Bill funds two Whidbey projects

The bill passed the House and Senate this week and heads to the president for a signature.

The $1.5 trillion bipartisan omnibus spending bill that funds the federal government through September and includes assistance for Ukraine also includes money for two Whidbey Island projects.

The bill passed the House and Senate this week and heads to the president for a signature.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, a Democrat, secured $10.7 million for 10 Second District projects that local leaders and stakeholders identified as priorities.

Larsen earmarked $347,000 for the Goosefoot Community Fund’s community kitchen project in Langley. The Goosefoot Community Fund will expand a commercial kitchen to help local farmers, producers and small businesses increase food resiliency on Whidbey Island.

“We’re looking forward to completing this important project that’s been a long time coming,” Marian Myszkowski, director of programs for Goosefoot, said. “An expanded commercial kitchen will do much to strengthen our local food system.”

In addition, the bill includes $136,000 for the Port of Coupeville’s rehabilitation of the historic Coupeville Wharf. The port will replace approximately 400 feet of water and sewer piping that runs along the wharf’s causeway.

The wharf had to be closed in January after the water and sewer pipes burst due to freezing temperatures.

The package also has more than $4.6 billion in Impact Aid for school districts like Oak Harbor that lose property tax revenue due to the presence of a military base.

Several other smaller provisions in the bill would affect Whidbey residents.

Larsen earmarked $1.74 million for the Samish Indian Nation’s project to build a three-legged roundabout at the intersection of Highway 20 and Campbell Lake Road.

In addition, it designates $2 billion to enhance National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ongoing efforts to protect and conserve Southern Resident orcas, as well as $67 million to restore salmon habitat.