Congresswoman Brenda L. Lawrence represents Michigan’s 14th Congressional District that includes a portion of Detroit, the City of Southfield and 16 other cities located in Oakland and Wayne counties. Living in the 14th District her entire life, she was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November of 2014 and has been re-elected in 2016, 2018, and 2020.
Congresswoman Lawrence serves as Co-Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, 2nd Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations. She’s the Vice Chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee and serves on the subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services (LHHS), subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and the subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government (FSGG). She is also a member of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform where she serves on the subcommittee on Government Operations.
Rep. Brenda Lawrence has submitted funding requests for important community projects in the 14th Congressional District of Michigan to the House Appropriations Committee.
Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each Representative may request funding for up to 10 projects in their community for Fiscal Year 2022 – although only a handful may actually be funded. Projects are restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding. Additional information on the reforms governing Community Project Funding is available here.
In compliance with House Rules and Committee requirements, Rep. Lawrence has certified that she, her spouse, and her immediate family have no financial interest in any of the projects she has requested.
OFFICE OF CONGRESSWOMAN BRENDA L. LAWRENCE (MI-14) MEMBER-DESIGNATED TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure will advance surface transportation authorization legislation later this spring, building on H.R. 2, the “Moving Forward Act,” from the 116th Congress. Chairman Peter DeFazio announced that the Committee will formally accept requests from Members for highway and transit project designations.
The T&I Committee process for member projects for consideration in this year’s surface transportation authorization legislation is separate and distinct from the House Committee on Appropriations’ process for Community Project Funding requests. Projects funded through the surface transportation authorization will be funded directly from the Highway Trust Fund, and they do not require a separate or subsequent appropriation.
Please note the following:
PROJECT ELIGIBILITY
Capital projects eligible under title 23, United States Code, and chapter 53 of title 49, United States Code, are eligible for funding requests under T&I’s project submission process.
The best way to ensure project eligibility is to select projects included in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) or Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), as those projects have already been certified as eligible for Federal Highway Administration or Federal Transit Administration funding and do not require further verification of eligibility.
For projects not in the STIP or TIP, additional documentation we be required, including verification about whether the project can be added to the STIP or TIP in a reasonable timeframe, whether the project is on a long-range transportation plan, and verification of eligibility for the proposed activity under title 23 or chapter 53 of title 49 by the relevant federal agency.
Finally, project sponsors must demonstrate the ability to fully obligate any funds provided within the obligation window, and must demonstrate a proven ability to finance the remaining costs not funded by the Committee, as well as the required non-federal cost share.
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
To ensure oversight, transparency, and accountability throughout the process, Members who submit a Member Designated Project request must also post the request online to their official website, and will be asked to self-certify the project has been posted accordingly when they submit their request to the Committee.