Jenniffer González Moves Forward Agriculture, Housing and Transportation Bills in The House Committee on Appropriations

Press Release

Congresswoman Jenniffer González Colón, announced the approval of the Agriculture and Housing and Transportation budget bills in the House Committee on Appropriations.

The bills approved by the Committee that impact the Island with language requested by Gonzalez-Colón are:

Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) Transparency.--The Committee recognizes the importance of transparency and data availability for Puerto Rico's Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP). The Committee directs the Secretary to publish information regarding monthly enrollment, issuance data and the Commonwealth's State Plan of Operations for NAP on the Department's web site. The Committee further directs the Secretary, acting through the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, to measure the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan in Puerto Rico. The Department is directed to report to the Committee no later than 90 days after enactment of this Act on the status of the Department's efforts to achieve greater transparency to Puerto Rico's Nutrition Assistance Program.
Grants for Insular Areas.--The Committee recognizes NIFA efforts to strengthen capacity at land-grant institutions in the U.S. territories in the areas of instruction, distance education, facilities and equipment, and research. The Committee emphasizes the importance of continuing the support for these institutions and provides an increase to help address plant disease and invasive species priorities in the territories.

The achievement of this is part of the tireless efforts made by Gonzalez Colón in Congress through a letter sent along with the delegates of the territories. NIFA Grants for Insular Areas are competitive grants administered by USDA's National Institute of Food Agriculture (NIFA) focused on improving formal, postsecondary agricultural sciences education in the five U.S. territories and the freely-associated states of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau.

Funding is made through three NIFA programs:

Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas (RIIA), which work to strengthen institutional educational capacities in instruction and curriculum within a broadly defined arena of food and agricultural sciences-related disciplines;
Distance Education Grants (DEG) for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas, which support projects to improve formal, post-secondary agricultural sciences education through distance education technology;
Agriculture and Food Sciences Facilities and Equipment (AGFEI) program, which supports the construction or upgrade of agriculture and food science facilities and equipment necessary to conduct tropical and subtropical agricultural research.

Furthermore, the Transportation & Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill managed to include the changes requested by González-Colón that significantly impact Puerto Rico. The Committee urges the Secretary to ensure the total allocation of funds authorized for the Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division (EFLHD) to serve as a single entity to complete the process of rebuilding the damage caused by hurricanes in the noncontiguous states and territories. The EFHLD's role includes procuring the construction, construction management, and inspection for the complete rebuilding process.

Source