Carson City gets its piece of $1.7 trillion spending bill

Carson City is getting a late holiday gift in the form of $1.1 million in federal infrastructure funding for a south Carson project.

“This project includes a traffic signal and intersection improvements in Carson City’s designated Redevelopment Area #2,” reads a project description on U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei’s website. “This is an area identified by the city as an area to plan, incentivize and encourage revitalization with the hope of encouraging and attracting private sector investment that may not otherwise occur.”

The funding stems from the Community Project Funding (CPF) program, which starts with local requests that make their way through the federal appropriations process. Carson City’s award is rolled up in the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress on Dec. 23. According to the House Committee on Appropriations, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 includes $1.7 trillion in “discretionary resources” for this federal fiscal year, including $800 billion in non-defense funding.

“This is the highest level for non-defense funding ever and a larger increase in both dollar and percentage than fiscal year 2022,” reads the committee’s website.

On Wednesday, Amodei, a Republican, told the Appeal he has no philosophical problems with the CPF program – which starts at the local level – but couldn’t support the omnibus bill as a whole. Having voted against the bill, Amodei pointed out the legislation is more than 4,000 pages.

“As the federal budget goes, I think that bill is a mistake,” he said.

At the same time, Amodei said he’s willing to combine forces with Nevada’s two Democratic senators to get needed community projects across the finish line. As a member of the appropriations committee, he lobbied for and secured more than $32 million in CPF for Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District.

On Dec. 21, Nevada Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto issued a joint statement saying they secured roughly $167 million in CPF as part of the appropriations bill. The funding will be used for 85 programs and projects throughout Nevada, including “upgrading pedestrian safety and traffic signal infrastructure in Carson City, Las Vegas, and Clark County.”

Amodei, a Carson City native, said improvements to improve traffic flow in south Carson is what the CPF program was made for.

“Transportation has been an issue in Carson since Marv Teixeira started fighting with NDOT (Nevada Department of Transportation) about the bypass,” he said.

Teixeira was Carson City mayor from 1989-97 and 2005-09.

As of Wednesday, President Joe Biden was expected to sign the appropriations bill. The president lauded the bill’s bipartisan support in a statement from the White House.

Carson City also issued a statement about the federal funding.

“Thanks to the tireless advocacy of Congressman Mark Amodei, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, and Senator Jacky Rosen, this legislation includes Community Project Funding for the Appion Way Improvement Project,” city officials said in a Dec. 23 press release. “The project is focused on improving safety and traffic circulation by placing a traffic signal at Appion Way and South Carson Street to accommodate current and future growth in the area.”

“This funding for the Appion Way Improvement Project is just one more example of the great working relationship between Carson City and our federal delegation which has focused on many great improvement projects that have benefitted all of Carson City,” added Carson Mayor Lori Bagwell.

The release said the funding will “accelerate” Carson City’s economic development.

“The funding for this project enacted in this legislation will accelerate Carson City’s economic development, decrease travel times for city residents and visitors, and implement safety improvements for this vibrant and fast-growing portion of the South Carson Street corridor,” the release said.

According to Amodei’s office, the funding will be available to the capital city before the end of the federal fiscal year, which is Sept. 30, 2023.

More CPF projects in Northern Nevada can be viewed online at https://amodei.house.gov/2nd-district/fy23-cpf-financial-disclosures-and-2022-wrda-disclosure.