The Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee recently published the majority’s proposal for the Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) appropriations bills. As a senior member of the Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) included $491 million in Congressionally Directed Spending to support more than 130 projects throughout Alaska. She prioritized investments in workforce development, housing, healthcare, water and wastewater infrastructure, community safety, fisheries research, wildfire mitigation and response, working waterfronts, and Alaska’s military members and their families.
“Alaskans have asked me for help in addressing their community priorities, and in my position on the Appropriations Committee, I successfully advocated for them. I’m proud to have included in these draft bills such a significant investment that will be spread across our state.
“Alaskans have asked for my help in addressing workforce shortages, food insecurity, and lack of housing. To support Anchorage’s police force, the Alaska State Troopers, and the readiness of our military. To enable the expansion of the port in Dutch Harbor, a significant study of the proposed Alaska Gasline, and the construction of new backcountry trails. And I was able to include funding for each of those priorities.
“In addition, I’ve worked with local leaders to include funding to mitigate the threat of wildfires, remediate contaminated ANCSA lands, and provide safe and clean drinking and wastewater systems. Multiple projects will reduce the cost and increase accessibility to healthcare and childcare. And I continue to prioritize some of the most vulnerable, yet resilient, Alaskans by funding projects for victims of domestic violence, to house those experiencing homelessness, and to support the Alaska Native Justice Center.
“It is important to remember that this is just one step in the year-long appropriations process. The Committee leadership must still come together to agree on the process for moving all 12 Appropriations bills, so that we can continue our essential work to fund the federal government for the next fiscal year.”
The Congressionally Directed Spending process restores Alaskans’ ability to have a voice in federal budget decisions by helping to identify and address needs in the state. Without this process, many of these dollars would flow to other states based on decisions made at federal departments and agencies. The list of Congressionally Directed Spending allocations that Senator Murkowski included for Alaska for Fiscal Year 2023 is below.
Among Senator Murkowski’s programmatic wins, she also increased funding for the Denali Commission, including $42 million to continue to build infrastructure and working waterfronts in rural Alaska, as well as included $39.9 million for abandoned well remediation in the NPR-A.
Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
Financial Services and General Government
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
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