RELEASE: Khanna Secures Funding Approval for All 10 Community Funding Projects

Washington, DC - Today, Representative Ro Khanna (CA-14), Congressional Progressive Caucus Deputy Whip and Member of the House Committee on Oversight, announced he had secured the inclusion of $13.5 million in the House Appropriations Committee fiscal year 2022 funding bills for all ten South Bay projects he requested.

From bike lanes to elementary reading programs, this funding will make a critical difference in the lives of constituents in California's 17th Congressional District. After the full House Appropriations Committee completes their consideration of the funding bills, they will be considered and voted on the House Floor. Following House passage, they will then need to clear the Senate before they move to President Biden's desk for a signature.

'After an extremely competitive submission process, I'm thrilled to see all ten of our district's requests be included in the appropriations bills,' said Rep. Ro Khanna. 'Whether its mental health programs at Santa Clara high schools, culturally competent medical care, or building more bike lanes for a safer commute, projects like these will let everyone see exactly what we mean when we say our government works for the people. This is why I ran for Congress in the first place: to make a difference in our community. I will continue to push for this funding to be included as the bills move to the full Appropriations Committee, House Floor, Senate, and hopefully into law.'

Rep. Khanna submitted the following Community Projects to the House Appropriations Committee and received initial approval by the Committee in the FY22 funding bills.

All in Eats - $1 million, Alameda County

• The funding would be used to retrofit an existing warehouse in Fremont, CA to offer commercial kitchens, a staging area for food distribution, and food recovery to prevent unnecessary waste. Additionally, the project would greatly expand a large-scale food hub in Fremont to power a circular food economy aimed at increasing food security, protecting the planet, and providing living wage jobs to the formerly incarcerated and other vulnerable populations.

API Community Health Worker Pilot - $1 million, Santa Clara County

• The funding would go toward training community health workers to provide culturally appropriate medical care in the Asian/Pacific Islander (API) community in Santa Clara County. Current efforts are being focused on three API sub-populations that have been most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and are in dire need of additional funds. Community health clinics would also be able to incorporate these programs into a sustainable funding model.

Cupertino Library - $1 million, City of Cupertino

• The funding would be used to expand the Cupertino Library, which serves everyone in the community regardless of economic, social, or political affiliation. This expansion would provide a multi-purpose room for library programs for all ages, spill-over study spaces, and other community uses such as meetings, presentations, a venue for public speaking, and the creative arts.

Fremont Housing Navigation Center - $500,000, City of Fremont

• The funding would provide substance abuse counseling, employment assistance & other support needed to transition individuals into permanent housing.

Pedestrian and Safe Routes to School Improvements Project - $800,000, City of Sunnyvale

• The funding would allow the City of Sunnyvale to Implement pedestrian & Safe Routes to School improvements at two intersections near Columbia Middle School in the Sunnyvale Neighbors of Arbor Including LaLinda (SNAIL) neighborhood and at one intersection near Braly Elementary School in the Braly Corners neighborhood.

San Jose Public Library - $1.5 million in partnership with Rep. Anna Eshoo (CA-18), City of San Jose

• The funding would provide professional training for family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) caregivers of children under the age of six. The current FFN Caregiver Support Network has provided 60 FFN caregivers from San Jose access to high-quality workforce development training in child development, which increases and enhances quality of childcare environments, providing more equitable outcomes for families seeking care and those providing care. The additional support would enable the existing successful pilot program to continue and allow for expanded digital inclusion and technology support for caregivers to access virtual programming and additional resources to enhance the care they provide.

Santa Clara Bicycle Projects - $2.7 million, City of Santa Clara

• The funding would complete traffic analyses, public outreach, design, and construction of bicycle facilities on three corridors (De La Cruz Blvd: Montague Expressway to Trimble Road, Lick Mill Blvd: Tasman Drive-Montague Expressway, and Scott Blvd: Calabazas Creek Trail to Saratoga Avenue). The project will enhance safety, improve mobility, and reduce vehicle emissions by implementing high priority bicycle projects identified in the Santa Clara Bicycle Plan Update 2018.

South Milpitas Boulevard Extension Bridge - $3 million, City of Milpitas

• The funding would extend the bridge over Pennitencia Creek and provide transit area development residents direct pedestrian and bicycle access to the Milpitas Transit Center, a key transit hub in Santa Clara County. This bridge aims to encourage transit ridership in the City to reduce carbon emissions.

South San Francisco Bay Shoreline Study - $1.6 million, Santa Clara Valley Water District

• The funding would provide flood risk management for communities along the south Bay shoreline, improve and increase recreation, and restore the health of the Bay. These areas include thousands of residents, critical infrastructure, such as the Palo Alto Regional Airport (the fourth busiest airport in the Bay Area), U.S. Hwy 101, Moffett Field which includes the NASA-Ames Research Center, and a regional wastewater facility.

Student Wellness Center - $300,000 for the Santa Clara County Office of Eduction

• The funding would be used to open a wellness center at a Santa Clara high school so students can receive critical, time-sensitive prevention and early intervention services to address student mental health and trauma. This funding will meet a critical, urgent student need during the COVID-19 recovery.

To read more about each project, click here.

# # #

About the Office

Congressman Khanna represents the 17th District of California, which covers communities in Silicon Valley. Visit his website at khanna.house.gov. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RepRoKhanna.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.