Press Releases
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers (KY-05) voted for the House Appropriations Interior and Environment bill, funding related agencies with over $25 billion, which is $21 billion below President Biden's inflated budget request. Congressman Rogers continues to serve as a senior appropriator in Washington and was able to secure nearly $13 million in Community Project Funding earmarks for four water and wastewater projects in Boyd, Rowan, Floyd and Lawrence counties in Eastern Kentucky. Congressman Rogers also secured an additional $135 million for the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) grant program that he created in 2016, with $29 million exclusively for Appalachian Kentucky coal communities.
"This important federal funding bill reigns in the Biden Administration's wasteful spending and job killing regulations. House Republicans are committed to reducing our nation's deficit one spending bill at a time, and ensuring that taxpayer dollars are used wisely," said Congressman Rogers, Dean of the House. "I was proud to secure critical funding for water and wastewater projects in Eastern Kentucky, as well as grant funding to continue revitalizing our coal communities that have been devastated by the war on coal."
The Interior bill fully funds the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, which provides much needed funding in communities, like McCreary County, that have reduced tax revenue due to an abundance of federal land in their borders. Eastern Kentucky communities received more than $2 million from PILT funds in fiscal year 2023. It also blocks unnecessary restrictions on hunting, fishing and recreational shooting on federal lands.
Pushing back on the Biden Administration's extreme climate agenda, the bill also reduces the EPA's budget by 39 percent, clawing back climate justice funding, and repealing job killing regulations such as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation.
The House passed the bill 213 to 203 and it now moves on to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
For more information about Congressman Rogers' work in Washington and at home in Kentucky, visit halrogers.house.gov and follow him on social media.