Government funding bill will give $32 million to Wisconsin projects

Listen to this article

More than $32 million in federal funding will support projects in southeast Wisconsin, including affordable housing projects and training programs for craft construction workers.

The funding comes through a bipartisan federal spending package passed through the House of Representatives and was signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday, which ended a three-day government shutdown. Last year, the government shut down for more than 40 days when a continuing resolution repeatedly halted in the Senate.

The funding bill that passed on Tuesday will support 26 different projects in Wisconsin, including construction training programs, affordable housing projects and new public construction, said Sen. Tammy Baldwin‘s office. Funding also went to renovations, scholarships, childhood literacy programs and training in manufacturing and health care sectors.

A total of $6 million will go to affordable housing projects: $3 million for construction in the city of Kenosha, $1.5 million for construction by Communities of Crocus, $1 million for Acts Housing to acquire affordable housing and $500,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha and Jefferson Counties to build new housing, the senator’s office said.

Racine County will get $5 million for the construction of a mental health facility, the senator’s office said. The YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee will receive $4 million to build a health commons facility, and Versiti will receive $3 million to build the Versiti Blood Research Institute, officials added.

A total of $700,000 will be used to purchase equipment for the Iron Workers Local 8 Joint Apprenticeship and Advanced Journeyman Training Trust Fund, officials added.

“At a time when costs are rising, and families are struggling to make ends meet, I fought hard to bring home investments to address their kitchen table issues and our communities’ most pressing problems,” Baldwin said in a statement. “I worked closely with communities across Southeast Wisconsin to fund projects that will put high-quality health care within reach for more people, support our small businesses and entrepreneurs, and give more families the chance to buy a home.”

Here were the rest of the construction and workforce-related projects included in the round of funding.

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Nursing: $400,000 for the construction of a rehabilitation gym and lab simulation space.
• Milwaukee Area Technical College: $500,000 for a higher education scholarship.
• Concordia University, Inc.: $753,000 to improve current nursing facilities to increase enrollment to address workforce shortages.
• Employ Milwaukee: $900,000 for youth career exploration.
• Walworth County: $1,000,000 to renovate a vacant 30-bed skilled nursing unit to function as a Community Based Residential Facility.
• Moraine Park Technical College: $1,325,000 to acquire robotics equipment to train students for modern manufacturing environments.
• Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District: $250,000 for a schoolyard renovation.