DeLauro Statement on President Biden’s FY2022 Discretionary Funding Request

House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) released the following statement on President Biden’s fiscal year 2022 discretionary funding request:

“President Biden’s fiscal year 2022 discretionary funding request reverses decades of disinvestment by prioritizing initiatives that will help working families and the vulnerable. At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has exposed serious needs across the United States, this request meets the moment and charts a course for a better future.

“The request invests in good schools and child care, providing a $20 billion increase for high-poverty schools and a $1.5 billion increase to help families afford quality child care. It will make our communities healthier with $1.6 billion for mental health – double last year’s funding – and $200 million for maternal health. And it rebuilds our public health infrastructure with a record $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and $10.7 billion for opioid prevention and treatment.

“It supports the vulnerable by strengthening the nutrition assistance safety net with nearly $4 billion in new investments, while expanding vital Housing Choice Vouchers to 200,000 more families and Homeless Assistance Grants to support more than 100,000 additional households. And the request will protect workers’ wages, benefits, and rights with an increase of $304 million, 17 percent more than last year, for worker protection agencies.

“The request also fosters safer and more equitable communities by providing $209 million for civil rights enforcement, $1 billion for gender-based violence prevention, and $2.1 billion for gun violence prevention. 

“Preparing for the future, the request acts on climate with a $14 billion increase over last year for a whole-of-government approach that will help protect our environment for generations to come. And it complements the American Jobs Plan with investments to rebuild crumbling infrastructure and bring our country’s transportation and transit systems into the 21st century, including with $2.7 billion for Amtrak.

“Beginning with our budget review hearings that start next week, the House Appropriations Committee will exercise our power of the purse to turn these important proposals into funding legislation that will make government work for the people, not the powerful.