US Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley announced major investments have passed the Senate to expand affordable, rural and veterans housing options and boost transportation infrastructure across Oregon.
According to a joint press release, these investments were included in the Fiscal Year 2024 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) bill, which cleared the chamber with bipartisan support.
Senators Wyden and Merkley secured investments for a total of 20 Oregon community-initiated projects in the Senate THUD bill.
Locally, the bill contains $400,000 for the Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation for their projects to secure wildlife crossings on Interstate 5 in Southern Oregon, which bisects the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. The funding will complete design and engineering for fencing to accompany two high-priority wildlife overcrossings in the region renowned for its remarkable ecology and diverse range of biological resources.
Now that the bill has cleared the Senate, it will next head to the US House of Representatives. The final legislation to emerge from the process must then be passed by both chambers before it is signed into law.
Senator Merkley is the only Oregon member of Congress since Senator Mark Hatfield to serve on the Appropriations Committee, which wrote the bill and is one of the most powerful on Capitol Hill.
