March 9, 2022

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) secured $15,156,000 in Community Project Funding with the passage of H.R. 2471, which Cleaver proudly supported. The Community Project Funding, included in the fiscal year 2022 government funding package soon to be signed into law, will provide federal dollars for critical local projects throughout the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri, including in Kansas City, Raytown, Marshall, Slater, and Lexington, Missouri.

“It has been a long and difficult journey to get this historic, bipartisan budget across the finish line, but I am incredibly excited for the profound impact it will have on local communities in Kansas City, Raytown, Slater, Lexington, Marshall, and all throughout our congressional district,” said Congressman Cleaver. “Whether it is the regional affordable housing initiative in Kansas City, the MLK Pedestrian Bridge at Brush Creek, or a new building to expand Missouri Valley College’s Nursing Program, federal funding for these long overdue projects will foster economic development, create jobs, and meet the local needs of communities in Western Missouri. I am proud to have secured all ten of my Community Project Funding requests in 2022, and as Congress immediately begins discussions on next year’s appropriations package, I will continue working overtime to bring hard-earned taxpayer dollars back to the Fifth District.”

Congressman Cleaver championed funding for 10 projects that will directly benefit residents of the Fifth Congressional District of Missouri—and all 10 were included in this year’s appropriations package. These projects include:

• $3,000,000 for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) to help provide affordable housing production in low-income neighborhoods, as well as homeownership education, down payment assistance, and minor home repair;
• $2,800,000 million to build the MLK Park Pedestrian Bridge at Brush Creek to connect communities, schools, and affordable housing along the north and south banks of Brush Creek;
• $2,500,000 for University Health to create a state-of-the-art substance use treatment center in the heart of Kansas City’s UMKC Health Sciences District;
• $2,000,000 for the Health Care Coalition of Rural Missouri to improve services in Lexington and Buckner, Missouri;
• $2,000,000 for Missouri Valley College to build a new 17,000 square foot Health Professions Building to house the Nursing Program and ultimately other health care profession programs;
• $1,259,000 for the Mattie Rhodes Cultural Center to meet the needs of a growing and evolving Westside community in Kansas City;
• $1,000,000 for the demolition and abatement of the former Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall, Missouri, so the property can be transformed into 56 safe, affordable workforce housing units for families;
• $250,000 to support the Aim4Peace Hospital-based Violence Intervention Program, which serves victims of violence and their families;
• $200,000 to renovate the 33-year-old Raytown Chamber of Commerce Building and add necessary ADA accessibility at the entrance and interior; and
• $147,000 for the City of Slater to develop new well field protection measures to assure businesses and residents of northeast Saline County have an uninterrupted supply of portable water during periods of seasonal flooding.

The twelve-bill government funding package will help middle-class families with the cost of living, create American jobs, support the most vulnerable Americans, and works to help small businesses and restaurants that are key to local economies and our nation’s economic future. Taken together, the Community Project Funding for the Fifth Congressional District and funding increases for critical government programs will reverse decades of disinvestment in our communities and help build a better America.

The government funding package will be voted on by the Senate and signed into law by President Biden later this week.

A detailed summary of the bill is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee’s Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. For more information, please contact Matt Helfant at 202-590-0175 or [email protected]