Congresswoman Torres Includes $14.3 million for Inland Empire Community Projects in Government Funding Bill

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35) announced the Inland Empire will receive $14,346,500 in federal funding for local projects in the government funding bill that today passed the House. As a Member of the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Torres included these directed funds to ensure that the 35th Congressional District can immediately benefit from federal resources. These funds cover all 10 of Congresswomen Torres' priorities for local projects.

"I'm extremely pleased to announce that our communities will receive more than $14.3 million for local projects in this year's government funding bill," Rep. Torres said. "These resources will help fund deserving projects across our region – items like a mobile health center and emergency response upgrades will keep us safe; arts education and reduced juvenile recidivism will create a brighter future for our youth; and affordable housing and park improvements will increase the quality of life in our communities. I'm proud to deliver these funds to all of the community partners who I know will put them to great use making our cities and towns stronger, safer, and more vibrant."

"In the coming weeks, I will be visiting these sites to discuss the implementation and impact of this funding."

Specifically, Representative Torres secured the following local investments:

• Mobile Community Health Center: $775,000 to help Pomona Community Health Center purchase and deploy a mobile health center to better provide needed medical, dental, and behavioral healthcare to adults and children in low-income and underserved communities in the Inland Empire.
• Educational Arts Programming for Kids: $125,000 for the Artbridge Outreach Program at dA Center for the Arts in Pomona, which provides children ages 0-5, including children with special needs, education art programming to under-resourced, underserved, and special needs children, to help improve physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, communication skills and general knowledge.
• Reduced Juvenile Recidivism: $380,000 for the Juvenile TEAM Program in Rialto to help reduce juvenile recidivism rates by providing culturally competent mental health services, substance use disorder treatment, and diversion programs for juveniles in the criminal justice system through a holistic approach that includes community-based supportive services, job skills training, case management, and civil legal services.
• Emergency Operations Center: $862,500 for a new emergency operations center in Rialto. The funds comprise 75 percent of the project costs. The City of Rialto will use the money to construct a new, centralized Emergency Operations Center to support multi-agency and multi-jurisdictional response and recovery efforts.
• Police Radio Upgrades: $3,404,000 for the City of Pomona Police Department to upgrade portable and mobile radios to meet California-DOJ and/or FBI security requirements and interoperability standards.
• Affordable Housing Development: $800,000 to help develop Pomona Artists' Lofts, which will create 75 income-restricted apartments in downtown Pomona.
• Recreation Facility Updates: $2,000,000 for Saratoga Park in Montclair, which will use the funds to update a heavily used community recreation facility. The project will address existing ADA compliance needs, retrofit and refurbish the existing community recreation facility, and modernize and improve the existing baseball facilities.
• Street and Walking Trail Improvements: $3,000,000 for street improvements and Walking Trail/Steps Rehabilitation at Ganesha Park in Pomona. The funding would be used to rehabilitate and reconstruct an existing walking trail and concrete steps located in the area around Ganesha Park, and also make street improvements and repairs to create needed drainage improvements and protect overall street integrity.
• Water Infrastructure:$2,000,000 for West Valley Water District for Bloomington Alleyway Pipeline Project, which includes new water pipelines in the aging community, new fire hydrants to address safety concerns, new water meters for local residents, and new connections to existing waterlines within the current street right-of-way and paved area.
• Local Entrepreneurial Innovation: $1,000,000 for Cal Poly Pomona's Bronco STEA2M Innovation Hub, an entrepreneurial and social innovation hub to provide resources, support, and training opportunities to help entrepreneurs, start-ups, and small/family-owned businesses advance their goals and strengthen the local economy.

These funds come in addition to the $3.5 billion the Congresswoman has secured for the Inland Empire so far this Congress, largely in COVID relief from the American Rescue Plan Act, as well as from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This legislation will be voted on by the Senate and signed into law by President Biden later this week. A detailed summary of the bill is available here.

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