{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-secures-key-funding-priorities-for-connecticut-congress-passes-budget-900-billion-covid-relief-package", "Murphy Secures Key Funding Priorities For Connecticut; Congress Passes Budget, $900 Billion COVID Relief PackageRead More", "2020-12-22", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTONU.S.\r\nSenator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S.Senate\r\nAppropriations Committee, released the following statement after passage of\r\ntheCoronavirus Relief & Omnibus Agreement, which includes key funding\r\npriorities and legislation Murphy authored to help Connecticut. Specifically,\r\nthe legislation repeals the mandate to sell Plum Island and includes $18.9\r\nmillion to clean up the island, provides$700 million for Amtrak's\r\nNortheast Corridor and an additional $1 billion in COVID relief funding to\r\nAmtrak, provides $30.4 million in funding for the Long Island Sound Geographic\r\nProgram, and includes $135.5 million for construction of a new courthouse in\r\nHartford. The bill also includes the Mental\r\nHealth Parity Compliance Act of 2019,\r\nlegislation Murphy introduced with U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.)\r\nthat will provide federal and state health insurance regulators with additional\r\ntools to monitor and assure compliance with mental health parity laws. I'm on\r\nthe Appropriations Committee to make sure that Connecticut's priorities are\r\nincluded in the federal budget, and the bill we passed today is a clear win for\r\nour state, said\r\nMurphy. This funding package includes important money for testing and\r\nvaccine distribution that will help us combat COVID-19, and direct cash\r\npayments and small business assistance to help those in need. I'm also glad to\r\nsee funding in this bill that supports longstanding local priorities like\r\nAmtrak, the Long Island Sound, and the new Coast Guard Museum, in addition to\r\nlanguage repealing the mandate to sell Plum Island and providing first-time\r\nfunding for the Hartford courthouse project. Finally, as we've seen mental\r\nhealth issues spike throughout COVID-19, I'm also proud my bipartisan\r\nlegislation that cracks down on insurers who don't pay for mental health\r\ntreatment was included in this bill. Of course, there is a lot more work to do\r\nand I look forward to getting back to work with President-elect Biden. The\r\nCoronavirus Relief & Omnibus Agreement alsoincludes: \r\nAn\r\nadditional $5 million in funding for the Coast Guard museum in New London; \r\n$30.4\r\nmillion for the Long Island Sound Geographic program, a nearly 50% increase\r\nfrom last year's levels; \r\n$109\r\nmillion for magnet schools, an increase of $2 million from last year, as well\r\nas a language repealing the only remaining prohibition on using federal funds\r\nfor transportation to carry out school desegregation efforts. This means more\r\nflexibility for magnets as well as school districts more broadly to fund\r\nefforts to increase school diversity; \r\n$25\r\nmillion for gun violence research within the Centers for\r\nDiseaseControland Prevention (CDC) and the National\r\nInstitutesof Health (NIH); \r\n$85\r\nmillion for the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)\r\nInitiative grants to help strengthen background checks, a $6.7 million increase\r\nfrom last year; \r\n$4.5\r\nbillion direct to states for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, monitoring, and\r\ntracking, including a targeted investment of $300 million for high-risk and\r\nunderserved populations; \r\nLanguage\r\nto phase down the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)extremely potent greenhouse\r\ngases that are used in air conditioners and refrigeratorsby 85 percent over\r\nthe next 15 years; \r\n$5\r\nmillion to conduct COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution on Capitol Hill,\r\nafter Murphy\r\nled a letter to Senate and House leadership calling for a comprehensive\r\ntesting plan for everyone who works in and around the Capitol; \r\n$13\r\nbillion to increase SNAP benefits by 15%, following a\r\nletter Murphy co-led with Senator Merkley that called for the same increase\r\nas well as language expanding SNAP to college students as Senator Murphy has\r\nchampioned;  \r\n$2\r\nmillion for the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and\r\nTechnology to partner with a university to study and develop a reliable and\r\ncost-effective standard for testing for the presence of excessive pyrrhotite in\r\nconcrete, which is the root of the crumbling foundations problem plaguing\r\nConnecticut; \r\n$10\r\nmillion for Highlands Conservation Act, one of the most significant federal\r\ninvestments of conservation funding inConnecticutthat allows state\r\nandmunicipal land trusts to conserve thousands ofacres\r\nofland; and \r\n$5\r\nbillion towards aerospace and defense manufacturing in Connecticut that will\r\nkeep jobs and increase demand for Connecticut manufacturers, expand funds for\r\nWorkforce Development Programs, and authorize advanced payments to small and\r\nmedium aerospace and defense businesses. ###", 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://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-secures-key-funding-priorities-for-connecticut-congress-passes-budget-900-billion-covid-relief-package"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7460990455001593, "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"}