The Federal Omnibus Budget Bill that President Biden signed before the end of 2022 – that’s the budget that combines all 12 categorical budgets – included millions for community and environmental projects benefitting the Westside, according to 33^rd District Congressmember Ted Lieu.

Lieu, who sits on the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees, was able to secure $22,601,025 Million for projects in his District. Projects receiving funding in Westside Voice’s coverage area include:

• $3,452,972 for the City of Los Angeles for a Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant Modernization project
• $1,500,000 for the City of Santa Monica for behavioral health and other supportive services
• $1,000,000 for Ready to Succeed, a Santa Monica nonprofit, to support college-going foster youth, including scholarships
• $2,000,000 for the County of Los Angeles Alternatives to Incarceration Office for a youth job training program and supportive services
• $1,150,000 for the Pacific Palisades Pedestrian Trail
• $3,000,000 for PATH’s Permanent Supportive Housing in Marina Del Rey
• $898,053 for the St. Joseph Center in Venice for job skills training and supportive services to those experiencing homelessness
• $500,000 for the Venice Family Clinic for facilities and equipment
• $1,600,000 for UCLA’s SeaChange: Carbon Sequestration Pilot
• $2,500,000 for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing

Lieu also had two pieces of legislation he authored signed into law last year. One, dubbed The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary Adjustment Study Act, Commissions the National Park Service to conduct a three-year Special Resource Study to determine whether to add much of the Santa Monica Bay watershed to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) or to create a new national recreation area.

The other, named The Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act, promises to phase out the use of large mesh drift gillnets off the coast of California and set a path toward more sustainable fishing in the region.

Last Thursday, Lieu gave the floor speech in nominating Representative Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker of the House. In doing so, he became the first representative of Asian-American or Pacific Islander descent to ever nominate a candidate for speaker.

Lieu begins 2023 as the House Leadership as the new Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus. Fellow Southern California Representative Pete Aguilar will serve as Chair of the Caucus.