A West Central Illinois healthcare facility is named in one of three spending bills recently advanced by the U.S. Senate’s Appropriations Committee.
In a joint announcement by Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin on Friday, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance funding bills for Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies; Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; and Legislative Branch offices for Fiscal Year 2025.
Among the items listed in the Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies appropriations is $1 million in federal funding to the Blessing Care Corporation to fund an update to the laboratory department at Illini Community Hospital in Pittsfield. The funds would help modernize the lab facilities at the hospital that are, in some cases, more than 80 years old.
The Pike County hospital was one of a number of healthcare facilities across the state awarded the largest sum available for this type of project in a healthcare setting.
Other areas named in the spending bills include funding for VA Medical & Prosthetic Research, agriculture research, WIC and SNAP food benefit programs, and construction funding for military and veteran service facilities at Rock Island and Marseilles.
Durbin says the approvals are the first in a number to come: “Bipartisan efforts are necessary to get many meaningful things done in Washington. And right now, one of the most pressing items requiring a bipartisan effort is passing appropriations bills that fund the government for the next fiscal year. This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee took the first step to advance these bills which will benefit families, communities, and the economy in Illinois. I look forward to taking up the remaining bills as soon as possible.”
Duckworth says that investing in communities makes the nation stronger as whole: “Our state and our nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families-and that’s what these bipartisan funding bills do. I’m proud I was able to help secure critical support for projects throughout Illinois that help expand healthcare and childcare access and more.”
Congressional Democrats hope that this is a sign of things to come on a bipartisan basis. The Farm Bill extension is slated to expire on September 30th and has yet to gain traction in either chamber since the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture passed its version in May. The bill has remained stalled out since then.