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The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan federal spending bill on Thursday afternoon which includes nearly $11 million in federal funding for projects in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, including a fire station in Palo Alto, road improvements in Woodside and affordable housing in Mountain View.
Together with an additional $3.2 million passed through spending bills passed last week, the money will fund 15 projects throughout the district in affordable housing, homelessness response, coastal resilience, and infrastructure improvements, according to a U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo press release. Liccardo represents the state’s 16th congressional district, encompassing Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos and Menlo Park, and other parts of Santa Clara and San Mateo County. The Senate will likely vote on the legislation next week, which is expected to pass and avert a partial federal government shutdown ahead of the Jan. 30 deadline.
“Even with Washington at its most dysfunctional, we keep pushing to bring local taxpayer dollars back home,” said Liccardo in the press release. “These investments reach every corner of our district—supporting affordable housing, tackling homelessness, strengthening our resilience, and bolstering public safety. Local leaders pointed us toward our needs, and I’m proud we delivered.”
Four local projects are expected to receive funding, according to Liccardo’s office. In Palo Alto, $850,000 was earmarked to replace the city’s Fire Station 4 on Middlefield Road. The city broke ground on the replacement of the aging fire station on Jan. 9, which was built in 1953 and had been identified by the city as substandard in 2014.
“This station is more than a building,” Fire Chief Stephen Lindsey said in a previous interview with the Palo Alto Weekly. “It’s a commitment to ensuring our firefighters have the facilities they need to protect lives and property, today and in the future.”
The Mountain View will receive funding for two projects, including $2 million for the city’s Evelyn Avenue affordable housing project, a development for low-income residents that is expected to add 143 affordable units to the city’s housing supply. It will also get $1.1 million for the city’s Charleston Slough tide gates improvement project, which aims to prevent flooding during major storms.
In Woodside, $250,000 was allocated for a bridge replacement project on Mountain Home Road. The funding will be used to replace a historic, aging bridge that provides crucial transportation connections in Woodside. The city has sought money to replace the bridge since at least 2012.
The legislation included four spending bills totaling $1.2 trillion, according to reporting from The Washington Post. Three of the bills passed with wide bipartisan support. They funded various departments, including the departments of Defense, Education, Transportation, and Health and Human Services. The fourth bill, which funded the Department of Homeland Security, passed with limited support from Democrats, who expressed harsh objection to funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7.
The bill was approved by a tally of 220-207, with seven Democrats voting for the bill and 206 Democrats opposing it.
