Congressman Troy Carter Secures $35 Million for Southeast Louisiana Constituents in Government Funding Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-La.) voted to keep the government functioning and pass the 2023 omnibus government funding package, a budget that reflects American values of defending democracy, building safer communities, and lowering costs for the American people. It includes many important wins for the people of Louisiana, including over $35 million of investments into 14 community funding projects that Congressman Carter successfully secured for the state’s Second Congressional District.

“This budget delivers tangible wins for the American people write large and the people of southeast Louisiana specifically,” said Congressman Carter. “I am especially proud to have secured over $35 million for important projects in the Second Congressional District to improve infrastructure, public recreation sites, healthcare research and services, STEM education, job training, and much more within my approved community funding projects. With the passage of this measure, Congress has not only completed its duty in funding the government, but has also launched our nation forward into 2023 with the funds it needs to better support and uplift the American People. While I wish it included critical anti-poverty measures like the Child Tax Credit, I do believe this budget is a strong piece of legislation that will undoubtedly power our nation forward.”

Congressman Carter’s successfully funded FY2023 Community Funding Projects total $35,007,000, and will serve the people of Louisiana’s Second Congressional District in a wide variety of ways.

This appropriations package includes $11.8 million requested by Congressman Carter for hard infrastructure and resiliency measures in LA-02:

• $4,000,000 - City of Donaldsonville Natural Gas System Improvements

Donaldsonville’s gas pipes are crumbling and dangerous, after decades of corrosion the system has left the city in a state of emergency. This project will complete phase one of needed improvements, and allow Donaldsonville to move forward toward fully replacing the pipes to protect the community from potential gas leaks. Congressman Carter learned of this need and committed to doing everything he could do to help when out in the community and is proud to have made good on this promise.

• $3,800,000 - Community Lighthouse Solar and Energy Storage Resilience Pilot Project Networks

This project will fund a pilot project to establish a network of disaster resilience hubs throughout the region with solar power and back up batteries at churches and civic institutions. Following a natural disaster or power outage, these Community Lighthouses will provide emergency services, including food and water, cooling and charging stations, and support for people with medical needs. These clean-energy hubs will enable community organizations to continue operations in the event of a grid failure like was experienced during Hurricane Ida.

• $4,000,000 - New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal (UPT) Upgrade Project

This project will make improvements to the UPT so that it will be able to house the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) headquarters and improve regional transit options across the New Orleans Metro Area.

The budgeted community funding projects for the Second District of Louisiana also includes investments that will create and conserve community spaces and outdoor recreation opportunities such as:

• $4,000,000 - Natatorium in Cut Off, New Orleans

This project will provide an operating swimming pool in an area without one allowing recreation and water safety training for residents of the Cut Off and Lower Coast Algiers.

• $2 million – Nature Trail Improvements in Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans

This funding will allow for improvements to the Sankofa Wetlands Park and Nature Trail in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans to improve access for recreation and research. 

Through these 2023 Community Funding Projects, Congressman Carter secured a total of $7.95 million for Youth Services, Education, & Development with four projects:

• $750,000 - Dodwell House Community Resource Center, New Orleans

This project will convert a previously abandoned 1846 historic Tremé home into a community resource center that will house community impact programs including an after school program, summer camp, food pantry, community support hub and homeless outreach center.

• $2,000,000 - Center for the Innovative Training of Youth STEM NOLA, New Orleans

This funding will equip the STEM Innovation Center with the programmatic and technical resources it needs to engage up to 20,000 K-12 kids each year with hands-on science, technology, engineering and math educational programs to help ready them to careers in STEM.

• $2,000,000 - National World War II Museum, New Orleans

This investment will allow the world renown National WWII Museum in New Orleans develop educational materials for an interactive exhibit telling the all too often overlooked story of the women who served our country during World War II with the most comprehensive display of educational material ever produced on the subject.

• $1,200,000 - Urban League of Louisiana’s Career Pathways Program, Orleans and East Baton Rouge Parish.

This project will help build out the Urban League of Louisiana’s programming to create comprehensive career pathways through connecting diverse participants with unique educational and apprenticeship opportunities across Orleans Parish and East Baton Rouge Parish.

• $2,000,000 - Louisiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation (LCCF) Small Business Technical Assistance and Workforce Training Center, New Orleans East

This project will bolster the state chamber of commerce’s program to help disadvantaged business entities receive technical assistance and training needed to enter the agri-aquaculture industries. The LA Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Southeast Louisiana AgriAquaculture Small Business Technical Assistance and Workforce Training Center (Center) will provide technical assistance geared to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) small business owners and valuable workforce training services to under-employed, unemployed, or hard to employ residents. The Center will serve as a small business incubator, providing over 30 businesses a year with the skills, support, and training they need to grow their businesses, improve the economic foundation of their communities, and provide stable, good-paying jobs for low-income residents.

The Congressman’s projects will allocate $4.35 million toward healthcare advances in the district through two projects, including:

• $2,000,000 - Louisiana Children's Medical Center, New Orleans

This project would expand the current capacity of the Cancer Center at UMC by increasing the number of infusion chairs, medical exam rooms and radiation therapy exam rooms, while also incorporating a nurse station.

• $2,350,000 - LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans

Establishes a new, state of the art scientific research lab that will help LSU Health Sciences Center achieve an NCI designation and be better positioned to attract faculty and provide services to companies as well as conduct clinical trials. This lab will focus on research on cancer treatment and prevention 

The budget also includes $1 million to support housing and addiction treatment services for the Congressman’s constituents of the Second Congressional District:

• $1,000,000 - Odyssey House Louisiana Inc., New Orleans

This funding for this community project will fund a renovation to increase accessibility and add 48 more beds to Odyssey House Louisiana’s (OHL) historic facility in the Tremé-Lafitte neighborhood, increasing their capacity to provide residential, long-term recovery addiction treatment services to the people of New Orleans. These funds will also allow OHL to renovate and expand its onsite Federally Qualified Health Center, which provides health care to underserved populations in New Orleans, including such services as Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid addiction, primary care services to the community at large, and screening and treatment for infectious diseases.

Congressman Carter also secured close to $4 million for a project that will support reentry programs and criminal justice reforms in our community:

• $3,907,000 – Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office Justice Reform Initiatives

This funding would allow the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO) to design internal job training and education programs, release protocols, and post-release procedures to minimize the disruption of being detained and smooth the reentry transition. This effort requires funding to upgrade and modernize its information technology and data system infrastructure to track and analyze data needed to aid the office’s processes and capabilities.

Along with these district-specific investments, the FY 2023 omnibus government funding package that Congressman Carter supported also includes many other important victories and investments for the American people.

Though not a complete list, this budget includes the following:

• $1 billion for LIHEAP, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which can help households cover their energy bills, cutting costs for American families.

• Increases the maximum Pell Grant award by $500.

• Supports the 9-8-8 mental health crisis lifeline with $502 million, a $390 million increase over 2022 levels.

• Provides $18.4 billion for Title I education programs, an increase of $850 million over 2022 levels.

• Provides $4.4 billion in grants for state & local law enforcement, a $506 million increase over last year.

• $700 million for Violence Against Women Act prevention and prosecution programs, and 21.7% increase as compared to 2022 levels.

• Includes $560 million for the Legal Services Corporation, 14.5% above 2022 levels to help expand the availability of free legal aid for low-income persons.

• Includes $45 million in grants to prevent and respond to hate crimes—nearly double the 2022 level.

• Provides $3.5 billion in discretionary funding for FDA, an increase of $226 million above 2022, to address the opioid crisis and medical supply chain issues. This would also fund efforts to better respond to food outbreaks, improve the food inspection system, and address heavy metals in baby food.

• Provides $10.6 billion, $347 million over 2022 funding levels, for water infrastructure throughout the country through the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.

• Includes $15.3 billion, $1.2 billion over 2022 levels, to respond to the climate crisis by investing in research, development, demonstration, and deployment of clean energy and secure, domestic energy supply chains.

• Provides $161.5 billion for procurement efforts, including eleven Navy ships.

• Includes over $2 billion to tackle the climate crisis in our national defense programs.

• Provides $75 million for Election Security Grants to augment State efforts to improve the security and integrity of elections for Federal office.

• Promotes safety among our transportation networks with $1.7 billion for competitive grants for multimodal, transit, bicycle and pedestrian, and passenger rail to support local projects that promote green infrastructure, invest in resilient communities, and help address climate change.

• Provides $388 million to create 21,500+ affordable housing units for low-income families, survivors of domestic violence, veterans, and the elderly and disabled.

• Invests an additional $225 million for a new program to preserve and revitalize manufactured housing.

• Establishes a new $75 million construction and rehabilitation program for permanent supportive housing to expand housing options for people experiencing homelessness.

• Includes a record $118.7 billion, $21.7 billion over last year, for veteran’s medical care.

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