FY'11 Appropriations
Below is a list of the appropriations requests I submitted to the House Appropriations Committee for Fiscal Year 2011 listed in alphabetical order.
| FY11 Appropriations Requests Submitted (in alphabetical order) | |||
| Project | Constituent | Amount | Description |
| Abriendo Puertas -- Opening Doors of Education for Hispanic Students | Dr. Hector Aldape, Abriendo Puertas. 204 E Stubbs, Ste. B, Edinburg, TX 78539 | $1,400,000 | training volunteers to provide the tools to empower minority, low-income parents to support their children's college access and participation. |
| AVANCE Parent-Child Education Program | Daniel Zorn, VP for External Relations, AVANCE Inc., 118 N. Medina, San Antonio, TX 78207 | $500,000 | improve skills of parents in a culturally relevant program in order to improve early childhood school readiness |
| Beeville Fire Department - Brush Trucks | Tom Ginter, City of Beeville, 400 N. Washington St., Beeville, TX 78102 | $83,200 | purchase brush trucks in drought prone region to fight brush fires |
| Beeville Police Department | Jimmy Martinez, City of Beeville, 400 N. Washington Street, Beeville, TX 78102 | $92,970 | Purchase new police cars in small rural community |
| Chase Field Industrial Complex Water Project | Joe Montez, Executive Director, Bee Development Corporation, 2922 Byrd St, Beeville, TX 78104 | $1,000,000 | Replace and repair WWII era water pipes at BRAC facility in order to create economic development opportunities. |
| City of Edinburg Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion | Ramiro Garza, Jr., City Manager, City of Edinburg, 415 W. University Dr., PO Box 1079, Edinburg, TX 78540 | $8,900,000 | expand wastewater treatment facility |
| City of Elsa Emergency Command Center | Mayor Senovio Castillo, City of Elsa, 216 East 4th Street, Elsa, TX 78543 | $1,644,110 | Convert City Hall into an Emergency Command Center to coordinate all emergency response in small rural community. |
| City of La Feria Affordable Housing Program | Sunny Philip, City Manager, City of La Feria, 115 East Commercial Ave., La Feria, TX 78559 | $4,000,000 | demolish and refurbish currently substandard housing for use by low-income and elderly residents in small, rural community |
| City of San Juan Parks and Recreation Building | Tirso Garza, City of San Juan, 709 S. Nebraska, San Juan, TX 78589 | $452,000 | construct new parks administration and maintenance facility in small community |
| Colonias - Lower Rio Grande Basin | US Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, 2000 Fort Point Road, Galveston, TX 77550 | $20,000,000 | provide assistance to help colonias fix water and wastewater problems |
| Community Financial Literacy Center | Robert Calvillo, McAllen Affordable Homes, 1420 Erie Avenue, McAllen, TX 78501 | $886,000 | establish a center to offer free and discounted financial education programs for youth, elderly and low income families |
| Developing Resistance to Citrus Diseases with Biosecurity Risks for TX | Ron Lacewell, Texas AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, 1500 Research Pkwy, Ste. 150, 2259 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-2259 | $1,500,000 | protect Texas citrus from "greening" disease that has devastated the Florida citrus industry |
| Donna Rio Bravo International Bridge | General Services Administration, 819 Taylor Street Fort Worth , TX 76102. | $50,000,000 | construction funding to add commercial facilities to the Donna/Rio Bravo Intl Bridge |
| Eat Right, Get Fit, Outdoor Fitness and Gardening Center | Carlos Cardenas, Diabetes and Obesity Prevention Institute of South Texas, 5501 S. McColl, Edinburg, TX 78539 | $645,783 | Create outdoor health facility with rubberized walking trail for diabetic individuals, community gardening space and exercise pavilion for fitness classes. The Rio Grande Valley has some of the highest incidences of diabetes in the nation. |
| Edinburg Boys and Girls Club Afterschool Program | Sabrina Herrnandez, Edinburg Boys and Girls Clubs, PO Box 1079, Edinburg, TX 78540 | $250,000 | Program would develop career skills, provide tutoring and mentoring, promote healty lifestyles and academic achievement to some of the poorest children in the nation. |
| Edinburg Economic Development Corp Business Development Center | Pedro Salazar, EEDC Director, 602 W. University Dr., Ste B, Edinburg, TX 78539 | $1,200,000 | Center would help create new business opportunites |
| Education for Democracy | Center for Civic Education, 5145 Douglas Fir Road, Calabasas, CA 92102 and National Council on Economic Education, 1140 Avenue of the Americas, Ste. 202, New York, NY 10036 | $35,000,000 | Improves civic and financial literacy education |
| Engineering Technology Center Renovation | Marlene McMichael,TSTC, 1902 North Loop 499, Harlingen, TX 78550 | $570,762 | purchase equipment to expand the green technology program at a community college serving low-income, Hispanic students to provide training for green jobs, mechatronics and biomedical careers. |
| Falfurrias | US Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, 2000 Fort Point Road, Galveston, TX 77550 | $100,000 | develop feasibility cost share agreement for flood control project in small rural community that is at serious risk of flooding |
| Goliad Central Fire Statiion | CJ Snipes, City Administrator, City of Goliad, 152 W. End St., Goliad, TX 77963 | $1,000,000 | construct new fire stations |
| I-69 | TXDOT, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 | $1,000,000 | complete environmental studies |
| International Arid Lands Consortium | Dr. Colin Kaltenbach, Managing Director, International Arid Lands Consortium, 1955 E 6th St, Tucson, AZ 85719 | $750,000 | addresses issues in arid environments like water use, land management, energy and agriculture in partnership with Israel, Jordan and Egypt |
| Karnes Juvenile Probation Department JJAEP Elite Program | Neva Schmidt, Karnes Wilson Juvenile Probation Department, 101 N Panna Maria Ave., Karnes City, TX 78118 | $342,970 | Juvenile Justice Alternative education program that works with juvenile offenders and their parents to teach parenting, provide substance abuse education, mentoring and tutoring to stop recidivism |
| Lower Rio Grande Water Conservation Projects | Bureau of Reclamation, 1849 C Street NW Washington DC 20240-0001 | $10,000,000 | continue canal lining and piping projects to conserve water in drought prone area |
| Lower Rio Grande Wildlife Refuge | US Fish and Wildlife Service, Southwest Regional Office, 500 Gold Ave. SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102 | $11,650,000 | continue land acquisition for the refuge |
| North Rail Relocation, Harlingen | TXDOT, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 | $1,00,000 | relocate rail lines and switching station to improve safety and move freight more efficiently from the International port |
| Northern Rio Grande Valley 4-lane Expansion Project | TXDOT, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 | $3,000,000 | Expand FM 1015 to 4 lanes from Mile 12 to SH107 to more effectively move traffic |
| Owassa Road | TXDOT, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 | $2,500,000 | widen from 2 lane to 5 lane from Jackson Road to Veteran's Blvd to relieve congestion and improve safety |
| Pharr Boys and Girls Club | Alfredo Mata, Jr., Executive Director, Boys and Girls Club of Pharr, 413 E Clark St., Pharr, TX 78577 | $250,000 | expand at-risk Youth and Education Initiative to an additional 1,000 children |
| Pharr Emergency Operations Center | Fred Sandoval, City Manager, City of Pharr, 118 S. Cage Blvd., Pharr, TX 78577 | $3,200,000 | construct a regional emergency operation center to consolidate emergency responders in hurricane zone. |
| Raymondville Drain | US Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston District, 2000 Fort Point Road, Galveston, TX 77550 | $1.000,000 | continue study and design of flood control project |
| Raza Development Fund | National Council of La Raza, 1126 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036 | $5,000,000 | Capitalization of a revolving loan fund to be used for nationwide community development activities |
| Reach Out and Read | Reach Out and Read National Center, 56 Roland Street, Ste. 100-D, Boston MA 02129 | $10,000,000 | Maintain and expand the national Reach Out and Read early language development and literacy program |
| Refugio County Public Health Development Project | J. Stefan Walker, Refugio County Health Authority, 107 1/2 Swift Street, Refugio, TX 78377 | $50,000 | Coordinate public health efforts through the creation of a county public health department. The county is currently serviced by a department 150 miles away. |
| Renewable Energy Technology Training Labs | Marlene McMichael,TSTC, 1902 North Loop 499, Harlingen, TX 78550 | $583,062 | equip and staff 2 training labs to teach renewable energy technologies to create jobs |
| RIF | Reading is Fundamental, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20009 | $25,000,000 | RIF enhances child literacy by providing millions of underserved children with free books for personal ownership and reading encouragement |
| RioStarr Electonic Medical Record Exchange | Israel Rocha, RioOne Health Network, 5501 S. McColl, Edinburg, TX 78539 | $650,000 | create community health record exchange to work with a variety of medical systems to coordinate care and provide service to federally qualified health clinics and rural providers in high poverty region. |
| San Juan Wetlands Project | Tirso Garza, City of San Juan, 709 S. Nebraska, San Juan, TX 78589 | $300,000 | create perviious parking lot at wetland and nature trail area to maintain water quality in the adjacent wetland area. |
| San Juan Police Station | Tirso Garza, City of San Juan, 709 S. Nebraska, San Juan, TX 78589 | $3,096,880 | construct new police station in growing part of the community. |
| South Texas International Airport | City of Edinburg, 415 W. University Dr., Edinburg, TX 78539 | $8,000,000 | extend runway, construct taxiway |
| South TX Border Health Disparities Center | UTPA, South Texas Border Health Disparities Center, 1201 W. University Dr, Edinburg, TX 78541 | $306,549 | conduct research, education and community outreach addressing health disparities in diabetes,cancer and obesity in Hispanic populations |
| Sustainable Manufacturing Center of Excellence | Dr. Miguel Gonzalez, UTPA, 1201 West University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78539 | $500,000 | establish a center for the support of national infrastructure needs for sustainable manufacturing |
| Teach for America | Teach For America, 315 West 36th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10018 | $50,000,000 | Funding would go for the recruitment, selection, placement and profession development of first and second year teachers in low-income regions across the nation |
| Texas Valley Business Incubator | Dr. Roland Arriola, Texas Valley Communities Foundation, 2836 W. Trenton Rd, Edinburg, TX 78539 | $9,882,000 | Incubator would provide access to capital, utilities, broadband access, video conferencing, computers and other resources to help new business get started. |
| US 281/FM 493 Overpass | TXDOT, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 | $8,600,000 | build overpass over FM 493 to improve traffic flow from new international bridge |
| Vannie Cook Children's Cancer Center | Laura Martinez Ilgun, Director, Development and Public Relations, Vannie Cook Children's Cancer Center, 101 West Expressway 83, McAllen, TX 78503 | $435,000 | Funding to continue life-saving cancer and blood disease treatment at community based pediatric clinic. |
| Victoria Sure B.E.T. Program | Rhonda Fotiades, Victoria Business and Education Coalition, 5606 N. Navarro, Ste 200R, Victoria, TX 77904 | $595,000 | Expand program to create "job ready" students through involvement with the business community and through enhanced educational attainment. |
| Weslaco Boys and Girls Club | City of Weslaco, 255 South Kansas Ave, Weslaco, TX 78595 | $2,722,000 | build and equip recreation center for Boys and Girls Club |
| Weslaco Water Treatment Facility | Leonardo Olivares, Interim City Manager, City of Weslaco, 255 South Kansas Avenue, Weslaco, TX 78596 | $24,266,000 | expand wastewater treatment facility |
| Widen Cesar Chavez Road from Carrol Road to Business 83) | TXDOT, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701 | $1,944,065 | widen and reconstruct road to alleviate congestion |
| Women's Institute for Technology Employment Training | Dr. Roland Arriola, Texas Valley Communities Foundation, 2836 W. Trenton Rd, Edinburg, TX 78539 | $798,000 | develop interactive, dual language, workforce skills courseware to upgrade skill of Hispanic women who work or reside in enterprise communities and empowerment zones. |
| YWCA Corpus Christi YW Teen Program | Nancy Wesson-Dodd, Executive Director, YWCA Corpus Christi, 4601 Corona Dr., Corpus Christi, TX 78411 | $400,000 | Program targets 5th and 6th grade at-risk girls helping to prevent bad life-altering decisions like drugs, gangs and teenage pregnancy. Funds would expand program to San Pat and Refugio county |
