The Post Star - Block Grant Plan is the Right Approach

Op-Ed

By: Representative Elise Stefanik

When I ran for Congress, I pledged that I would work across the aisle and support good ideas to help our community, no matter who they came from.

With this in mind, I read with interest a recent interview from my fellow candidate for Congress, Matt Funiciello, in the Glens Falls Post-Star. In this interview, he proposed turning federal funding for economic development and infrastructure projects into a block grant program that would allow local communities and governments to decide how to best allocate these resources.

This would in turn eliminate the concerns over earmarks in the federal appropriations process, as money would be used at the discretion of the local community. As Mr. Funiciello told The Post-Star, "I think maybe then we would see that our pork projects aren't pork projects any more. They're actually projects that benefit the community that we would vote on, that we would develop on our own."

I write today to give my support for this concept. On issues ranging from education reform to combatting the opioid crisis in our community, I have long supported turning authority over to local governments who know best how to allocate resources. I strongly believe federal resources that are made available to our North Country community will be spent most wisely by our local governments, with North Country voters being able to easily and accessibly weigh in.

Providing more control to local governments was critical in my support for the long-term transportation bill that I helped pass last fall -- the Fast Act. Not only did this legislation give our economy needed predictability and certainty, it also converted the Surface Transportation Program into the Surface Transportation Block Grant Program. This new system provides significant flexibility for state and local governments to determine how to allocate funding for our infrastructure needs.

I am also a proud co-sponsor of the Community Economic Opportunity Act of 2015 that would reauthorize the Community Service Block Grant (CSBG) Program. This program provides critical assistance to local efforts aimed at reducing poverty and expanding economic opportunity, something I explored first-hand at my visit to the St. Lawrence County Community Development Program headquarters last August. In fact, 90 percent of CSBG funds go directly to local communities to provide critical services such as child care, job training, housing and financial education that improve self-sufficiency. I am a strong supporter of this program and will continue to advocate for its reauthorization in Congress.

Additionally, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act that passed last Congress has many provisions to require local input and planning for workforce development programs. In my work on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, I will be helping to align the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act with this program to increase local control over our career and technical education programs.

Going forward, I will continue to work in Congress to advocate for local control over federal funding initiatives. I am proud of my record in Congress working across the aisle and working with anyone who has good ideas that will help North Country families and businesses. I am proud to give my support to this block grant plan.

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