Boyda secures nearly $400 million for district

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda announced today the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill approved by the House and Senate and that is expected to be signed by President Bush contains $387 million for the Second Congressional District, including $86 million requested specifically by Boyda for projects district wide.

Boyda's press release both praises the investment the bill makes into Kansas communities and military installations and rightfully criticizes the final bill's unfortunate flaws.

"There's no question that this bill makes important investments in the Second District of Kansas," Rep. Boyda said. "It supports our law enforcement officers, improves rural roads and infrastructure, and strengthens our three military bases."

Rep. Boyda added, "Unfortunately, this isn't a perfect bill, and it should have been much better. In the House, we passed a bill to fix the Social Security disability backlog; the president vetoed it. We passed a bill to fully fund BRAC, and it got bogged down in politics. This is no way to run the federal government. Next year, we have got to find a way to bring Republicans and Democrats together to do the job right."

The $86 million Boyda requested for Kansas communities will provide much needed support for a wide range of projects, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in public safety equipment for Kansas police offices, and millions of dollars specifically requested by Boyda for Ft. Leavenworth and Ft. Riley. The bill also pays for infrastructure improvements all over eastern Kansas.

Federal funds are an especially important source of revenue for rural towns that have few other financial resources. "In small, rural communities in Kansas, there's not a lot of money that can be put toward projects of need," said Judy Brigham, the city administrator of Iola, Kansas, which has a population of about 6,000.

Under the Omnibus Appropriations Bill, Iola will receive a $492,200 earmark to build a new wastewater treatment facility. "Wastewater treatment certainly isn't a very sexy project, but it's a public health issue for our communities," Brigham added. "To have money come toward that project means that we can put more money toward police and fire protection and those kinds of items that we always have difficulty funding. We're just thrilled to have received this money."

We'd like to thank Congresswoman Boyda for her hard work securing monies to benefit all of us back home. A complete list of all of Boyda's approved appropriation requests are available here, and a list of all of her requests, both approved and rejected, can be found here.