Rep. Torres Celebrates Inland Empire Victories in FY2023 Government Funding Bill
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Norma J. Torres (CA-35), a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, today voted to pass the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a package of twelve government funding bills focused on helping families and communities across the United States. Congresswoman Torres used her position on the powerful committee to help shape the priorities included in the package, which will fund the government for FY2023, lower the cost of living for hardworking people, create good-paying jobs, and help communities and families in need.
"I remember as a young mom coming to Washington, D.C. and advocating for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and now as a Member of Congress, I was proud to vote for a package that provides $8 billion – a 31 percent increase – to help families with the cost of childcare. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and this year's government funding bill makes critical investments in the programs and services that Inland Empire residents rely on while addressing some of our nation's biggest challenges," said Congresswoman Torres. "As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am proud of our work to develop this package because it contains provisions that are crucial to our communities, and all together, this package will help working families across the United States and Inland Empire."
As a result of Rep. Torres' efforts, this government funding bill:
- Makes historic investments in childcare: Provides $8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant to aid families struggling with childcare costs and support states in improving the quality of care.
- Promotes affordable transportation and housing: Promotes transportation equity, accelerates infrastructure project delivery, and ensures Thriving Communities Initiative will also focus on affordable housing by providing over $28 million in total to the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
- Reforms how the military justice system handles cold cases: Directs the Department of Defense to ensure best practices and standards are shared across military investigative divisions, including when closed cases should be conveyed to outside organizations for peer review of Inspector General review and establishes procedures for guaranteeing effective turnover of cases to a new investigator.
- Helps students afford basic needs: Delivers $10 million for Basic Needs Grants with at least 25 percent of funds distributed to HBCUs, HSIs, and other MSIs to help address the basic needs of students including, temporary housing, secure sleeping arrangements, free or subsidized food, and access to on-campus childcare.
- Cracks down on sexual misconduct in the judiciary: Directs the Federal Judiciary to increase transparency when it comes to the reporting of sexual misconduct in the workplace and collection of this data, and for the first time, to share with Congress when a Judge has been found to have committed workplace misconduct and to conduct an outside independent study of the Judiciary's workplace misconduct prevention systems, which will craft new independent systems where needed.
- Supports democracy and anti-corruption efforts abroad: Funds programs to address the root causes of migration, including $65 million for combating corruption and impunity – particularly in the Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Honduras & Guatemala – and $75 million for violence prevention efforts for women in these countries too.
- Aids 9-1-1 operators: Directs the Office of Management and Budget to reclassify public safety telecommunicators by the end of FY23 and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to develop a plan for a competitive grant program to provide 911 call centers and agencies with resources to help 911 professionals address critical training needs.
In the bill, Rep. Torres also championed funding for 15 projects – totaling almost $20 million – that will directly benefit Inland Empire residents. A detailed summary of the legislation is available here.
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