U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin requested $26 million for 15 projects in the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Community Project Funding program.
The projects involve mental health intervention, road safety, clean water infrastructure, child care and electric vehicle charging. Much of the funding includes projects in the City of Rockville.
The U.S. House Appropriations Committee will determine which of Raskin’s request will receive funding and be included in the appropriations bill that must be adopted by both the House and Senate and signed into law by President Joe Biden before the money can be allocated.
“The fifteen community projects I have requested reflect the concerns and priorities that I hear about from my constituents every day,” Raskin said.
“These worthy community projects would expand affordable child care for low-income families, bolster mental health crisis services, help law enforcement solve cases faster, expand workforce training for people with disabilities, improve our water quality, install electric vehicle chargers, improve local trails, accelerate our growth as a biotechnology hub, and make pedestrians, cyclists and drivers safer.”
The projects are:
- $$560,000 for bus stop safety improvements for Montgomery County’s Vision Zero initiative and protect transit riders;
- $1,175,000 for the non-profit AHC Inc. to complete the build out of a childcare center and a community center at the Randolph Road Community, a new affordable housing development;
- $3,279,500 for the non-profit Community Support Services, Inc. to renovate a facility that, once completed, will provide supported employment and workforce training for people with autism and developmental disabilities;
- $700,000 to increase the size of the Montgomery County Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team Unit to improve community safety and offer an effective response to mental health crises;
- $1,300,000 for the MCPD to implement a crime lab information management system that will improve the efficiency and accuracy of forensic investigations—resulting in cases being resolved more quickly;
- $2,000,000 for the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research to acquire a 300kV Cryogenic Electron Microscope, which will accelerate therapeutic and vaccine development and will support the county’s continued growth as a biotechnology hub;
- $4,000,000 for the county to install electric vehicle (EV) chargers in two public parking garages in downtown Silver Spring;
- $4,750,000 for the county to design safety improvements that will protect drivers and pedestrians traveling on a section of Goshen Road that has a history of car crashes, including pedestrian injuries;
- $650,000 to further conservation and restoration efforts by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin;
- $1,800,000 for the Maryland National Capital Parks and Planning Commission to restore a section of the Northwest Branch SVU3 Trail to improve the trail’s usability for pedestrians and cyclists;
- $1,471,220 for the City of Rockville to purchase interoperable police radio communications equipment to improve emergency response operations;
- $900,000 for storm drain improvements in the Potomac Woods neighborhood in the City of Rockville to reduce the risk of flooding;
- $592,500 to purchase technology for the City of Rockville’s Emergency Operations Center to ensure that the city can direct and coordinate operations from a centralized facility during an emergency or disaster;
- $500,000 for the City of Rockville to rehabilitate two miles of sewer pipes, reducing the risk of wastewater overflows that threaten public health and safety; and
- $2,400,000 for the City of Rockville to replace 6,000 feet of water main pipes, ensuring the safety and reliability of our drinking water.Information about each project can be seen here.