Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today praised Senate Appropriations Committee approval of $241.1 million in federal funding for a variety of Connecticut initiatives.  This funding will be used for, among other services, economic development initiatives, education, health care, and family and community support programs – efforts essential to the wellbeing and continued success of Connecticut.

“I am proud to have helped secure this critically important funding for Connecticut initiatives,” Dodd said.  “The vast array of programs funded by these bills will provide our state with the resources necessary to improve the quality of life for millions of residents.  The people of Connecticut will reap the benefits of these programs for years to come.”

"This truly is terrific news for Connecticut," Lieberman said. "I'm proud that this funding will help upgrade our state's infrastructure, secure our natural resources, and promote economic growth and social justice for future generations."

Below is a list of the Connecticut initiatives that received funding in the bills approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee last week:

Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education:

• $250,000 to the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Foundation in Avon, CT for development of a multimedia national awareness and outreach campaign to identify undiagnosed children with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS), a congenital condition with varying degrees of physical and mental manifestations

• $150,000 to the Bridgeport Public Schools for the professional development of teachers and administrators in the public school system

• $300,000 to Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, CT to expand the Middle College Program, a college transition program serving Bridgeport public high school students

• $100,000 to the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford, CT for educational equipment for the science and technology learning center

• $400,000 to the Connecticut State University System for expanded educational initiatives at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut, and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut, that seeks to reduce the shortage of Registered Nurses in the State of Connecticut and elsewhere

• $250,000 to the Connecticut Humanities Council in Middletown, CT for curriculum development of the Encyclopedia of Connecticut History Online Initiative, an online archive containing historical state records, documents, and museum collections

• $300,000 to Voices of September 11^th in New Canaan, CT for the 9/11 Living Memorial Project, an educational initiative to digitally archive the lives and stories of the attacks on September 11, 2001 that will be included in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center

• $250,000 to the Yale New Haven Health System for emergency preparedness education and training at the Connecticut Center for Public Health Preparedness

• $250,000 to the Arc of New London County in Norwich, CT for vocational training for special-needs adults from the shoreline communities of New London County

• $400,000 to the Connecticut Council of Family Service Agencies in Wethersfield, CT for services and administrative activities associated with the successful Empowering People for Success Initiative

Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development

• $3,000,000 for enhanced parking capacity and pedestrian access at the Bridgeport Intermodal Transportation Center

• $500,000 for a home assistance sub-prime mortgage crisis pilot program in the City of Bridgeport to provide outreach, advocacy, education, financial assistance and other services to support residents at- risk of losing their homes

• $1,000,000 for rehabilitating Riverside Drive to improve access to Goodwin College’s riverfront campus in East Hartford

• $700,000 to the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT for waterproofing improvements to the storage area that holds an extensive collection of historic glassware, costumes, and furniture

• $5,000,000 for the Stamford Urban Transitway that will improve access between the Stamford Transportation Center, Interstate 95, East Main Street, downtown Stamford, southern Stamford, and the proposed new commuter rail station that will serve eastern Stamford

• $500,000 for improvements of the Route 1 and Route 34 Connector in West Haven, CT

• $1,250,000 for the planning and redevelopment of former polluted and blighted industrial properties in the city of Waterbury

Energy and Water

• $1,115,000 to the Army Corps of Engineer for operation and maintenance projects at Hop Brook Lake and Hancock Brook Lake in Middlebury; Mansfield Hollow Lake in Mansfield; Black Rock Lake, Northfield Brook Lake, and the Thomaston Dam in Thomaston; Colebrook River Lake in Riverton; and West Thompson Lake in North Grosvenordale

• $1,000,000 to the Army Corps of Engineers for the development of a dredging management plan for Long Island Sound along coastal Connecticut

• $450,000 for a Connecticut River Basin Watershed Study

• $2,000,000 for dredging the Bridgeport Harbor

• $500,000 for environment infrastructure in Bridgeport, CT

• $2,000,000 for further development of a unique nickel metal hydride battery for use in commercial hybrid vehicle applications at Electro Energy, Inc. in Danbury, CT

• $2,000,000 for the City of Stamford in conjunction with other public resources to construct an innovative, low-emission, waste-to-energy electric generation facility that will turn dry sewage sludge into electric power

Financial Services

• $120,000 to the University of Connecticut at the Farmington Technology Incubation Center in Farmington, CT to expand the Center’s program to promote the growth of small entrepreneurial businesses in the Greater Hartford area

• $325,000 to the University of Connecticut at the Avery Point Technology Incubation Center in Groton, CT to enhance the areas of bioscience, materials, nanotechnology, and environmental technology at the business incubator facility

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