VIDEO: Kaine Accepting Community Project Funding Requests by March 10
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine is currently accepting requests to fund local Virginia community projects in need, also known as congressionally directed spending (CDS) or earmarks. The deadline to submit requests is March 10. Once a Virginia non-profit, educational institution, or unit of a local or state government requests funding, the requests will go through an internal review process to ensure the project is eligible for funding and has a substantial benefit to the community. If the project meets that criteria, Kaine will push to get the project funded in the annual government funding bill to help ensure the legislation meets Virginians’ needs.
To access the funding request form, click here.
“Congress is beginning its annual appropriations process, when we decide how we’re going to spend the federal budgetary dollars for Fiscal Year 2024, and for the third year in a row, the Senate is accepting requests for Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS), formerly known as earmarks. As we go through this process, I want to hear from you about the needs in your community and how I can support those needs,” said Kaine. “Wherever I go in the Commonwealth or when I meet Virginians in D.C., someone is always talking to me about a community need and often about what a difference it has made to them to apply for and receive a community-directed expenditure so that they can apply that to community needs.”
In 2021, the Senate restarted this process to allow members of Congress to work with the communities they represent to fund local community projects in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability. This process allows Congress to dedicate federal funding for specific local projects in the annual government funding bill.
In the two years since this process restarted, Kaine, along with Senator Mark R. Warner, have helped secure over $285 million in federal dollars to fund local community projects across Virginia that boost economic development, upgrade infrastructure, expand affordable housing, improve health care access, and more. Some examples of previously funded projects are for the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce to provide assistance to Black-owned small businesses across the region; the Virginia Department of Transportation to help widen a portion of the Coalfields Expressway in Buchanan County; Valley Health System in Winchester to purchase telehealth equipment; Germanna Community College in Fredericksburg to grow their cybersecurity degree and credential programs; the town of South Boston to repair and replace storm sewer lines; the City of Petersburg to upgrade its system that coordinates emergency services for first responders; and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters to expand mental health programming in Norfolk.
For more information about how to apply for funding, click here to watch a video from the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Director Sheila Dixon, Chair Sam Wiggins, and Vice Chair Robin McDougal explaining how they applied for funding.
This process is intended for state and local government, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations to secure a one-time, specified amount of funding for community projects in Virginia. Kaine and Warner accept applications for funding requests jointly, meaning eligible entities only need to submit a request to one office to be considered by both.
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