Appropriation Bill includes $15.7 million for southwest Georgia

WASHINGTON – Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr., D-Ga., the ranking member of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food & Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, announced recently that he has secured $15,710,474 in funds for 15 community projects in Georgia’s Second Congressional District.

The funding is part of the consolidated appropriations bill that Congress is voting on this week and which will fund a wide range of federal departments, agencies, and programs for the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year.

“I am pleased to have secured $15,710,474 in federal funds for 15 community projects across middle and southwest Georgia,” Bishop said in a news release. “These projects will help communities meet essential needs, from supporting law enforcement and emergency services to making sure communities have access to a hospital close by.

“These projects will also create and improve facilities for youth programs, make sure our cities and counties have access to clean water, and expand access to affordable housing. Federal funds help cover the often large, up-front costs that can be insurmountable or beyond the smaller budgets with which some communities must work. I will continue to work hard in Congress to make sure the federal government remains a reliable partner to our community and make the investments necessary for us to grow as well as improve the Georgians’ quality of life.”

The 15 projects in Georgia’s Second Congressional District for which Congressman Bishop helped secure direct funding are:

— $850,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Cairo-Grady County for Project Homerun which would expand access to its youth programs;

— $864,000 to the city of Baconton in Mitchell County to make improvements to its water system to improve residents’ access to clean water;

— $959,757 to the Clay County Board of Commissioners for a Water Storage Tank Project to expand and repair existing storage;

— $227,000 to the Pelham Police Department in Mitchell County for its Creating Healthy Alternatives Neutralizing Gangs;

— $500,000 to Girls Incorporated of Columbus & Phenix to support its Russell Education Program Renovations Project, which would make improvements that expand its youth recreation and after-school facilities;

— $1,616,279 to the Mt. Zion Community Reinvestment Corporation in Albany for its Historic Harlem Business District revitalization and improvement project;

— $850,000 to Friends on a Mission Outreach Inc. to expand facilities and services through its Homelessness Leading Up to Affordable Housing program;

— $1,080,000 to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for repairs and improvements to the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam on Lake Seminole as well as help manage the invasive species, hydrilla, which affects communities in Florida, Alabama and Georgia;

— $908,000 to the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office for its Violent Crime Reduction Initiative;

— $685,000 to the Dougherty County Commission to support construction and improvements to Putney Park;

— $500,000 to the Quitman County Board of Education to build an athletic complex that would host several sports events and expand youth and community programs;

— $2,320,000 to the Randolph County Hospital Authority to redevelop and make improvements to the site of the Southwest Georgia Regional Hospital;

— $4 million to the Randolph County Hospital Authority for re-opening Cuthbert’s Southwest Georgia Regional Hospital;

— $240,000 to the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office for its Restoring Inspiration by Success in Education Initiative;

— $110,438 to the Fort Valley Utility Commission for Water and Sewer Relocation for the Highway 96/341 Intersection Improvements in Fort Valley.

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