Bill provides $750,000 for airport, $3.2 million for farm to market corridor
The fiscal year 2027 House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives contains $750,000 for improvements at the Porterville Muncipal Airport.
In addition the bill contains $3.2 million for the completion of the Farm to Market Corridor project that runs through Ducor on Avenue 56.
The U.S. Senate has to pass their own version of a transportation, housing and urban development bill and then the House and Senate will need to get together to combine their bills into one to be passed to fund transportaion, housing and urban development projects for fiscal year 2027.
An update on funding for Tulare County from the House THUD bill was provided by the lobbyist firm PACE Government Relations at Monday's Tulare County Association of Governments, TCAG, meeting.
Republican Congressman Vince Fong requested funding for the airport to be included in the bill while funding for the Farm to Market Corridor was requested by Republican Congressman David Valadao.
Porterville Mayor Greg Meister said his recent trip to Washington, D.C., was to check on the progress on funding for airport improvements. The $750,000 in the THUD bill would go to airfield electrical improvements and the design of the planned expansion of the runway.
In 2022 the city of Porerville was awarded a federal grant for $4.44 million towards the rehabilitation of the airport. The grant was for the rehabilitation of the parallel taxiway and reconfiguration of three connecting taxiways to meet FAA geometry standards. The project, which also includes increasing the runway length from 6,000 feet to 7,800 feet, is scheduled to take several years. The lengethening of the runway will make it possible to support the operation of large jet aircraft.
The Farm to Market corridor program provides funding for the repairs and modernization of rural roads that are heavily used by agricultural freight trucks.
In his request for funding for the completion of the Farm to Market Corridor project on Avenue 56 Valdao stated: "The funding would improve a vital farm to market roadway," adding the project would revitalize the primary agricultural route for southern Tualre County. "This enhancement is crucial for agricultural activities in the region and will beneft local commuters and traffic."
An update on the Surface Transportation Acceleration Grant program was also provided. There's $2.4 billion authorized annually from fiscal years 2027-2031 in the STAG program. The program also includes $300 million over five years for farm to market projects "like those TCAG has implemented," TCAG stated.
TCAG credited Valadao, Fong and Democratic Congressman Jim Costa for the funding. About the $300 million, TCAG stated, "This provision directly reflects TCAG's farm to market proposal and is in large part due to multi-year efforts by Reps Fong, Valdao and Costa and their staff to advocate for TCAG priorities."
Meister also said the city of Porterville appreciated all the hard work Fong and Valdao has done on behalf of this area.
In addition an update on the BUILD America 250 Act that was passed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in May was provided. Meister said that bill prohibits federal funding for the state's high speed rail project for five years.