Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) highlighted the inclusion of $500,000 for Southwest Riverside County Regional Homeless Services in the Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations bill. Rep. Calvert voted along with a bipartisan majority of the House of Representatives to approve the bill on Wednesday, March 9th. The bill was subsequently approved by the Senate and is awaiting the President’s signature.
The funding was requested by the city of Murrieta. The cities of Murrieta, Temecula, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, and Wildomar have joined together in a Regional Homeless Alliance. The requested funds will enable the Alliance to provide additional case management and homeless outreach assistance.
“The City of Murrieta is proud of the partnership we have had over the years with our congressional representative,” said Murrieta Mayor Jonathan Ingram.
“This funding will bring $500,000 to Murrieta and the surrounding community to support essential services that address homelessness. We are grateful to Congressman Calvert’s office for their work supporting our region.”
“The Southwest Riverside County Regional Homeless Services project is a regional approach to addressing our homeless challenge and a proactive step by our local officials that is worthy of support,” said Rep. Calvert. “The cities of Murrieta, Temecula, Menifee, Lake Elsinore, and Wildomar understand neither our community nor the homeless are well served when individuals or families are living on our streets or in encampments. By addressing the unique mental health, drug abuse, and economic challenges of individual homeless people and providing them with the corresponding assistance and services they need, we can make a positive impact.”
Under the U.S. Constitution, all federal funding must be appropriated by Congress. As part of the annual appropriations process, members of Congress are provided the opportunity to submit Community Project Funding (CPF) requests to the Appropriations Committee for consideration. Rep. Calvert’s CPF requests were submitted on behalf of local governments and non-profit organizations in the 42nd District.
To satisfy required transparency and other safeguards, Rep. Calvert previously posted detailed CPF project descriptions online and certified that he had no financial interest in the projects. The funding included in the appropriation bills for CPF projects does not increase the overall size of their respective federal programs. The process merely allocates where approved federal funding is spent and reasserts Congress’ constitutional role of appropriating funds.