{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://finkenauer.house.gov/media/press-releases/finkenauer-announces-94-million-grant-iowa-bus-system-improvements", "Finkenauer Announces $9.4 Million Grant for Iowa Bus System Improvements", "2019-11-21", "2019", "2019-11", "Democrat", "House", "IA", "Abby Finkenauer", "F000467", "finkenauer.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  Today, Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer (IA-01)announced the Iowa Department of Transportation will receive a $9,414,785.00 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Buses and Bus Facilities Program. \nThis grant will help the State finance buses and bus facilities capital projects, including replacing, rehabilitating, purchasing or leasing buses or related equipment, and rehabilitating, purchasing, constructing or leasing bus-related facilities. \nIowa has one of the oldest bus systems in the country, and ensuring it stays up and running is critical to ensuring Iowans can get to work, Congresswoman Finkenauer said, I am happy to see this significant investment being made in our state. I'm hopeful that this will result in direct and noticeable improvements for people in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Dubuque, and the rest our district and state. Whether it's our crumbling roads and bridges, or our public transportation systems, it is critical that we keep working to improve our infrastructure. According to the Iowa Department of Transportation, the grant will be used to replace 107 of the oldest public transportation buses in the state.21 public transportation systems will receive funding. \nEarlier this year, Rep. Finkenauer urged the House Appropriations Committee to increase funding for this important program.\nLast year, Iowa received a $7,000,000 grant from the same U.S. DOT program which was meant to replace rural buses. Iowa has 23 rural public transit systems that provided 4.3 million trips in 2017. \nCongresswoman Finkenauer serves as Vice Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. She is committed to rebuilding Iowa's infrastructure, and ensuring it's done with quality American-made materials and by local, local hard-working skilled laborers. Finkenauer has championed the bipartisanRural Road Safety Act and Fixing America's Bridges Act.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://finkenauer.house.gov/media/press-releases/finkenauer-announces-94-million-grant-iowa-bus-system-improvements"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7778198923915625, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}