Rep. Mullin Seeks Investments in Clean Energy, Election Integrity, Public Health & More in the 2027 Federal Budget Process

San Mateo, CA - U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin (CA-15) led a national coalition of lawmakers to submit several requests as part of the Fiscal Year 27 House Appropriations process, encompassing a wide range of issues including climate resiliency, clean energy, election integrity, and public health.

"Congress has a responsibility not only to respond to today's challenges, but to prepare our communities for the risks and opportunities of tomorrow," Rep. Mullin said. "My appropriations requests this year would invest in cutting-edge clean energy technologies, strengthen emergency preparedness and public health systems, and protect the integrity of our democracy. These priorities reflect both the needs I hear from my constituents and the urgency of the moment-from adapting to climate challenges and emerging health threats, to safeguarding our elections. I will continue working to ensure the federal government delivers real, forward-looking solutions for communities in California and across the country."

These types of submissions by members of Congress are considered as part of the federal budget development process and will be considered by the House Appropriations Committee. Rep. Mullin led his colleagues in championing 30 priorities for FY27, including:

Election Integrity

Safeguarding Elections from Federal Interference - Prohibit the Department of Justice from bringing lawsuits that block the counting of ballots.

Environment & Clean Energy

Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal - Robust funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to fight climate change by developing technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere using the marine environment.

Coastal Data & Mapping - Robust funding for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Digital Coast program, which provides geospatial data and mapping tools to help coastal communities prepare for storms, flooding, and other natural disasters.

Clean Energy Grid Integration - Robust funding for the Department of Energy to help connect solar and wind energy to the power grid.

Groundwater Rise Modeling - Provide $2 million to the U.S. Geological Survey to map groundwater rise across all coastal communities in the United States. This request dovetails Rep. Mullin's Groundwater Rise and Infrastructure Preparedness Act.

Wildfire Technology Deployment - Direct federal firefighting agencies including Department of Interior to explore commercially-available technologies that could improve efforts to mitigate and respond to wildfires.

Next-Gen Solar - Provide $60 million to the Department of Energy for research, development, and manufacturing of next-generation solar technology.

Domestic Battery Production Pilot - Provide $10 million to build more battery materials in the U.S. through a Department of Defense pilot program that would support domestic manufacturing and strengthen supply chains. Currently, most battery components are sourced in China for use in U.S. defense purposes like drones, satellites, and vehicles

Expanding the Energy Grid - Request the Department of Transportation to support projects that place energy infrastructure in existing highway and rail corridors to help expand the electric grid. Growing energy demand will require a major expansion of the electric transmission system, particularly high-voltage lines. This request builds on Rep. Mullin's Rail and Highway Transmission Planning Act.

Public Health & Science

Brain Injury & Disease Research - Provide $30 million for the Brain Injury and Disease Prevention, Treatment and Research program under the Department of Defense to develop treatments for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and Parkinson's disease.

Public Health Emergency Training - Provide $28.5 million for the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training & Education Center and Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers through the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, which funds education and training programs for responding to high-risk infectious disease threats.

Emergency Alerts - Provide $40 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Next Generation Warning System grant program, which helps communities improve emergency alerting through public broadcasting.

Environmental Impacts on Human Health Research - Provide $42 million for Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers within the National Institutes of Health, which investigate how environmental factors, like wildfire smoke, affect human health and disease.

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders - Increase funding for research on hearing, balance, taste, smell, speech, and language through the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.

Hearing Restoration Research Program - Provide $10 million for research into how hearing loss can be restored. Veterans and military service members are at a much higher risk of developing hearing loss due to service-related exposure, and it is one of the most common service-connected disabilities, impacting 1.6 million veterans.

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences - Increase funding for the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences to turn scientific discoveries into new treatments and cures. The center's goal is to cut the time it takes for patients to receive new treatments, and this would help fund disease research, drug development, and clinical trials.

Protect Investments in Fundamental Sciences - Protect investments in fundamental sciences from the Trump Administration's proposed cuts to the National Science Foundation, which funds research into fundamental sciences like physics, biology, and mathematics and supports America's research leadership.

Cancer Screening & Preventative Services Access - Direct the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to consistently meet to review new, evidence-based preventive services that the public should be able to access. The Task Force is an independent panel of experts that issues evidence-based recommendations for cancer screenings and other preventive health services, which insurance companies must then offer to patients at no cost. The Task Force usually meets three times a year, but under Trump's Department of Health and Human Services it has not met in over a year.

HIV Research & Treatment Funding - Direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to report on past and future funding plans for domestic HIV research and prevention programs, while reminding the agency it must follow appropriation levels approved by Congress. Despite roughly 32,000 new HIV infections each year in the U.S. and treatment costs exceeding $1 million over a person's lifetime, the Trump Administration has repeatedly targeted HIV research and treatment programs for cancellation and grant delays.

Public Safety & Emergency Response

Urban Search & Rescue Task Force Funding - Provide $56 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 28 National Urban Search & Rescue task forces, which is consistent with a $15 million increase Rep. Mullin secured in FY 2026 and which represented the largest increase the program had seen in over 20 years.

Emergency Alert Funding and Report Language - Provide an increase of $30 million a year for state and local governments to improve life-saving emergency alert capabilities through increased training, exercises, and public education. This proposal aligns with Rep. Mullin's REACT Act.

Transportation, Housing & Infrastructure

Empty Lots to Housing - Direct the Federal Highway Administration to identify underutilized government-owned land located in transit-rich urban areas that is suitable to be redeveloped into housing. This proposal builds on Rep. Mullin's Empty Lots To Housing Act.

Rail Crossing Safety & Technology - Broaden the eligibility for the Department of Transportation's existing rail crossing safety grants to be used for modern technology, including AI-powered sensors, such as those deployed by Caltrain, to help prevent accidents.

Low- and No-Emission Buses - Direct the Federal Transit Administration to follow market demand for clean energy vehicles when evaluating grant applications from local transit agencies to purchase new low- or no-emission buses.

Further information about Rep. Mullin's legislative priorities, committees, and caucuses can be found at kevinmullin.house.gov.

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