July 25, 2025

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

The Senate Appropriations Committee passed Interior, Environment, & Related Agencies; and Transportation, Housing, & Urban Development, & Related Agencies government funding bills

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)

  • Plant Conservation Activities. $20.6 million for conservation activities and includes language supporting BLM’s continued support of the Seed Strategy, the interagency Native Plant Materials Development Program, the Seeds of Success program, the Plant Conservation Alliance, and regional native plant materials development programs.

o Urban 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.

o Migratory Bird Management Program, Incidental Take. Includes language supporting an incidental take authorization program for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which will help bird species that are experiencing population decline.

 

National Park Service

  • New Philadelphia National Historic Site. Includes language directing the National Park Service to ensure park operation begins in a reasonable timeframe for the newly established New Philadelphia site.
  • Springfield Race Riot Site. Includes language directing the National Park Service to work with the community to complete the Foundation Document for the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument and provide for park planning.

 

Land and Water Conservation Fund

  • Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge. Includes language supporting federal land acquisition by the National Fish and Wildlife Service for the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge
  • Environmental Health Program. $30.5 million for the program and includes language that sets aside $1 million for addressing PFAS contamination in the Great Lakes.

 

Environmental Protection Agency

  • Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF). $1.6 billion to provide critical investments that create jobs, repair crumbling wastewater infrastructure, and protect public health and environmental quality. Ten percent of CWSRF may be used as grants to address lead exposure.
  • Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRF). $1.13 billion to help water systems and states to ensure clean and safe drinking water is reliably delivered to communities. Fourteen percent of DWSRF may be used as grants to address lead exposure.
  • EPA Compliance. $97.7 million to enable EPA and co-regulators to undertake inspections and other monitoring activities to determine if regulated entities are complying with environmental statutes as well as applicable regulations and permit conditions.
  • EPA Enforcement. $284.9 million to ensure consistent and fair enforcement of all major environmental statutes and numerous regulations implementing each of those statutes. Includes report language supporting EPA in addressing PFAS contamination through National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives and incorporating Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in settlements.
  • Bubbly Creek. Includes report language on the inclusion of the restoration Bubbly Creek in EPA’s Lakewide Management Plan (LAMP) and directs EPA to maximize its partnerships and resources to ensure no further delays.
  • Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). $368 million for GLRI and includes report language to allow funds from the program to be used for projects in the Chicago River Watershed. Congress established the GLRI to provide funding to states, tribes, local governments, and federal agencies to protect the Great Lakes. The program has provided $4 billion since 2010 to fund projects that restore habitat, fight invasive species, clean up toxic pollution, and reduce pollution runoff.
  • Lake Explorer II Support Vessel Decommission. Includes language regarding the importance of EPA replacing the Great Lakes research vessel Lake Explorer II so the agency may continue uninterrupted water quality and biological monitoring of the Great Lakes.
  • Coal Combustion Residual Permit Program. Includes language requesting $9 million for federal and state permitting programs for coal combustion residuals (CCR, coal ash).

 

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development

Department of Transportation

  • Capital Investment Grants (CIG). $1.95 billion for grants to fund the extension and improvements of existing transit systems. This amount would fully fund the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Extension Project for FY26.
  • Protections for the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Extension Project. Includes language protecting Chicago’s FY26 allocation of $350 million and requiring disbursement within 120 days of enactment.
  • Amtrak. $2.43 billion in nationwide funding to support Amtrak operations, with $1.57 billion for the National Network.
  • BUILD (formerly RAISE) Grants. $250 million to fund innovative transportation projects that will create jobs and have a significant impact on the nation, a region, or a metropolitan area.
  • Passenger Rail Grant Programs. The two rail grant programs were reauthorized in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and address gaps in supporting and growing our nation’s rail infrastructure:
    • Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Grants. $151.52 million for the CRISI program.
    • Federal-State Partnerships for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant (FSP) Program. $75 million for FSP grants for capital improvement projects that expand or establish intercity passenger rail service.
  • Midwest Rail Commission Study. Includes report language directing GAO to examine the establishment of a federally authorized commission for the purposes of developing a long-term delivery strategy for Midwest rail. The study would identify lessons learned from the establishment of the Northeast Corridor Commission that could be applied to a Midwest Rail Commission, it also would examine any Federal resources necessary to establishment of the commission.
  • FRA Rail Research & Development Center of Excellence (COE). Supports the FRA’s intent to use no less than $2.5 million of its and development funding for the FRA COE, which Durbin established in IIJA and secured funding for in FY22, FY23, and FY24 (FY25’s full-year CR did not have a report, so the COE was not funded in the CR). The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign was competitively selected to host the COE.
  • Blocked Crossings Causes & Solutions Identification. Includes report language directing the FRA to include in its annual report potential solutions and best practices to improve safety, mobility, and emergency response capabilities at highway-rail crossings. This would require the FRA to consider technology’s potential role in detecting the highest risk areas and to explore what role train length plays in blocked crossings, among other measures.
  • Emergency Response Blocked Crossing Reports. Includes report language urging the FRA to require states receiving track inspection funding to require first responders to report verified blocked crossing incidents to the FRA’s blocked crossings portal, which you established through previous appropriations legislation. It also directs the FRA to continue working with stakeholders to identify root causes of blocked crossings and identify meaningful solutions.
  • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). $22.4 billion for the FAA. This includes $13.8 billion for FAA operations and $4 billion for facilities and equipment. This funding will allow the FAA to hire 2,500 additional air traffic controllers; improve air traffic control facilities, equipment, and systems; improve the aircraft certification process; improve hazardous materials transport oversight, and more.
  • Airport Improvement Program. More than $4 billion for airport improvement grants for capital improvements at the nation’s airports, including investments that emphasize capacity development, safety improvements, and security needs.
  • Digital Alert Technologies. Includes report language urging National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to deploy digital alert technologies, with local law enforcement, that can provide up-to-date information about dynamic road conditions to drivers.
  • NHTSA Rulemakings. Includes language directing NHTSA to continue to provide quarterly briefings on the status of all major rulemakings to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations. In 2023, DOT implemented a key provision of Durbin and Duckworth’s Protecting Roadside First Responders Act by proposing a rule to require automatic emergency braking (AEB) on all new cars and light trucks, and finalizing this rule in April 2024. The provision, which was passed in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, aims to reduce the number of traffic fatalities and injuries. According to NHTSA, the rule could save more than 360 lives and prevent more than 24,000 injuries each year. The Trump Administration has delayed the effective date of this rule.
  • Automated Track Inspections. Includes no less than $21.6 million to support the FRA’s fleet of advanced inspection vehicles that accompany its field inspectors to validate the railroads’ inspection programs and advance research priorities, with a special emphasis on routes transporting passengers and hazardous materials.

 

Department of Housing and Urban Development

  • HEAL Initiative Pilot Program. Includes $5 million to support efforts underway between HUD and HHS to provide direct technical assistance to communities leveraging programs like Medicaid to cover and provide housing-related supportive services and behavioral healthcare. Includes report language acknowledging that several studies have demonstrated that interventions based on social determinants of health can help support housing permanency.
  • Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes. $295.6 million to provide funding to state and local governments to develop cost-effective ways to reduce lead-based paint hazards.
  • Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). $529 million to help cities and states address the housing crisis facing people living with HIV/AIDS.
  • Homeless Assistance Grants. $4.5 billion to provide funding to state and local governments for emergency shelters, rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, and other crisis response programs.
  • Housing Counseling. $57.5 million to enable housing counseling organizations to provide foreclosure prevention counseling, mortgage counseling before and after purchase, rental counseling, homelessness prevention counseling, and fair housing education.
  • Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO). $86.36 million to provide resources to nonprofit fair housing organizations that tackle discrimination and predatory lending and ensure that our nation’s fair housing laws are enforced.
  • Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). $3.1 billion to provide states and localities with resources to meet the needs of low-income communities, including housing rehabilitation, supportive services, public improvements, and economic development projects.
  • Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). $1.25 billion to provide state and local governments the funding necessary to provide affordable housing in low-income communities.
  • Public Housing Capital and Operating Funds. $3.2 billion for Capital Funds and $4.87 billion for Operating Funds. This includes $30 million for emergency capital needs; $10 million for safety and security measures, with report language supporting safety and security improvements to protect tenants; and $65 million for lead remediation grants.
  • Section 8 Tenant-Based Rental Assistance. $37.35 billion for Section 8 Tenant-Based rental assistance. This includes $429 million for new Tenant Protection Vouchers, $15 million to expand the HUD-VASH program, and $30 million for new Family Unification Program vouchers.
  • Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) and Rural Capacity Building Program (RCB). $13 million for SHOP and $5 million for RCB. Both programs support affordable housing in rural communities.
  • Section 4 Capacity Building Program. $49 million for Section 4 Capacity Building Program. This program allows HUD to partner with national nonprofit community development organizations to provide education, training, and financial support to local community development corporations (CDCs) across the country.
  • Choice Neighborhoods Program. $40 million to provide funding for the transformation, rehabilitation, and replacement of distressed public and HUD-assisted housing, as well as support for communities working to revitalize neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.
  • Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program. $156.4 million to provide funding for an asset-building program to serve more households, both within already-established Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher FSS Programs
  • Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks). $158 million to create opportunities for Americans to live in affordable and safe homes by providing community development organizations in all fifty states with financial resources and counseling services.

 

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