US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for California – Laphonza Butler
Butler Delivers Funding For Housing, Homelessness, Wildfire & Earthquake Preparedness, & More
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) announced billions in federal funding to help address California’s most pressing needs. The first six appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024 include major investments in efforts to tackle our state’s homelessness crisis, bolster wildfire suppression and preparedness, support firefighters, and much more. These appropriations make significant progress in California without compromising our values of reproductive freedom, while lifting up all our communities.
“It has been an honor to uphold Senator Feinstein’s legacy of fighting for Californians, and to add new voices and renewed spirit to the current needs of our state,” said Senator Butler. “These investments are critical to maintaining the essential services and protections needed by American families, and keeping the federal government open and working. Democrats kept their promise to ensure that efforts to take rights away or attack fellow Americans that were introduced by Republican extremists would not be a part of these bills.
“Just as both parties worked together to pass these first six funding bills, I expect that it will be bipartisan efforts that will get the remaining bills across the finish line to strengthen our communities and keep our economy strong.”
Senator Butler secured wins for California, including:
- $107 million for the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program to address youth homelessness through a range of housing programs, including rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, host homes, and support services to aid youth.
- $1.3 billion for the Crime Victims Fund to address the funding shortfall and support victims of crime through compensation and services, such as medical, funeral or burial costs, loss of wages, or crisis services, counseling, and emergency sheltering.
- Extends the pay increase for federal wildland firefighters to ensure California has the federal staffing needed to tackle wildfires in the state.
Senator Butler championed Senator Feinstein’s longstanding priorities that address needs across California, including:
- More than $4 billion for wildfire preparedness and suppression activities to reduce the prevalence of severe wildfires and ensure the proper resources are available to address wildfires.
- Extension of the federal wildland firefighter pay cap waiver, which allows firefighters to continue earning pay for the work they do.
- Full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
- $33.3 billion for child nutrition programs, including the school lunch and breakfast programs.
- $186 million for drought programs in western states, including for water storage, water recycling and reuse, and desalination.
- More than $20 billion — a $2.8 billion increase — for veteran programs, including women’s health, homelessness prevention, mental health services, and suicide prevention.
- More than $52 billion — a $3.6 billion increase — for housing programs that will provide California’s homeless with safe and affordable housing options.
- $28.6 million for continued development of ShakeAlert, which is California’s earthquake early warning system.
Notably, Senator Butler joined others to successfully push for Congressional support of NASA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) representing a shift from the original Senate bill. The MSR mission, led by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, would launch a spacecraft from the surface of another planet and return it to Earth for the first time in human history. Senator Butler is committed to working with NASA and the Biden Administration to fully support the MSR mission, and reverse the recent layoffs at JPL.
Text of the six-bill package is available HERE.
