COLUMBIA, SC – Today, Congressman James E. Clyburn announced the U.S. House of Representatives approved more than $40 million to fund community projects in the Sixth Congressional District, along with additional key priorities such as broadband internet, health care, transportation, housing, historic preservation, and the “10-20-30” initiative to target resources to communities in need. This funding was included in a minibus spending bill that passed the House today.
This appropriations package includes seven of the 12 fiscal year 2022 funding bills—Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Interior, and Environment; Energy and Water Development; Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration; Financial Services and General Government; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development—and follows Wednesday's passage of two others—Legislative Branch and State and Foreign Operations.
“This legislation will enable the federal government to better serve the American people. This bill makes significant investments in low-income and middle-class communities that have been devastated in the last year and will create jobs and economic opportunity,” said Congressman Clyburn. “I am pleased that nine of my community project funding requests were included in this legislation that will invest in critical priorities while targeting many of those investments in persistent poverty communities. These projects are essential to the communities I serve, and I will keep fighting to get them enacted into law.”
Congressman Clyburn secured funding for these community funding priorities in this FY 2022 appropriation minibus legislation:
| Project | Sponsor | Description | Location | Funding Received |
| Lakes Marion and Moultrie, SC, Sec 219(f)(25) WRDA 1992 (P.L. 102 – 580), as amended by Sec 502 WRDA 1999 (P.L. 106 – 53), Appendix D, Division B, Sec | US Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston District | Water infrastructure project for the Orangeburg-Berkeley Reach, which would provide water to the U.S. Highway 176 corridor in Orangeburg County and Berkeley County in the Camp Hall area. | Charleston, SC | $19,785,000 |
| Putting the Tech back in Denmark Tech: Enhancing sixty – one (61) year – old facilities to provide transformational Career and Technical Education Programs | Denmark Technical College | Renovation of two campus industrial buildings, the replacement of wastewater lift stations on campus, the replacement of building doors throughout the campus to support ADA compliance. | Denmark, SC | $3,000,000 |
| Rehabilitation of the S.H. Kress building in downtown Orangeburg, SC for the Claflin University Downtown Community Center | Claflin University | Rehabilitation the S.H. Kress building in downtown Orangeburg, SC. The restored building will be used to house the Claflin University Center for Social Justice, Pathway from Prison program, young professionals’ studio housing, and development of a Business Incubator site. | Orangeburg, SC | $3,000,000 |
| Proposed Murdaugh Center Project | Vital Aging of Williamsburg County, Inc. | Construction of a comprehensive hub senior center, The Murdaugh Center, on 1.25 acres of agency-owned property centrally located in downtown Kingstree at 110 West Mill Street at the corners of Mill and Academy streets. | Kingstree, SC | $2,883,469 |
| Restoration of Historic Waverly – Good Samaritan Hospital | Allen University | Restoration and expansion of the Waverly-Good Samaritan Hospital building to create additional space for new programs and to serve a larger population of students. | Columbia, SC | $4,290,000 |
| Benedict College B.E.S.T. Lives Center | Benedict College | Creation of a state-of-the-art learning hub to provide direct services to a range of underserved students, with focuses on military families, former foster care, formerly incarcerated, and adult learners. | Columbia, SC | $2,000,000 |
| Greater St. George Wastewater Project | Dorchester County, South Carolina | Construction of three new water pumps and a new force main to extend wastewater infrastructure to an area not currently served by a public utility. | St. George, SC | $3,000,000 |
| Small Business Research and Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute | South Carolina State University | Implementation of a research and entrepreneurial training program to enhance small business sustainability and strengthen the survival rate for small businesses in the Orangeburg community | Orangeburg, SC | $1,000,000 |
| South Sumter Demolition | Sumter County Government | Demolition of 220 vacant and dilapidated structures in South Sumter. | Sumter, SC | $1,600,000 |
| TOTAL | $40,558,469 |
The legislation also contains many other priorities championed by Congressman Clyburn, including:
- $5.83 billion for Community Health Centers, $148 million more than the FY21 bill;
- $907 million for rural broadband funds for the Department of Agriculture, $165 million more than FY21;
- $20 million for legal assistance for tenants facing eviction, which matches the FY21 total and is modeled after legislation Congressman Clyburn introduced in 2020;
- $14 million, an increase of $3 million, for the Rural Energy Savings Program, an initiative originally introduced by Congressman Clyburn in 2010 to lend money for energy efficiency improvements in rural areas;
- $10 million for HBCU Historic Preservation, the full amount of authorized funds, for a program created after Congressman Clyburn secured a 1998 General Accounting Office report that identified historic structures on HBCU campuses in need of restoration;
- Over $1.5 billion for the Savannah River Site, including full funding for Payment in Lieu of Taxes to provide critical funding for schools, emergency services, and county operations in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell Counties; and
- Language throughout the bill and committee reports directing departments and agencies to target spending in certain programs to persistent poverty communities through the “10-20-30” formula and other mechanisms, including language directing the Office of Management and Budget to take steps to target funding to these areas in programs across the federal government.
Find more details regarding the federal agency funding included in the minibus bill here.
The legislation still needs Senate approval and the President’s signature before the funds are distributed.
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