Hunter
06/08/24
US House members from Iowa have requested funding for local community projects to be included in next year’s appropriations bills.
The Gazette reports Republican Reps. Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn each submitted the maximum number of requests. Rep. Randy Feenstra didn’t submit any for the fourth straight year. His office did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Miller-Meeks requested over $52 million in funding; Hinson requested over $38 million, while Nunn asked for nearly $25 million.
Appropriations bills signed into law by President Biden earlier this year covering the fiscal year ending September 30th included more than $82 million for projects in Iowa.
Hinson is the only Iowan now serving on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. Her projects received more than $27 million in funding, compared to more than $28 million for Miller-Meeks requests and over 26 million for Nunn-requested funding.
Among the funding requests affecting the area are for an advanced drought information system, an intersection rebuild in Coralville at the corner of US 6 and Deer Creek Road, a redundant power project for flood control in Cedar Rapids, a De-Icing facility at the Eastern Iowa Airport, and a Swine Career and Technical Education Barn at Kirkwood Community College.
House Republicans have been criticized for the perceived hypocrisy of demanding steep budget cuts across the federal government to non-defense discretionary spending while asking for millions of dollars to support projects in their own districts.