Federal spending package contains more than $50M for LI projects

WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of dollars in earmarked federal funds stand ready to be delivered to dozens of Long Island projects as soon as Congress passes the massive omnibus package to keep the government open and to send aid to the besieged Ukraine republic.

Long Island’s four representatives to Congress, individually and in coordination with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, won more than $50 million for projects in their districts with the return of earmarks, now named community funded projects.

Among the biggest of the funded projects are $14.8 million for Gabreski National Guard Base, $8.5 million for the intercoastal water way and a $10 million grant to Stony Brook University to launch an innovative network of biomedical research institutions.

The network, known as the Long Island Network for Clinical and Translational Science, will be a collaborative effort with Brookhaven National Lab (BNL), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the Northport VA Medical Center.

"This is going to put Long Island on the map as one of, if not the leading, centers for clinical research," Schumer told Newsday in an interview Wednesday. "They're going to have four incubators, and they're going to use software to combine software with clinical examination."

Stony Brook said in a statement, "The funding will help scale up operations of this research and health care service network, creating an ecosystem that will fast-track the application of new scientific discoveries in clinical medical care, helping to provide innovative new treatments to more patients throughout Long Island."

Schumer added the Stony Brook grant in negotiations in the past two days, along with the $3.2 million drinking water improvement project for the Village of Hempstead.

The Long Island delegation to Congress said they had won earmarked money for several projects in their districts.

Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), who is running for governor, had seven of his funding requests worth $21.9 million approved, including $8.5 million for the intercoastal waterway project and $10.5 million for water and sewer work by the Village of Patchoque, Town of Riverhead and Suffolk County, according to House Appropriations Committee records.

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), who also is seeking the governor’s office, won $6.75 million for eight projects, including $1 million for the North Hempstead Beach Park Phase 1 and $1 million for the city of Glen Cove for Rehabilitation of the Nancy Court Pump Station.

Retiring Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) will bring $7.6 million for 10 projects, among them $2 million for Uniondale Economic Investments and $2 million for Village of Hempstead sewer system improvements.

And Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) secured $4.35 million for work on four projects, including $3 million for the Town of Islip for a sewer extension project and $1 million for the Town of Babylon water system.

Congress had abolished earmarks after scandals broke about the use of the funds, but last year reestablished them as community funded projects.

Garbarino said he worked closely with community leaders in the selection the projects he proposed for funding.

Suozzi hailed the return of earmarks. "Instead of leaving everything up to Washington bureaucrats, these projects will go straight to much needed projects in our communities," he said in a statement.

Rice and Zeldin declined comment, saying they would wait until the bill became law in case of any changes.

The House and Senate are on track to pass the omnibus spending bill, which includes about $1.5 trillion in spending to keep the government going and $13.6 billion for aid to Ukraine, but negotiations have continued.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday pulled $16.5 billion for COVID aid from the omnibus package at the insistence of Republicans ahead of expected passage in the House.

Schumer told Newsday that New York was not affected by the COVID funds being removed because the state already had taken a lump sum, unlike other states that did not.

And asked if the earmarks would remain in the final bill, Schumer assured they would, saying, "It’s done."

Editor's note -- An earlier version of this story misstated the approved requests made by Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport).