenance Engineering with Nature to benefit Louisiana Universities.
• $52.3 million for the Army Corps of Engineers Operation and Maintenance J. Bennett Johnston Waterway.
• $1.5 million for the Army Corps of Engineers Operation and Maintenance Lake Providence Harbor and related report language regarding timely dredging of the Port.
• $258,000 for the Army Corps of Engineers Operation and Maintenance Madison Parish Port project and additional funding for which the project can compete.
• $2.5 million for the Army Corps of Engineers Lower Mississippi River Comprehensive Study within Mississippi River and Tributaries.
• Report language for the Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program related to interactive community engagement technology for permitting.
• $4 million for the Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program to support research and development on propane gas.
• $52.5 million for the Department of Energy's Carbon Utilization program.
• $910 million for the Department of Energy's small modular reactor design and demonstration activities.

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies 

• Report language to include Delta Regional Authority grants as a funding source that can be used to meet the non-Federal matching fund requirement for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Project Funding (CPF) grants.
• $49 million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s North American Wetlands Conservation Fund to support habitats for waterfowl and preserve Louisiana's sportsmen paradise.
• $20 million in funding for the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program to preserve American historical sites.
• Report language to support the Rigs to Reefs program and direct the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to continue its policies related to providing extensions to those entities interested in participating in the program and utilizing the program to the maximum extent possible.
• Funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities to support educational and cultural programming for the State.
• Report language directing the Environmental Protection Agency to provide a briefing on how the agency is complying with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit's recent action on the registration of chlorpyrifos, a chemical used in crop production.
• $30.7 million for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Technical Assistance for Wastewater Treatment Works assistance grants for local communities.

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies

• $53.6 million for the Federal Ship Financing Program (Title XI) to support the commercial shipbuilding industry in Louisiana.
• $12 million for the recapitalization of the National Defense Reserve Fleet to ensure the readiness of vessels that support our military.
• $300 million from the Highway Trust Fund for the Federal Highway Administration Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Program to reinforce existing transportation infrastructure to be more resilient to extreme weather. 
• $20 million for the Federal Aviation Administration’s workforce development programs to address pilot and aviation maintenance shortages.
• $8 million for the Department of Transportation’s Position Navigation and Timing and Global Positioning Systems Backup Programs to support technology for defense operations and the financial industry. 
• $205 million for the Federal Aviation Administration’s Contract Tower Program which provides air traffic control services for airports in Alexandria, Hammond, Houma, Lake Charles, and New Iberia.
• $345 million for the Department of Transportation’s RAISE grant program which invests in road, rail, transit, and port projects and retains bill language to ensure 50% of awards go to projects in rural areas.

Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies 

• Fully funds veterans’ health care programs.
• Provides $2 billion above the President’s Budget Request for military construction, focusing investments on the Pacific theater to deter the Chinese Communist threat, barracks, and other quality-of-life projects.
• Protects the 2nd Amendment rights of veterans by preventing the VA from sending information to the FBI about veterans without a judge’s consent