FRESNO AND TULARE COUNTIES – Communities in California’s 21st Congressional District stand to benefit from a potential influx of millions of dollars of federal funds dedicated to local projects.
Out of more than 60 projects submitted to his office for consideration, District 21 Rep. Jim Costa chose 15 to put forward to the House Appropriations Committee for inclusion in the federal budget. District Deputy Chief of Staff Larry Salinas visited the selected communities in Fresno and Tulare County in early June to share the news with the local city councils that had projects make the final list.
“(The list is) being reviewed by the House Appropriations Committee, and we’re in that process now where they have reviewed our submittals, and they’ll get back to us,” Salinas told the Reedley City Council on June 10. “We’re gonna be tracking that process very closely.”
Salinas told the Reedley City Council that projects that made the list ask for funding amounts that range from as low as $1 million to larger projects between $5 million and $7 million. If it is approved, the Reedley community could see $3 million go toward Reedley College for an agriculture innovation center.
Reedley’s neighboring communities could also benefit from the budget appropriations, Salinas said. Costa has requested $1 million to help the city of Parlier complete the renovation of its police department, $1.4 million to help Dinuba replace its 70-year-old water tower and $2 million to help build a new police station in Orange Cove.
The city of Fresno could see funding from four projects that made it on the list, including $5 million in improvements for the Fresno Yosemite International Airport, $5 million for the extension of the San Joaquin River Parkway, $2 million for a Fresno Area Business Development Incubator and $1.5 million for a Clean Air Mobility Network project.
Also included on the final project list is a request of $5.5 million for a partnership between Fresno County and the Central California Food Bank to build a 23,000 square-foot volunteer center. According to Costa’s website, the volunteer center would enhance the food bank’s volunteer capacity, provide job training and increase access to healthy food.
In Kingsburg, Costa has requested $2.62 million for the construction of a new emergency operations center for the city.
Projects that may receive funding in Tulare County include $7 million that would go toward the Tulare Irrigation District and its Kaweah River Siphon Resilience Project, $5 million to the Visalia Riggin Avenue Widening Project, $3.7 million to the Woodlake Storm Drain Enhancement Project and $3.5 million to the Exeter Street Improvement Project.
A request of $1.5 million was also included for a project that Tulare County, Salt+Light Works and Self-Help Enterprises are partnering on to build a social enterprise hub at the Neighborhood Village.
Members of Congress can submit up to 15 qualifying projects for consideration every year. The House Appropriations Committee reviews the projects before including them in the federal budget under the appropriate budget bill.
Due to the lengthy and political process of passing the federal budget, whether or not all of the projects will receive funding, as well as the exact amount of funding each project receives, is not set in stone until the budget is passed by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Anthony Camacho, communications director for Costa’s office, said that although the timeline for the budget’s passage is still uncertain, the office is continuing to advocate for all of the projects to be included.
If approved, the projects submitted by Costa would be funded in the 2025-26 fiscal year, which for the federal government begins on Oct. 1.
