Congressman Troy Carter Funds $17.5 Million In Local Projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter Sr. will vote to fund $17.5 million in Community Project Funding that he previously secured for Louisiana’s Second Congressional District. The committee released the full 2022 Appropriations budget bill earlier today, which includes funding for seven projects that were requested and advocated for by Congressman Carter in the summer of 2021, as one of his first acts upon being elected to Congress.

The full budget also includes critical funds to lower the cost of living for working families, $13.6 billion to support Ukraine and $15.6 billion to manage coronavirus at home and abroad. The text of the spending package, H.R. 2471, is available here  and a full summary of the 12 regular appropriations bills is here.

The community projects announced today will directly benefit the people of Louisiana’s Second Congressional District, funding upgrades to parks and student services at Xavier University, building a public athletic venue in New Orleans’ 9^th Ward, implementing multi-modal transportation improvements, increasing mental health services and jumpstarting public health research.

“This is a historic day for southeast Louisiana,” said Congressman Carter. “These seven projects have the potential to do an enormous amount of good in Louisiana’s Second Congressional District, and I am so proud to have fought for their inclusion and funding in this Congressional appropriations package. This $17.5 million in funding announced today will go directly to our community, funding critical projects that will help boost our local economy as well as improve the health, well-being, environment, and public safety for the people of southeast Louisiana.”

Congressman Carter continued, “These funds are part of the overall government funding legislation, which delivers transformative federal investments to help lower the cost of living for working families, create American jobs, support our most vulnerable, tackle COVID-19 and support the people of Ukraine.”

The funded projects for Louisiana’s Second Congressional District are as follows:

1. PROJECT SPONSOR: City of Baton Rouge
   Amount Awarded: $1,000,000
   Purpose: The funding will be used to create the Baton Rouge Institute for Growth and Healing After Trauma (BRIGHT), a community-based, trans-disciplinary resource and service center for trauma-healing in Baton Rouge. BRIGHT will build upon the success of several trauma-relief initiatives. It will create a center to support the health and well-being of Baton Rouge during a time of unprecedented collective trauma.

2. PROJECT SPONSOR: LSU Health New Orleans
   Amount Awarded: $2,000,000
   Purpose: The funding will be used for a project to learn more about the enduring effects of COVID in Louisiana and better prepare for successfully managing any future epidemic through discovery, research, and training. As one of the first places with a major COVID surge, it is important to understand what effects COVID has had on our population including health care workers and students.

3. PROJECT SPONSOR: Tulane University
   Amount Awarded: $1,000,000
   Purpose: The funding will be used for to create a permanent home for an important collection that helps better understand the pathology, etiology, and epidemiology of trauma-related neurodegenerative disorders. This research is vital to understanding and treating traumatic brain injuries, including among U.S. service members. It will also help treat post-traumatic stress and other physical and psychological health concerns.

4. PROJECT SPONSOR: Xavier University
   Amount Awarded: $2,500,000
   Purpose: The funding will be used to renovate St. Michael’s, a residence hall for first-year students. The hall is historic, having been a place of refuge for the Freedom Riders in 1963. The renovations would turn the building into a center for pre-health advising and STEM education.

5. PROJECT SPONSOR: 9th Ward Stadium
   Amount Awarded: $3,000,000
   Purpose: The funding will be used for to create a public athletic venue for the 9^th Ward of New Orleans. The 9th Ward Stadium project is a re-energized initiative which seeks to provide critically important recreational facilities for public school students throughout eastern New Orleans and which will serve as an economic catalyst for the 9^th Ward community.

6. PROJECT SPONSOR: City of New Orleans
   Amount Awarded: $5,000,000
   Purpose: The funding will be used for multi-modal transportation improvements along Morrison Road in New Orleans, Louisiana. Morrison Road is an important east-west major roadway that services a large part of the New Orleans East area. It directly accesses the interstate and is a major transit route in the Regional Transit Authority system and requires major improvements to enhance safety.
   
    
7. PROJECT SPONSOR: Audubon Nature Institute
   Amount Awarded: $3,000,000
   Purpose: The funding will be used to renovate Woldenberg Riverfront Park in downtown New Orleans. This project would upgrade transportation and safety features for southeast Louisiana community members and millions of annual visitors. This project will revitalize this 30-year-old park and have safety, mobility, and economic benefits.
   
    

These community projects were selected after conducting comprehensive outreach to local groups and stakeholders. This new initiative is coupled with stringent eligibility, ethics, and transparency requirements.

The full twelve-bill government funding package that the House will vote on today will help middle class families with the cost of living, create American jobs, support the vulnerable, and give assistance small businesses and restaurants that are key to our economic future. Taken together, the funding for Louisiana’s Second Congressional District and the funding increases for critical government programs will reverse decades of disinvestment in our communities and strengthen our nation.

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