La Grange Lock & Dam Rehab A Part of FY23 Senate Appropriations

By Benjamin Cox on August 3, 2022 at 1:40pm

Photo Courtesy of Army Corps of Engineers

The LaGrange Lock & Dam is on the list of federal funding for FY 23 Senate appropriation spending . The funding announcement came courtesy of Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, who announced more than $178 million in Senate appropriations for projects in the state.

The Senate’s draft of the bills must be conferenced with the House bills before they are finalized. The proposed $49.3 million would go to the Army Corps of Engineers to complete design on the modernization of the LaGrange Lock on the Illinois River as part of the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program.

The NESP seeks to expand and modernize seven locks at the most congested lock locations along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and fund $1.7 billion in ecosystem restoration.

The bill that includes the LaGrange Lock funding has been met with resistance by Republicans, who opposed the size of proposed spending for non-defense programs and the ongoing debate surrounding abortions. There is an August recess looming. It’s uncertain if Congress will agree on a spending plan before October 1st, the first day of the 2023 fiscal year for the federal government.