What did Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) do with her final vote as a member of congress?

She used it to help her constituents, delivering on a big bill to help out the Quad-Cities region.

Bustos, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, cast her final vote as a Member of Congress to deliver more than $66 million for local projects in communities across Northwest and Central Illinois. In a major funding package for Fiscal Year 2023, Bustos built on her track record of delivering for the district by securing significant investments in health, workforce development, rural communities and more.

The package also includes $44.9 billion in new military and humanitarian assistance to support the people of Ukraine, $40.6 billion to assist communities across the country recovering from drought, hurricanes, flooding, wildfire and natural disasters, and an update to the Electoral Count Act to modernize how Congress certifies election results.

“Getting results has been my priority since day one,” said Congresswoman Bustos. “I can think of no better way to wrap up my work for Northern, Northwest and Central Illinois than delivering federal dollars our communities one final time. With my last vote in Congress, I was proud to secure more than $66 million to support local projects across the district I’ve served for the last decade, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact these resources have on our communities.”

Cheri Bustos of Moline spent her last week as Congresswoman for Illinois’ 17th District.

Every one of Bustos’ Community Project Funding requests – 15 out of 15 – passed the full House as part of today’s package. With today’s vote, Bustos has successfully delivered on every Community Project Funding request she has submitted throughout the course of the program’s lifetime – $122 million in total.

Bustos also secured provisions that align with her Social Determinants Accelerator Act and Crisis Care Enhancement Act, among others. Together, these provisions will help create healthier communities and bolster crisis care services.

Bustos secured the following funds for local community projects: 

• $49.3 Million to Update and Rebuild Locks & Dams: Bustos secured an additional $49.3 million in Community Project Funding for the Upper Mississippi River Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP), which continues to support a program critical to our farmers and producers. The package continues to build on funding provided through last year’s Appropriations package, as well as support provided in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

• $4 Million to Build a Renewable Natural Gas Facility in Savanna: To help facilitate the construction of a new facility for Savanna, Illinois’ anaerobic digester project, Bustos secured $4 million in Community Project Funding. The project works to break down food waste and produce renewable natural gas.

• $4 million for Skip-A-Long’s Rock Island Campus: Bustos secured $4 million in Community Project Funding to expand early childhood education in one of the most under-developed areas of Rock Island, IL. The funding would be used to build a new, unique, state-of-the-art intergenerational Skip-a-Long campus to serve more students and provide them with the highest-quality early learning experience.

• $1 million for Black Hawk College’s Advanced Manufacturing Training Academy: To address the barriers to education and employment in manufacturing sectors, Bustos secured $1 million in federal funds for the Black Hawk College Advanced Manufacturing Training Academy in Kewanee. This support will help Black Hawk College to develop innovative learning programs that will prepare students for high-demand, good-paying jobs.

• $2 million for Peoria sidewalk upgrades: Bustos secured $2 million in Community Project Funding to add sidewalks along residential and commercial streets in Peoria’s 61605 ZIP code, one of the most distressed communities in America.

• $1.1 million for Martin Park upgrades in East Galesburg: Bustos secured $1.1 million in Community Project Funding to upgrade East Galesburg’s Martin Park. Upgrades would include adding a splash pad for youth, a patio for families, a building for fundraisers, adding benches for additional seating and fences and sidewalks to improve safety.

• $1 million for the Excel Center in Rockford: Bustos secured $1 million in Community Project Funding to open The Excel Center, an innovative school that provides adults with a rigorous high school experience, the opportunity to access postsecondary credentials and skill-building experiences and support services. In the Rockford region, approximately 32,000 adults do not have a high school diploma or GED, and this school will be the first of its kind in Illinois.

Cheri Bustos

• $750,000 for rural education initiatives at Monmouth College: To help Monmouth College strengthen and expand its Rural Education Initiatives program, Bustos secured $750,000. The program works to strengthen the rural education system and combat teacher shortages, increase representation of teachers of color and foster student-community engagement.

• $600,000 for the Lewistown Municipal Water Supply: To address water system concerns, including ground tank water storage and plumbing, Bustos secured $600,000 for the Lewistown Municipal Water Supply. Lewistown has an aging water system, with water mains and sewer line pipes nearing 150 years old – well exceeding the average service life of 50 years. Addressing the needs of this water system will reduce contamination and prevent disease.

• $517,783 to open the Eagle View Community Health Monmouth Clinic: To open a health clinic in Monmouth and address the health care gap the surrounding rural communities face, Bustos delivered more than $500,000 for the Eagle View Community Health Monmouth Clinic.

• $500,000 for downtown building demolitions in Astoria: To acquire and demolish adjoining buildings that are rapidly deteriorating in the center of Astoria’s downtown business district, Bustos delivered $500,000 in Community Project Funding.

• $438,000 for Mt. Carroll STEA²M Hub: Bustos secured $438,000 in Community Project Funding for a partnership with West Carroll School District and the University of Illinois Extension to develop a STEA²M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Agriculture and Math) hub in Mt. Carroll, Illinois.

• $350,000 for community center improvements in East Bluff: Bustos secured $350,000 in Community Project Funding for roof replacement, parking lot resurfacing and window replacement at the East Bluff Community Center.

• $225,000 for Mercer County Better Together’s Business Retention and Expansion Program: Bustos delivered $225,000 in Community Project Funding to build and sustain local economic resilience by establishing and stabilizing Mercer County’s first intensive business retention and expansion program.

• $300,000 for Highland Community College Mobile Medical Clinic: To establish a mobile medical clinic to serve Highland Community College students, local businesses and organizations, and the surrounding community, Bustos secured $300,000 for Highland Community College.

Bustos helped secure authorization for social determinants-related provisions under Sec. 2201. Addressing Factors Related To Improving Health Outcomes, which includes concepts drawn from her Social Determinants Accelerator Act:

• $35 million for social determinants-related provisions: $35 million a year for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to address factors related to health outcomes, support coordination and information sharing between public health entities, help implement best practices and help prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.

Bustos helped deliver the following priorities from the Defense Appropriations section:

• $20 million for large-scale additive manufacturing prototyping: To support programs at the Rock Island Arsenal Center for Excellence for Additive and Advanced Manufacturing that prototype components such as jointless hulls of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle. The ability to manufacture combat vehicles without joints will increase both manufacturing efficiency and the ability of a vehicle to survive.

• $25 million for soft recoil artillery systems: To support the work of Rock Island-based Mandus Group which tests soft recoil technology to be used on U.S. Army Humvees.

• $15 million in Expeditionary Additive Construction: To support an initiative focused on expeditionary additive construction between the University of Arkansas, Applied Research Associates (ARA) and the Army’s Center of Excellence for Additive and Advanced Manufacturing that is critical to the Army’s use of autonomous construction technologies.
• $25 million for the Quad-Cities Manufacturing Lab: To support the lab’s development of personal protective equipment which will provide servicemembers greater, lightweight protection.

• $5 million for military online real estate management: To create a tool similar to popular online real estate websites, in order to market existing, unused property to the Army, other federal agencies, or private partners. This is an initiative Congresswoman Bustos helped propose.

• Support for Bradley University Research: $8 million for the Virtual, Augmented and Mixed (VAM) Reality Readiness program, a key partnership between Bradley University and University of Dayton to provide research and development on virtual reality for the Air Force.

Bustos helped deliver the following provisions from the Labor-HHS-Education section:

• $8 million in funding to help local governments create plans to fight the social factors that harm long-term health: To address factors such as health care provider shortages, food deserts, unsafe and insecure housing and other environmental factors specific to local community needs. This provision aligns with Congresswoman Bustos’ Social Determinants Accelerator Act.

• A direction for states to utilize five percent of their Mental Health Block Grant for crisis care services: To allow states to upgrade their crisis care programs and strategies. This provision aligns with Congresswoman Bustos’ Crisis Care Enhancement Act to bolster support for services amid the COVID-19 pandemic and opioid crisis.

Bustos helped deliver the following priorities in the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies section:

• $530 Million to support Carbon Capture, Utilization, Storage and Removal: $530 million for the Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) and Power Systems, including $70 million to support carbon dioxide removal.

• Support for High Voltage Direct Current Transmission Projects: Support for high voltage direct transmission projects that connect regional power grids in order to help build renewable energy infrastructure.

• $10 Million for Low-Carbon Fuels and Low-Carbon Engine Technologies: $10 million to support the research and development of new engines that integrate low-carbon fuels like ethanol and biodiesel.

Bustos helped deliver the following priorities in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development section:

• $25 million for neighborhood revitalization grants: $25 million in funding for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation to create a new grant program specifically aimed at neighborhood revitalization and rehabilitation activities in areas with high concentrations of abandoned or distressed properties, such as Peoria’s 61605 ZIP code.

Congresswoman Bustos helped deliver the following priorities in the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies section:

• $31 Million for the Abatement of Invasive Asian Carp: A total of $31 million for the control, management and prevention of Asian carp, an invasive species commonly found in the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
• $30.7 Million to Improve Water Quality in Rural Communities: $30.7 million in funds for a competitive grant program aimed at improving water quality in rural areas. The grant program is open to qualified non-profit organizations, and will provide technical assistance for improved water quality, safe drinking water, adequate wastewater to small systems or individual private well owners.

Congresswoman Bustos helped deliver the following priorities in the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related agencies section:

• Support to improve transportation for rural veterans: This bill included Congress’ strong encouragement of the Veterans Healthcare Administration and Veterans Transportation Program to incentivize Veteran Transportation Services locations to adopt on-demand shared ride microtransit service to increase access, coverage and efficiency.

Congresswoman Bustos helped deliver the following priorities in the agriculture, rural development, Food and Drug Administration and related agencies section:

• Expansion of Rural Cellular Service: This bill includes a directive for the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service to examine ways to expand cellular service to unserved rural areas.

• Support for the Revitalization of the Driftless Area Landscape Conservation Initiative (DALCI): Expresses support for revitalizing the Driftless Area Landscape Conservation Initiative through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), to protect a unique landscape in Northwest Illinois.

• A survey of Breastfeeding Support in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC): This bill includes a directive for the USDA to conduct a survey of state WIC agencies to assess the accessibility of free and low-cost breastfeeding supplies.

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Sean Leary Director of Digital Media

Sean Leary is an author, director, artist, musician, producer and entrepreneur who has been writing professionally since debuting at age 11 in the pages of the Comics Buyers Guide. An honors graduate of the University of Southern California masters program, he has written over 50 books including the best-sellers The Arimathean, Every Number is Lucky to Someone and We Are All Characters.