Nearly $200 million in Colorado projects included in Congressional omnibus bill

Included in the $1.7 trillion government funding bill, which Congress hopes to pass by the end of the week in order to avert a shutdown, is $178 million for Colorado projects.

All of Colorado’s Democratic members of Congress submitted requests for what’s called community project funding (if you’re in the House) or congressionally directed spending (if you’re in the Senate), but more commonly known as earmarks. 

Sen. John Hickenlooper had more than 90 requests fulfilled. Sen. Michael Bennet had more than 80. U.S. Representatives were limited to 15 requests each, but Rep. Jason Crow saw all 15 of his honored. Reps. Diana DeGette and Joe Neguse each got 14 through, and outgoing Rep. Ed Perlmutter had 12 approved. 

Colorado’s GOP House members, Reps. Lauren Boebert, Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, once again chose not to utilize earmarks, unlike many of their Republican colleagues. They have argued it’s a process ripe for corruption or unnecessary government spending, in spite of guardrails Congress put in place to prevent corruption when both chambers brought back earmarks.

For their part, Colorado’s Democrats argue earmarks are an important way for local communities to have their voices heard.

“Coloradans know best what their communities need,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “These projects are examples of how everyone wins when Washington listens to the needs of the people we serve.”

Bennet added it’s a way for Colorado and Washington, D.C. to be better partners. “From upgrading water infrastructure to increasing access to affordable housing to investing in minority-owned businesses, these projects will help meet the needs of Coloradans and continue our work of building an economy that works for everyone and every community,” he said in a statement.

The projects range in size and scope, from $86,000 for a crime and accident scene scanner for Pueblo and $317,000 for body cameras for the Rifle police department, to $4 million for RTD’s Central Corridor Rail Replacement and $4 million to help the Coalition for the Homeless purchase an abandoned hotel in Denver.

“These projects will make more housing and health care services available in some of our most underserved communities. And while they alone will not solve all the issues facing our community, these projects will provide critical assistance to so many in our area who desperately need help,” DeGette said in a statement. 

The budget bill contains wins for both sides of the aisle, including increased defense spending; additional funding for Ukraine; a boost in SNAP, formerly known as food stamps; $515 million for the PILT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) Program that supports counties with a lot of federal land; and $14 million for a Fire Station Support Building at Fort Carson.

The bill will also contain a provision banning TikTok on government phones, a measure that Buck had championed in the House, and provisions for the Afghan special immigrant visa program that Crow pushed for. The program will be extended for a year and issue an additional 4,000 visas. Additionally, lawmakers agreed to include the Electoral Count Reform Act in the must-pass bill.

Hickenlooper and Neguse also saw their bill to protect four threatened and endangered fish in the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins included in the government spending bill.

Other bills Colorado legislators hoped to get included did not make the cut, however, such as Perlmutter’s bill to give cannabis companies access to financial services, the expanded Child Tax Credit, and a last-minute push to increase visas and provide a pathway for citizenship to farm workers.

Bennet said he’s not giving up on the expanded Child Tax Credit. He said he will continue to oppose tax cuts for corporations if an expanded CTC is not also considered. And he added he’ll push to get the H-2A farm worker reforms passed in the next session.

“Congress has a responsibility to save our family farms and ranches, fix our broken immigration system, secure our nation’s food supply, and lower costs for American families. We cannot let politics stop us from taking action,” he said in a statement.

The budget was supposed to be passed by the end of September, but top appropriators could not agree on a topline number and it was also delayed by the midterm elections. 

The text of the bill was released in the early hours of Tuesday. The Senate could pass it as soon as Wednesday, with the House coming back to vote on the bill.

Colorado Earmarks in FY23 Omnibus