Carper, Coons, Blunt Rochester Announce Nearly $154 Million to Improve Delaware Communities

U.S. Senators Tom Carper, Chris Coons, and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.)  announced that they secured $153,949,827 million in funding for Delaware projects in the appropriations bill that passed the Senate early today. This funding will go to community priorities such as affordable housing, water infrastructure improvements, mental health support, childcare services, education and research, workforce development, and more up and down the First State. 

“Today’s announcement will help make Delaware a better place to live, work, start a business and raise a family. I am proud to work alongside my partners in Delaware’s Congressional Delegation to secure $154 million for the First State,” said Senator Carper.  “These investments will help make Delaware a nurturing environment for job growth and job preservation, foster innovation at our universities, work to provide affordable housing to those in need, make much-needed infrastructure improvements, deliver health care to the rural and often neglected parts of our state, invest in our future generations, and so much more.” 

“In my role as senator, nothing is more important than listening to the needs of Delawareans and then going to Washington to deliver on those needs. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am proud to have worked with the Delaware delegation to fund over $150 million for projects that were requested by Delawareans in this year’s appropriations bills,” said Senator Coons. “The funding included for projects up and down the First State will be used to address so many of the pressing needs I hear about, including affordable housing, conservation efforts, affordable healthcare, and good paying jobs for the future.”

“I was proud to have worked alongside Senators Carper and Coons to deliver $154 million in funding for Delaware that will have a positive impact on workers and families across our state,” said Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester. “This funding package included investments in our workforce development and job training programs, affordable housing stock, childcare services, climate initiatives, to support our servicemen and women at the Dover Air Force Base, and much more. I look forward to seeing how this funding will uplift the people that keep our state moving forward, all while helping our state’s economy reach its full potential.”

In 2021, Congress’ constitutional power to approve congressionally directed spending items – commonly known as earmarks – was restored with enhanced transparency and accountability measures. 

Click on the links to find a complete list of projects funded by Senator Carper, Senator Coons and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. A few of the projects secured in the bill include: 

• $30.6 million to Dover Air Force Base for the construction of a blood processing lab, the primary provider of blood for the U.S. military.
• $10 million to reducing flooding and restore the bay beaches in Kent and Sussex Counties by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
• $25 million to support affordable housing for Delaware, which will preserve 500 units, provide repairs to 400 people, support 300 beds at emergency shelters across the state, revitalize dozens of vacant homes, and build nearly 75 new single-family homes. Some of the organizations receiving these funds include REACH, Milford Housing, New Castle County, Hope Center, Todmorden Foundation, all three Habitat affiliates in Delaware, NeighborGood, Luther Towers of Dover, and Family Promise of NCC, and Cornerstone West.
• $1 million for each of Delaware’s three counties for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve water and wastewater infrastructure, including stormwater management, water storage and treatment systems, and environmental restoration
• $1 million to Cornerstone West CDC to create a culinary incubator that will identify and support local entrepreneurs, establish and sustain successful culinary businesses that can grow and fill vacant commercial spaces, and restore economic vitality in the City of Wilmington.
• $6.3 million to Delaware Natural Resources and Environmental Control to improve the health in the lower tidal Christina River and tidal Brandywine River.
• $540,000 to Delaware State University to make campus safety improvements.
• $235,000 to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Delaware, Inc. to hire additional mental health and advocacy staff.
• $14 million in total to the University of Delaware to support NIIMBL, to prepare and upskill the region’s workforce for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector, purchase equipment, and support the future construction of a cGMP facility on the University of Delaware campus.
• $2.3 million for Delaware State University’s aviation program.
• $2.8 million for Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware.
• $455,000 to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware for a youth enrichment center in Dover.
• $1.5 million for the Southern Delaware Rural Health Initiative to expand personal health nursing services to improve elder health.
• $1.5 million to Beebe Medical Center to support the Family Medicine Residency program and facilitate more than 7,000 additional primary care appointments each year for underserved rural communities. 
• $800,000 for capital improvements to the Hockessin Colored School #107 to restore a one of America’s pivotal desegregation historic sites in the Brown vs Board of Education landmark case.
• $600,000 to the Nanticoke Indian Association Community Center to expand current programs and provide a foodbank, youth activity space and classrooms for the community.