Communities, nonprofits encouraged to apply for federal funds

By John McPhaul

jpmcphaul@gmail.com

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón invited communities, non-profit organizations and government entities on Tuesday to submit proposals for local or community projects, also known as Community Project Funding, for consideration for funding allocations in the federal government budget for fiscal year 2023.

The resident commissioner’s office will be receiving proposals until Monday, April 11.

This is the second year that members of Congress will have the opportunity to submit direct funding requests for projects in their community districts, known as “earmarks.”

“We are going to see a federal injection of $2.3 million for several community projects on the island, which we were able to approve in the recent bipartisan federal budget agreement for fiscal year 2022,” González Colón said. “I also hope to include new projects for next year by advocating before the [House Appropriations] Committee, and in all stages as I did with those approved this year. These funds are vital to strengthen the infrastructure, services and other projects in our communities in Puerto Rico.”

According to the procedures adopted by the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, only government and nonprofit entities will be eligible to apply for funds. Likewise, there will only be a limited number of federal programs under which they could receive an allocation of funds.

Those interested in submitting any of their existing or future projects should familiarize themselves with the eligible federal programs and their requirements, to determine if it would be appropriate to include it in the request for funds.

Among the most important aspects to determine eligibility is being able to demonstrate that the project has broad community support, is justified and, if selected for funding, can be implemented quickly, effectively and in full compliance with applicable federal requirements. This includes being able to meet the matching of funds, if necessary.

The form to submit applications, as well as additional details of each program and the eligibility requirements with which each project would have to meet, are available at the following link: https://gonzalez-colon.house.gov/community- project-funding-requests-0 .

It is important to emphasize that this process is extremely limited and for this reason, the accommodation of all requests cannot be guaranteed. The proposals submitted must be complete and meet all the requirements of each eligible program, including being able to provide matching funds if necessary.

Incomplete proposals will not be considered. Questions can be directed to the resident commissioner’s office via email at prapprops@mail.house.gov.

In compliance with the transparency requirements of the Appropriations Committee, the resident commissioner’s office will publish the final list of the 15 selected projects on its website. It should be noted that inclusion of a project on this list does not guarantee that it will receive funding.