WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today announced the Senate passage of the fiscal year 2010 CJS Appropriations bill. The funding bill puts more than $27 million in the federal checkbook for a safer, smarter Maryland and America.

TOOLS FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, CRIME PREVENTION

“While we are protecting the homeland, we also have to protect the hometown. My CJS bill gets us closer to these goals by standing up for our first responders and local programs that protect our children, our families and our communities,” Chairwoman Mikulski said. “I am committed to fighting for Maryland programs to keep our neighborhoods safe.”

• $1.5 million for Baltimore County’s police technology upgrades for the 9-1-1 emergency center.

• $1.1 million for the City of Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Violence Reduction Program.

• $750,000 for the Latin American Youth Center in Prince George’s County to serve at-risk youth and promote gang prevention.

• $1 million for the Maryland Association of Youth Services Bureaus to provide direct prevention and diversion services to at-risk youths statewide.

• $750,000 for Harford County for interoperability equipment upgrades.

• $500,000 for the Northwest Baltimore Prisoner Re-entry Program to increase ex-offender enrollment and enhance re-entry services.

• $900,000 for the Hagerstown Police Department for interoperability equipment upgrades.

• $500,000 for the Jericho Workforce Development Initiative for Ex-Offenders to expand re-entry workforce development programs in Baltimore City.

• $500,000 for the Kennedy Krieger Institute Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Program at Fort Meade for early intervention and prevention services to at-risk children.

• $500,000 for the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource (ASTAR) Center, based in Washington, D.C., to train judges.

• $1 million Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation for at-risk youth mentoring programs.

• $1 million Girl Scouts Beyond Bars to provide mentoring to at-risk children of adult offenders.

PROTECTING THE BAY AND WATERMEN COMMUNITIES

“As the senior Senator from Maryland, it is my responsibility to fight for funds in the federal checkbook that protect Maryland jobs and communities. Our watermen and communities that rely on the Chesapeake Bay are struggling and need a government that is on their side,” Chairwoman Mikulski said. “This is about lives and livelihoods in a struggling economy. Maryland can count on me to keep up the fight for them.”

The funding bill includes:

• $3 million for the States of Maryland and Virginia to replenish native oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. Funds will specifically support on-the-ground and in-the-water restoration projects.

• $2.4 million for the Susquehanna River Basin Flood Forecast and Warning System for the development of floodplain data, new protocol and standards for flood plain mapping, and flood inundation mapping. The Susquehanna River basin is one of the most flood prone watersheds in the nation and experiences flood-related damages in excess of $150 million on an average year.

• $500,000 to expand the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIS). This buoy network provides real-time observational data on the environmental condition of the Bay including wave heights, salinity and temperature.

• $3 million for the University of Maryland Baltimore County and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science to research, understand and predict the effects of climate and land-use changes on the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.

• $250,000 for the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center to support restoration and education activities on the Chesapeake Bay

A SMARTER MARYLAND

“If Maryland is going to be more competitive, we must focus on programs that are developing new technologies that lead to new products and industries that create new jobs that will never leave the United States,” Chairwoman Mikulski said. “I will continue to fight to make Maryland innovators a priority in the federal checkbook, particularly those working to find new ways to conserve and protect the Bay and the communities who rely on it.”

• $3 million for the Chesapeake Information Based Aeronautics Consortium, a partnership of Morgan State University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Bowie State University, for continued development of flight safety technologies.

• $2 million for the University of Maryland’s Baltimore County campus to develop new tools for use in medical imaging, national security and communications.

• $1 million for the Coppin State University, Towson University and University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute partnership to increase the number and quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers at area public schools.

• $3 million for Teach for America, based in New York, NY, to increase the number and quality of STEM teachers across the nation.

In the next step of the appropriations process, the House and Senate will work out the differences between their versions of the bill, which will then be approved a final time by both legislative bodies before being signed into law.