Marin-area projects slated for $4.75M in federal earmarks

April 02, 2024

Projects benefiting Marin County will receive $4.75 million in federal earmarks as a result of the congressional appropriations bill for 2024.

“It was a hard battle to get here,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, a Democrat who lives in San Rafael. “After months of failing to pass their extreme appropriations bills, Republicans finally accepted help from House Democrats to create a sensible funding bill and pass it through the House, bringing us one step closer to ending their constant whiplash of government shutdown threats.”

Huffman had requested $7.85 million for four projects benefiting Marin, but ultimately $2.95 million was approved for three of the projects.

Huffman secured $1 million to bolster Marin dairy farms, which have struggled over recent years from drought and low milk prices. He had requested $2 million.

Huffman also had $850,000 approved for an effort to convert a former Coast Guard base in Point Reyes Station into affordable housing for seniors. He had requested $2.75 million for the project.

Huffman succeeded in winning $1.1 million to replace the Tolay Creek Bridge, a 60-foot-long, two-lane span along Highway 37, and to restore the Sonoma Creek Baylands. Both Huffman and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, had the Tolay Creek Bridge project on their earmark lists.

The project is considered a vital step in mitigating the effects of sea-level rise on the highway, and it will eliminate a bottleneck blamed for traffic delays and crashes.

In other earmarks, Congress approved $1.8 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Hamilton Wetlands restoration project. Sen. Alex Padilla and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, both Democrats, included the project on their list of requested earmarks. Feinstein died in September.

The amount of earmark funding secured for Marin projects was down from $6.95 million in 2023.

Nevertheless, Talia Smith, a Marin County administrative analyst, said, “I consider the fact that we got any earmarks a huge win.”

“It would have been fantastic if we got the full amount requested, but it’s not surprising that it ended up coming down,” Smith said. “I think it’s reflective of the House leadership this year and the really painful budget process that they went through.”

Before approving the final $1.2 trillion spending package on March 22, Congress adopted four continuing resolutions to avoid a government shutdown. Continuing resolutions are temporary spending bills that make it possible for federal government operations to continue when final appropriations have not been approved by Congress and the president.

If Congress had elected to finish out the year by passing continuing resolutions, none of the earmarks would have been approved.

“There was a big question mark as to what would happen between now and the end of the year,” Smith said.

Members of Congress are already determining which projects they will request earmark funding for in next year’s budget. They each consider requests from constituents. However, Padilla and Sen. Laphonza Butler, who was appointed to replace Feinstein, have already stopped taking new applications.

Smith said Marin County is asking all three of Marin’s congressional representatives to request $2.5 million for renovations to the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children’s Center. The county is also requesting $2.45 million in earmark funding for a major Bolinas Road repair project.

Last year, only one of the three projects the county requested earmark money for was funded, the dairy project. The county’s requests for $1 million for the rehabilitation of Golden Gate Village and $477,000 for emergency medical services in West Marin went unheeded.

“As to the prospects for earmark funding in fiscal year 2025,” Smith said, “I think it really depends on what happens in November. ”


By:  RICHARD HALSTEAD
Source: Marin Independent Journal