Senate Appropriations Committee Advances Interior And Transportation, Housing, & Urban Development Funding Bills With Illinois Priorities Secured By Durbin, Duckworth

SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) announced that the Senate Appropriations Committee advanced a funding bill for Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, as well as for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26). Durbin and Duckworth worked to secure various priorities for Illinois in the appropriations bills, both through Congressionally Directed Spending requests and through the programmatic appropriations process.
“It is the responsibility of Congress to fund our government programs and agencies through the appropriations process. Rather than rely on continuing resolutions, I hope that we can prioritize a true bipartisan process to pass these funding bills through the Senate in a timely process,”said Durbin.“While the Trump Administration continues to drain resources from critical programs, I will fight for the funding and support for the programs Illinoisans rely on.”

“Our state and our nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families—and that’s what these bipartisan funding bills do,”Duckworth said.“Appropriating federal funding is the primary role of Congress, and it’s critical this responsibility remains in the legislative branch. I’m proud I was able to help secure critical support for projects throughout Illinois that help modernize our state’s infrastructure, clean up our water, improve accessibility and more.”
The two funding bills include the following Illinois priorities secured by Congressionally Directed Spending requests:
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
·City of Chester, Chester, Illinois.$1.2 million to the City of Chester to help fund the Route 150 water main replacement.
·City of Markham, Markham, Illinois.$1.5 million to the City of Markham to help fund water system infrastructure improvements.
·Infrastructure Improvements, Lockport, Illinois.$250,000 to the Bonnie Brae Forest Manor Sanitary District to fund water main infrastructure improvement projects.
·Lead Service Line Replacements, Chicago, Illinois.$2 million to the City of Chicago to replace more than 200 lead service lines. Chicago has more lead service lines than any other municipality in the country and the majority of properties in Chicago receive their water from lead service lines.
·Lead Service Line Replacements, Macomb, Illinois.$1 million to the City of Macomb to replace lead drinking water service lines in various locations throughout the City.
·PFAS Remediation, Rockford, Illinois:$1 million to Winnebago County to help fund water infrastructure upgrades to address PFAS contamination in Rockford.
·Stormwater and Flooding Mitigation Project, Carbondale, Illinois.$1.5 million for the City of Carbondale to replace storm sewer piping. The failing pipes cause frequent flooding during significant rain events and is also causing pavement failures on an arterial street that is heavily traveled.
·Wastewater Improvements, Paris, Illinois.$500,000 to the City of Paris to help fund wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
·Water Main Extension, Winnebago County, Illinois.$600,000 to Winnebago County to extend a water main to provide water to additional areas of the County.
·Water Main Improvements, Park Forest, Illinois.$1.45 million to the Village of Park Forest to replace the highest priority water main.
·Water Main Replacement, Springfield, Illinois.$900,000 to the City of Springfield to replace a water main on South Seventh Street in downtown Springfield. The water main was installed in 1931 and has had 27 breaks and is need of replacement. The main serves the historic downtown Springfield area, including Lincoln’s Home National Historic Site Visitor Center, the Illinois State Police Memorial Park, Springfield Clinic, and the Elijah Iles House.
·Well Reconstruction and Water Treatment, Machesney Park and Roscoe, Illinois.$1 million to North Park Public Water District for the reconstruction of Roscoe and Machesney Park’s well to accommodate PFAS treatment. This funding will ensure continued access to a reliable source of safe, plentiful, and affordable drinking water for the communities of Machesney Park and Roscoe in Winnebago County, Illinois.

Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
·Accessibility Upgrades, Chicago, Illinois.$750,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago to help fund accessibility upgrades at the Boys and Girls Club True Value in Little Village.
·Affordable Housing, Edwardsville, Illinois.$1 million to Home First Housing to help expand affordable housing units in Edwardsville.
·Affordable Housing, Joliet, Illinois:$1 million to Volunteers of America Illinois to help fund the expansion of Hope Manor Village Joliet’s housing development initiative.
·Capital Improvements, Chicago, Illinois.$500,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago to make capital improvements at the Bartlett J. McCartin Boys & Girls Club in the Bridgeport neighborhood of Chicago.
·City of Marseilles, Marseilles, Illinois.$1.5 million to the City of Marseilles to help fund the Sycamore Street Bridge rehabilitation.
·Construction of the National Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, Chicago, Illinois.$2.5 million to Illinois Institute of Technology to fund construction of a facility to serve as the National Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (NIAM). The NIAM on IIT’s Bronzeville Campus will train more than 4,000 students in advanced manufacturing fields through in-person instruction and online curricula.
·Economic Hub Project, Carbondale, Illinois.$693,000 to Carbondale Community Arts, Inc. (d.b.a. Artspace 304) to make facility improvements for an economic hub.
·Equipment Upgrades, Chicago, Illinois.$722,000 to Navy Pier Inc. to upgrade the Pier’s surveillance apparatus to ensure the safety of the Pier’s guests and businesses.

·Environmental Justice Institute, Chicago, Illinois.$900,000 to People for Community Recovery to help fund the development of the Hazel M. Johnson Institute for Sustainability and Environmental Justice.
·Facilities Improvements and Technology Upgrades, Carbondale, Illinois.$500,000 to Southern Illinois University’s (SIU) Center for Teaching Excellence to revitalize learning spaces at the SIU campus and community colleges throughout Southern Illinois.
·Facility Improvements, Springfield, Illinois.$450,000 to the Lincoln Presidential Foundation for facility improvements at the Visitor Center at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.
·Fire Truck, North Chicago, Illinois.$861,000 to the City of North Chicago to purchase a new fire truck, as the City’s current fire truck has exceeded its useful life by nearly 10 years.
·Food Security Project, Hamilton, Illinois.$2.5 million to the City of Hamilton to establish a rural health village, in partnership with Memorial Hospital, to address food insecurities in the region by offering meal subscription/prescription programming, home-delivered meals, and more.

·Infrastructure Developments, Chicago, Illinois:$1.6 million to North Lawndale Catalyst Impact Initiative, Inc. to help fund infrastructure developments in Chicago’s North Lawndale community.
·Infrastructure Updates, Mascoutah, Illinois.$4 million to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport to help fund infrastructure upgrades at airport.
·Land Remediation, Will County, Illinois.$3 million to the State of Illinois, in coordination with the State of Michigan, to remediate 3.6 acres of land on the bank of the channel of the Des Plaines River needed for construction of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Interbasin Project.
·Station Improvements, Macomb, Illinois.$134,000 to the Illinois Department of Transportation to make improvements to Macomb’s Amtrak Station, including HVAC upgrades, electrical work, and painting.
·Supportive Housing Development, Arlington Heights, Illinois.$750,000 to Full Circle Communities for construction of a housing development to support veterans and people with disabilities.
·Track Reconstruction Design, Chicago, Illinois.$2 million to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to fund design of track reconstruction of CTA's Blue Line Forest Park Branch from Western Avenue to Lathrop Avenue, a roughly 6.5-mile section of the line. This reconstruction is needed in order to improve safety and on-time performance of the Forest Park Branch.
·Trail Extension, Normal, Illinois.$1.9 million to the Town of Normal to fund engineering and construction of a trail connection. This will close a gap in pedestrian and bicycle accommodations between the existing Constitution Trail network and major employers located in west Normal, and promote safe multimodal travel by separating pedestrians and cyclists from motor vehicles.
·Transit Improvements; Vermilion County, Williamson County, and Jackson County; Illinois.$3.711 million to the Illinois Department of Transportation to fulfill ongoing transit needs, including vehicle and equipment purchases, maintenance, and other improvements for transit agencies serving Carbondale, Marion, and Danville.

·Transitional Shelter, Chicago, Illinois.$650,000 to BEDS Plus, Inc. to help fund the expansion of transitional shelter services at BEDS Plus Inc.
·Transportation Center Pedestrian Access Improvements, Normal, Illinois.$1.6 million to Connect Transit to improve pedestrian access to the City of Bloomington’s Downtown Transportation Center.
·Unhoused Population Support, Carbondale, Illinois:$2 million to the City of Carbondale to help fund the development of a new homeless center facility in Carbondale.
·Workforce Accelerator Program, Chicago, Illinois.$1 million to the North Lawndale Employment Network to transform a vacant lot across the street from its workforce development campus to offer an agricultural and environmental workforce accelerator program.

·Youth Mentoring, Springfield, Illinois.$1 million to The Outlet Mentoring Program to help fund the development of a youth mentoring center in Springfield.

The two funding bills include additional Illinois priorities secured through the programmatic appropriations process:
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Department of Interior
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
oUrban and Community Forestry (Chicago Region Trees Initiative).Includes language prioritizing multi-organizational collaborations to support conservation and offset climate change for urban and community forestry grants.
oMigratory Bird Management Program, Incidental Take.Includes language supporting an incidental take authorization program for theMigratory Bird Treaty Act, which will help bird species that are experiencing populationdecline.

National Park Service

Land and Water Conservation Fund

Environmental Protection Agency

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development
Department of Transportation

Department of Housing and Urban Development

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