Calhoun Homes, Inc. Among Recipients of Recent 2024 Funding Bills

In a press release issued by Senator Joe Manchin on Thursday, July 20th, 2023, Calhoun Homes, Inc. was one of the 61 recipients of funding. Calhoun Homes, located at Mt. Zion, WV is a Family low income housing apartment subsidized by the federal governments HUD (Housing and Urban Development Division). The 24 unit housing complex received $200,000 in funding for a critical housing stabilization and weatherization project.

Two others funding recipients of interest to the area was the City of Spencer who received $1,500,000 for the Spencer Development Authority’s downtown housing rehabilitation. The purpose of their funding will be used to create housing units in the Chandler Building.

Mountaineer Food Bank of Gassaway also received funding. The food bank is a valuable resource to assist Calhoun Food pantries. The Food Bank received $1,000,000 to expand and reconfigure their main warehouse.

**Full Press Release Below**

Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, secured a number of West Virginia priorities in the Appropriations Committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2024 Energy and Water (E&W); Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD); and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) funding bills. This funding includes $77 million earmarked for specific West Virginia projects, including $12.5 million for Corridor H and $5 million for the Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau, among others. Millions more will be allocated to West Virginia for highways, critical infrastructure, and other important programs.

The Senate Appropriations Committee continues to work through the rest of the funding bills, which will hopefully be voted on by the full Senate later this year.

“I am pleased that the Committee has advanced bipartisan appropriations bills that provide funding to West Virginia for some of the state’s top priorities: supporting coal communities that built this great nation, completing Corridor H, and addressing youth homelessness. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I am committed to bringing back regular order, doing our job, and passing these funding bills on time to deliver these crucial resources to West Virginia,” said Senator Manchin.

West Virginia priorities included in the FY24 Energy and Water funding bill:

• National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL): $144 million for NETL including $89 million for research and operations and $55 million for NETL infrastructure. NETL, with a primary location in Morgantown, WV, is the only national laboratory owned and operated by the Department of Energy (DOE). Its mission is to strengthen our nation’s security, improve our nation’s environment, and advance energy options that fuel our nation’s economy.
  • Senator Manchin included language prohibiting funds to plan, develop, implement or pursue the consolidation or closure of any NETL sites and directs DOE to prioritize the Joule super-computer, site-wide upgrades for safety, and addressing and avoiding deferred maintenance.  
• Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM): $892 million for FECM which uses research, development, demonstration, and deployment (RDD&D) approaches to advance technologies to reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts of fossil fuel production and use. The organization includes the National Energy Technology Laboratory, the only government-owned and government-operated lab, with an office in Morgantown, WV.
  • CCUS: Carbon Capture received at $135 million. Carbon Management Technologies overall received $462 million.
• Weatherization Assistance Program: $326 million for the Weatherization Assistance Program, which reduces energy costs for low-income households by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes, while ensuring their health and safety.
• Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization: $5 million for the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, which facilitates economic revitalization in coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities and supports workers.

West Virginia priorities included in the FY24 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill:

• Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS): $350 million in funding for ADHS, which works to complete a system of designated corridors and roadways within the 13 States that make up the Appalachian Region, including Corridor H.
  • $12.5 million in dedicated funding for Corridor H through Congressionally Directed Spending.
• Autonomous Vehicle Research in Rural Areas Includes language expressing concern about DOT’s delays in awarding funding to the higher education consortia working on autonomous vehicle research in rural communities and directs DOT to brief this committee on its plan to adhere to congressional intent.
• Grants in Aide for Airports: $500 million for the Grants in Aid to Airports Program, which is a critical source of funding to help airports improve safety and continue to modernize. It also includes prioritization of small airports and expanded terminal eligibility.
• Essential Air Service (EAS) Program: $348 million in funding for EAS program, which connects over 170 small communities to major airports and metropolitan areas throughout the country.
• Crashworthiness Research: $222 million in funding for Crashworthiness research. Senator Manchin also included language recognizing the importance of lightweight plastics and polymer composites play to improving automotive safety, meeting consumer demand for innovative and autonomous vehicles, increasing fuel efficiency, and supporting new highly skilled manufacturing jobs. It also directs National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to leverage lessons learned from lightweight materials research for future lightweight automotive design.
• Homeless Assistance Grants: $3.9 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, which provide funding for West Virginia local governments and nonprofit providers to serve individuals experiencing homelessness.
• U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH): $4.3 million for USICH, which coordinates federal government efforts to prevent and solve homelessness.
• HOME Investment Partnerships Program: $1.5 billion for the HOME program, which is the largest federal block grant to increase physical housing stock.
• Addressing homelessness:
  • Language directing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to report on the feasibility of collecting eviction, foreclosure, and overall housing loss data which will be critical in determining the number of additional West Virginians at risk of homelessness.
  • Language to urge federal agencies to redouble their focus on youth homelessness.
  • Language that directs that federal homeless prevention grant programs operate on two-year, rather than one-year, cycles to provide nonprofits with the time and certainty they need to serve our most vulnerable citizens.

West Virginia priorities included in the FY24 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs funding bill:

• Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs: These programs foster engagement and encourage dialogue with citizens around the world, particularly with educators and students, with the goal of promoting mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.
• Fulbright Program: The Fulbright Program is America’s flagship international exchange program. For 75 years, Fulbright has built a network of experts and leaders including heads of state, ministers, leading researchers, and public health officials.
• National Endowment for Democracy: The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) makes more than 1,600 grants to support projects of non-governmental groups abroad.
• Democracy Fund: The Democracy Fund is reflective of the United States’ commitment to liberty, democracy, and rule of law.
• Global Health Programs: USAID has been successful in saving the lives of millions of children through its investment and implementation of nutrition programs, and progress against global malnutrition must be accelerated using transformative approaches to improve the mechanisms that affect the nutritional status of women and children. Additionally, reporting on nutrition-specific outcomes and coordination between the Bureau for Global Health, the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security and the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance will ensure that U.S. government investments in nutrition are efficient, effective and maximized to reduce maternal and child malnutrition and mortality.

Senator Manchin also secured $77,369,233 in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests or ‘earmarks’ in both the FY24 E&W and THUD funding bills. The Senate Appropriations Committee allows members of Congress to submit CDS requests, which provide opportunities for state and local governments, non-profits, and other public entities to receive targeted funding for projects that bolster their communities.

 Energy and Water Development

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies