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District 3 Community

Rep. Johnson Secures $15M For Fourth District – Including $4M For Newton Co. Youth Facility

Updated: Jan 1, 2023


$15 million is secured by Rep. Johnson for the Fourth District, including $4 million for Newton County youth, $3.6 million for the Michelle Obama Trail, $2 million for MARTA, $1.5 million for the Memorial Drive Corridor, and more.


WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hank Johnson (GA-04), a member of Congress, voted to approve the FY 2023 budget. The law strengthens democracy at home and abroad while making unprecedented investments in American families and labor. The Senate and the House approved this legislation last week. The Bill is now headed to the desk of, President Biden for signing.


Local initiatives referred to as Community Project Funding is also included in the law (CPF). Congressman Johnson is pleased to have secured $15 million in financing for 14 CPFs in his district, including upgrades in transportation and District 3's, Westside Youth Facility.

“It is my job to fight for our district in Congress, and I am proud to secured funding for these critical projects from Clarkston to Conyers, Covington to Tucker and everywhere in between," Rep. Johnson said. "I will continue to fight for our district to ensure that we get the federal funding we need to make our community stronger.”


Commissioner Alana Sanders applied for this grant that was sent to all the Commissioners through the County Clerk and took the initiative to secure funds for District 3 because of the county’s absence of a grant writer. There have been many funds that the county could have received which were sent down from the federal government. Due to not having a grant writer, funds have been left on the table to help our community and offset the cost that could have been a burden on the residents in the county. There has been an extreme need in the most-dense area in Newton County and receiving this grant is a blessing to the community. I am thankful for Congressman Johnson listening to the needs of the community for residents also took part and was involved in securing this grant,” stated Sanders.


At the beginning of this year, the county hired a consultant to analyze the county’s recreational needs and District 3 was at the top of the list lacking parks and recreation in the area. The consultant mentioned a need for a Community Center, facilities for the youth, and seniors in the area. Sanders stated, “This will help with the issue of crime in our area by providing a location that is designed by our youth including the programs they desire.” Commissioner Sanders visited the schools in her district and surrounding areas working with the administration to create a focus group of youth to provide feedback on what they wanted in their youth facility. “The worst thing is to force programming on our youth that they do not want and to spend millions on a building that they will not utilize. They have stated on numerous occasions the programs they felt were not effective and the fact that we are not listening to them. Too often adults are telling the youth what they want based on their experiences and political reasoning, but it is not helping the children in our area. As a mother of a child who just graduated from the school system in Newton County, it is sad to hear many of the graduates state that will not return because there is nothing for them to do. We must listen and leave politics out of making decisions for our children."


The 14 CFPs secured by Rep. Johnson that will directly benefit GA-04 residents include:

  • Department of Energy Projects Regional Clean Electricity Plan for Local Governments in Metro Atlanta; Atlanta Regional Commission: $750,000.

  • Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Easter Seals North Georgia, Inc., Clarkston, GA for early childhood workforce development $200,000.

  • Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration Rockdale County Georgia, Conyers, GA for a workforce development initiative: $300,000.

  • Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Wellroot Family Services, Tucker, GA for housing and services and supplies, including the purchase of food, to improve economic outcomes of young adults transitioning out of foster care or experiencing homelessness: $286,500.

  • Department of Education Higher Education Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA for programs to expand access to postsecondary education, including English language proficiency support: $400,000.

  • Department of Transportation Highway Infrastructure Programs Michelle Obama Trail — PATH Trail Project DeKalb County Government: $3,617,500.

  • Department of Transportation Transit Infrastructure Grants Stonecrest Transit Hub Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority: $1 million | Department of Transportation Transit Infrastructure Grants Safe Routes to Transit in GA04 Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority: $1 million.

  • Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Fund Westside Youth Facility Newton County Government, Commissioner Alana Sanders: $4 million.

  • Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Fund Village at Legacy Affordable Housing Development City of Decatur: $750,000.

  • Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Fund Safe Housing for Domestic Violence Survivors in DeKalb County, GA Women Moving On, Inc.: $585,000.

  • Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Fund Memorial Drive Gateways Project DeKalb County Government: $1.5 million.

  • Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Fund Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Inc.: $250,000.

  • Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Fund Safe and Stable Housing for Youth Aging out of Care Wellroot Family Services, Tucker, GA: $913,500.

This omnibus package includes a significant increase in non-defense discretionary funding – larger than the boost won in last March’s government funding bill for Fiscal Year 2022. This funding was a top Democratic priority and will go toward supporting critical social programs that invest in our families, workers, and communities.


Other Key Democratic victories on health care include:

  • Ensuring permanent, mandatory, and continuous coverage for the 40 million children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP.

  • Record Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico and permanent enhanced Medicaid funding for all other territories, helping expand affordable, quality care to more Americans.

  • Historic funding for the critical Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting initiative, which improves health outcomes for pregnant people and young families who live in underserved communities.

  • Strong guardrails to prevent disruption to families’ health coverage, as states resume Medicaid recertifications next year.

  • New investments in mental health services, which will improve access to medication-assisted treatment, expand our mental health workforce and increase coverage of mental health services.

  • Improving diversity in FDA clinical trials and providing FDA regulation of cosmetics.

  • Passing the PREVENT Pandemics Act, which uses lessons learned from COVID-19 to improve our preparedness for future public health emergencies.

To honor our sacred duty to our veterans, the bill secures $21 billion increase for veterans’ health care. This will include supporting the VA as it implements the landmark PACT Act.

This legislation also includes robust defense funding, which will increase pay for our heroic troops and meet the basic needs of our military families. This includes another consequential round of security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, as we continue to support their fight for Democracy.

Additional key Democratic victories include:

  • Creating a nationwide permanent Summer EBT Program so that 29 million kids can get healthy, nutritious meals throughout the summer.

  • For the first time in more than a decade, more funding for the National Labor Relations Board, which helps defend the right to organize.

  • Emergency disaster support to help victims of hurricanes and wildfires throughout our country, to address the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi, and $1 billion for Puerto Rico’s electrical grid.

  • Reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which will help thwart future attempts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power like we saw on January 6th.

  • Critical Community Project Funding, to support vital projects that meet the needs of our families in our districts.

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