Durbin, Duckworth Secure Support For Illinois Priorities In Recently Passed Package Of Three Government Funding Bills

January 23, 2026

Durbin, Duckworth Secure Support For Illinois Priorities In Recently Passed Package Of Three Government Funding Bills

The package included Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment government funding bills

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced the various priorities for Illinois they secured in the recently passed package of government funding bills for Commerce, Justice, and Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26).

"This government funding package had a strong showing of bipartisan support, a step in the right direction as Congress works to complete the appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2026," said Durbin. "The bills include significant investments in the future of Illinois, providing the resources for national, regional, and state programs to better serve the people of Illinois."

"Our state and our nation are stronger when we invest in our communities and families-and that's what these bipartisan funding bills do," Duckworth said. "Appropriating federal funding is the primary role of Congress, and it's critical this responsibility remains in the legislative branch. I'm proud we were able to come together and pass these bills in a bipartisan manner, and I urge my colleagues to work together to pass funding bills that actually help the American people."

The three funding bills include the following Illinois priorities secured by Congressionally Directed Spending requests:

Commerce, Justice, Science

• Crisis Intervention Initiative, Aurora, Illinois: $128,000 to the City of Aurora to train and certify law enforcement personnel in crisis intervention training to help these personnel better understand and appropriately handle encounters with citizens experiencing mental health issues.

• Defy Ventures, Chicago, Illinois: $271,000 for additional programming and training dedicated to Defy Ventures' efforts to reduce recidivism in Illinois.

• Equipment Upgrades, Chicago, Illinois: $500,000 to the City of Chicago to enable the Chicago Police Department to expand its forensic investigation capacity through modifications to cargo trucks and the purchase of mobile forensic equipment.

• Equipment Upgrades, Kane County, Illinois: $1.031 million to the Kane County Coroner's Office to update equipment of the Kane County Forensic Laboratory. Acquisition of new equipment would enable more rapid generation of leads in investigations, the streamlining of obtaining information related to pending cases, and the ability to determine cause of death in a timely manner for grieving families.

• Equipment Upgrades, Oak Park, Illinois: $185,000 to the Oak Park Police Department to improve training of police officers through acquisition and use of a virtual training simulator. This simulator would place police officers in real-world scenarios focusing on de-escalation, less lethal options, community engagement, and officer wellness with a goal of increased positive outcomes.

• Equipment Upgrades, Springfield, Illinois: $750,000 to the City of Springfield to procure a new mobile command center for the Springfield Police Department. The Department needs to replace an outdated command center with a vehicle with updated technology.

• Instrumentation and Equipment Upgrades, Peoria, Illinois: $1 million to Bradley University to provide advanced instrumentation and equipment for its Drop Tower, allowing the tower to become fully operational for use in NASA-related experiments, research, and STEM education.

• Police and Community Violence Intervention Initiative, Chicago, Illinois: $600,000 to the University of Chicago Crime Lab to expand a training program focused on violence reduction and building community trust through the Community Safety Leadership Academies. This program brings together data and behavioral science insights of academics and practitioners with real-world success in reducing violence, improving public trust, and building leadership capacity.

• Reentry Initiative, Chicago, Illinois: $650,000 to the Safer Foundation to implement a program to reduce recidivism and increase employment for justice-involved citizens of Chicago. These efforts will assist individuals with arrest and conviction records connect with housing, workforce development, healthcare and education.

• Reentry Initiative, Sangamon County, Illinois: $300,000 to SING (Shifting Into New Gear Reentry Program) to expand a reentry program that facilitates connections for ex-offenders to employment, social and peer support, and counseling in order to reduce reincarcerations in the community.

• Technology Upgrades, Freeport, Illinois: $600,000 to the City of Freeport to purchase equipment to assist law enforcement in addressing and reducing gun violence in the community.

• Urbana School District 116, Urbana, Illinois: $336,000 to develop a community school initiative to decrease community violence in Urbana School District 116.

• Violence Prevention Initiative, Cook County, Illinois: $1.5 million to Youth Advocate Programs to expand a juvenile justice program serving at-risk youth in Cook County to increase access to programming tailored to youth who are no longer consistently attending school and those who are already in contact with the justice system.

• Violent Crime Data Sharing Initiative, Chicago, Illinois: $1.665 million to Rush University System for Health to build, develop and maintain a violent crime injury registry in partnership with the Chicago Department of Public Health and Chicagoland hospitals and regional trauma centers. This project aims to prevent and break the cycle of violence by utilizing hospital injury data to improve service delivery coordination and interrupt instances of perpetrating or falling victim to violence.

• William Rainey Harper College, Palatine, Illinois: $765,000 to support the development of a quantum workforce education and training network at William Rainey Harper College.

• Youth Mentoring Initiative, Chicago, Illinois: $250,000 to the Save One Life Foundation for a community intervention and prevention program for youth in Northern Illinois. This program will provide peer mentoring, support, and pair youth participants with credible messenger mentors, facilitate networking, and increase access to youth wrap around resources in the community.

Energy and Water Development

• Cook County and Lake County, Section 219, Illinois: $2.223 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps) for environmental infrastructure projects in Cook County.

• East St. Louis & Vicinity, Madison and St. Clair Counties, Illinois: $500,000 to the Army Corps for a General Reevaluation Report that will study recurring flood risk in a study area that encompasses 10 economically disadvantaged communities, including Cahokia Heights, East St. Louis, Washington Park, Caseyville, Madison, Venice, Brooklyn, Fairmont City, Pontoon Beach, and Granite City.
• Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study, Regional, Illinois: $3 million to the Army Corps to fund a comprehensive study of the Great Lakes coastline.

• Upper Miss River - Illinois WW System, IL, IA, MN, MO, & WI (Regional): $18 million to the Army Corps to advance Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) restoration projects.

• Madison and St. Clair Counties (Cahokia Heights East Interceptor System), Illinois: $7.29 million to the Army Corps of Engineers to help fund sanitary infrastructure improvements in Cahokia Heights.

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

• Bonnie Brae Forest Manor Sanitary District, Lockport, Illinois: $250,000 for water main infrastructure improvement projects in the Bonnie Brae Forest Manor Sanitary District.

• City of Chester, Illinois: $1.2 million for the Route 150 water main replacement project.

• City of Markham, Illinois: $1.5 million for water infrastructure improvements in the City of Markham, Illinois.

• City of Paris, Illinois: $500,000 for wastewater improvement initiatives in Paris, Illinois.

• Lead Service Line Replacements, Chicago, Illinois: $2 million to the City of Chicago to replace more than 200 lead service lines. Chicago has more lead service lines than any other municipality in the country and the majority of properties in Chicago receive their water from lead service lines.

• Lead Service Line Replacements, Macomb, Illinois: $1 million to the City of Macomb to replace lead drinking water service lines in various locations throughout the City.

• Stormwater and Flooding Mitigation Project, Carbondale, Illinois: $1.5 million for the City of Carbondale to replace storm sewer piping.

• Water Main Extension, Winnebago County, Illinois: $600,000 to Winnebago County to extend a water main to provide water to additional areas of the County.

• Water Main Improvements, Park Forest, Illinois: $1.45 million to the Village of Park Forest to replace the highest priority water main.

• Water Main Replacement, Springfield, Illinois: $900,000 to the City of Springfield to replace a water main on South Seventh Street in downtown Springfield. The water main was installed in 1931 and is need of replacement. The main serves the historic downtown Springfield area, including Lincoln's Home National Historic Site Visitor Center, the Illinois State Police Memorial Park, Springfield Clinic, and the Elijah Iles House.

• Well Reconstruction and Water Treatment, Machesney Park and Roscoe, Illinois: $1 million to North Park Public Water District for the reconstruction of Roscoe and Machesney Park's well to accommodate PFAS treatment. This funding will ensure continued access to a reliable source of safe, plentiful, and affordable drinking water for the communities of Machesney Park and Roscoe in Winnebago County, Illinois.

• Winnebago County, Rockford, Illinois: $700,000 for PFAS remediation in Rockford.

The three funding bills include additional Illinois priorities secured through the programmatic appropriations process:

Commerce, Justice, and Science

Department of Commerce

• Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs: $41 million for the Economic Development Administration's Tech Hub Program, which funds 31 designated Tech Hubs, two of which are located in Illinois.

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Scientific and Technical Research and Services: $1.2 billion for research at NIST. This continues Durbin's decades-long goal to secure five percent growth in funding each year for scientific research agencies.

• Coastal Zone Management Grants: $81.5 million to support grants to states with approved coastal zone management plans for the protection, restoration, and enhancement of coastal zone areas, including those in the Great Lakes region.

• Regional Climate Centers (RCC): $6.1 million to support regional climate centers, which provide climate information to government agencies, farmers, water resource managers, businesses, emergency managers, and the public.

• Economic Development Assistance Programs: $400 million to provide grants to states, localities, non-profit organizations, and others to create jobs in economically challenged areas.

• Sale and Export of Tobacco Programs: Includes language prohibiting the use of federal funds to promote the sale or export of tobacco products, or to seek the reduction/removal of foreign restrictions on tobacco marketing.

• International Trade Administration: $562 million in funding for the agency, with $16.4 million, directed specifically at preventing China from dumping cheap products that undercut U.S. businesses.

Department of Justice (DOJ)

• Bureau of Prisons: $8.1 billion for the administration, operation, and maintenance of federal correctional institutions and $279.7 million for planning, acquisition of sites, and construction of new facilities; purchase and acquisition of facilities; and constructing, remodeling, and equipping buildings and facilities at existing penal and correctional institutions.

• First Step Act: $409.5 million for the programs and activities authorized by Durbin's First Step Act of 2018.

• Prosecutor and Public Defender Student Loan Repayment: $2.5 million to provide student loan repayment assistance for state and local prosecutors and public defenders through the John J. Justice Program.

• Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative: $50 million to provide grants to support evidence-based community violence intervention programs. The bill includes Durbin's report language encouraging DOJ to develop a grant opportunity for an accredited research university that delivers programming for the next generation of community violence interrupters, leaders, and law enforcement.

• Combatting Hate Crimes: $17 million for grants to state, local, and Tribal law enforcement to conduct outreach and training on hate crimes and to investigate and prosecute hate crimes; $9 million for grants to prevent hate crimes through conflict resolution and community empowerment and education; and $9 million for programs combatting hate crimes authorized under the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE ACT.

• Project Safe Neighborhoods: $13 million to provide grants to support evidence-based, data-driven, trauma-informed, and focused intervention, deterrence, and prevention initiatives aimed at reducing violence.

• Community Relations Service: $20 million for necessary expenses of the Community Relations Service to address community conflicts and violence prevention.

• Children Exposed to Violence: $9 million for a grant program that supports hospital-based trauma recovery/violence prevention programs at Lurie Children's and University of Chicago.

• Crime Victims Fund (CVF): The bill makes $1.95 billion from the CVF available in FY26.

• Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Programs: $800 million for COPS initiatives, to be provided to various grant programs.

• Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant: $964 million for the Byrne-JAG program.

• United States Parole Commission: $13 million for necessary expenses of the Parole Commission as authorized.

• Preventing Violence Against Women: $720 million for grants provided by the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) and rejects President Trump's proposal to combine OVW with the Office of Justice Programs.

• Missing and Exploited Children Program: $105 million to support the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and the AMBER Alert system.

• Civil Rights Violations in State and Local Prisons and Jails: Includes Durbin's report language to investigate and address violations of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.

• Legal Orientation Programming: $27.5 million for services and programming intended to provide relevant information on immigration court procedures to detained undocumented immigrants.

• Immigration Judge Staffing: Durbin secured language in the Senate bill to push for greater transparency with respect to immigration judge firings, including immigration judges who accepted a deferred resignation offer or early retirement, and immigration judges terminated and the reason for termination. The Joint Explanatory Statement for the final bill reduced the reporting requirements to a quarterly accounting of detailees serving as immigration judges and required the Executive Office of Immigration Review to retrain all judges currently on a probationary period or on detail.

• Upholding Constitutionally Required Due Process: Directs the Executive Office of Immigration Review to refrain from incentivizing any immigration judge to close or dismiss a case without adjudicating the merits of the case.

• Tobacco: Includes report language expressing concern about the widespread availability of unauthorized e-cigarettes and expresses support for the interagency task force with FDA to enhance enforcement activities.

• Investigation and Prosecution of Human Rights Crimes: Includes Durbin's report language requiring DOJ to increase efforts to investigate and prosecute human rights crimes, including genocide, torture, use or recruitment of child soldiers, and war crimes, particularly to support the War Crimes Accountability Team's efforts to respond to ongoing atrocities in Ukraine and the added responsibilities of the Criminal Division to prosecute war criminals under the Justice for Victims of War Crimes Act.

• U.S. Marshals Service: $1.7 billion to support the U.S. Marshals Service, including their work protecting federal judges and courthouses.

• Protecting Federal Judges: $7.5 million for the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act grant program to support state and local law enforcement efforts to protect judges and their families.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

• Science Directorate: $7.25 billion to fund the work of more than 10,000 scientists at universities, industry, and government laboratories across the U.S. through competitive research grants and mission-critical technology development and support.

• Space Technology: $975 million to fund space technology research and development, including new propulsion systems to explore deep space and compete with increasingly aggressive Chinese space endeavors.

• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM): $143 million to support several key programs, including the Minority University Research and Education Project; Space Grant, which funds education and research through a national network of university-based consortia; and Next Gen STEM, which provides awards for informal educational institutions and sustains a national network of museums and science centers.

National Science Foundation (NSF)

• NSF: $8.75 billion to fund scientific research at NSF. In 2025, Illinois institutions received more than $382 million in NSF awards.

• National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot: $30 million for the NAIRR pilot program.

• Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT): $30 million for NSF to advance priority astronomy facilities, including GMT, a telescope that will be constructed in part by Rockford's Ingersoll Tools and supported by the University of Chicago.

Energy and Water Development

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

• Brandon Road: $28 million, which is enough to fully fund the project for FY26, and includes Durbin's report language requiring the Army Corps to provide a quarterly report on status updates and any change in cost for the Brandon Road Project.

• Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program: $52 million in funding for the program, which conducts long-term monitoring of the Upper Mississippi River and habitat restoration.

• Quincy Bay: Includes Durbin's report language encouraging the Army Corps to prioritize the environmental restoration project at Quincy Bay under the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program.

• Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Electric Dispersal Barrier: $12.9 million for operation of an electric barrier preventing movement of invasive carp toward the Great Lakes.

• Bubbly Creek: Includes Durbin's report language encouraging the Army Corps and EPA to continue interagency discussions to allow the Army Corps to move to construction on environmental remediation and restoration of Bubbly Creek. The bill also includes Durbin's language directing the Army Corps to brief Congress on the status of its pilot project within 30 days of enactment.
• Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund: Includes Durbin's report language encouraging the Army Corps to use the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to invest in the Great Lakes Navigation System, which has more than 175 million tons of commodities carried though its waters each year.

Department of Energy (DOE)

• DOE Office of Science: $8.4 billion to support basic science research, Illinois' Argonne and Fermi National Labs, and the development of critical technologies.

• High Energy Physics: $1.235 billion to support basic, discovery science in DOE's highest priority physics projects, including physics projects led by Fermilab.

• LBNF/DUNE: $260 million to continue construction of Fermilab's LBNF accelerator and for the installation of neutrino detectors and necessary lab infrastructure in South Dakota's DUNE.

• Proton Improvement Plan II: $114 million to upgrade Fermilab's accelerator complex with the cutting-edge technology needed to enable LBNF/DUNE.

• Argonne Leadership Computing Facility: $238 million to support the development, maintenance, and operation of Argonne's supercomputing complex, including its Aurora Exascale Computing System and new testbeds for AI development.

• Post-Exascale Computing Report Language: Includes Durbin's report language directing DOE to brief Congress on its plans to build on the success of the exascale computing program, which funded the construction of Argonne's Aurora supercomputer.

• Light Source Operations: $867 million for the operation of DOE's five light sources, including Argonne's Advanced Photon Source.

• Quantum Information Science: $255 million, including for the continued operation of DOE's five national quantum centers, two of which are located at Fermilab and Argonne. The bill also includes Durbin's report language requiring DOE to provide a report on the energy usage of various quantum technologies.
• Batteries and Energy Storage Hub: $26 million, including for the continued operation of Argonne's Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, which performs cutting edge battery research and development.

• Fermilab Utilities Infrastructure Project: $18 million to support key improvements to water, power, and transportation infrastructure supporting Fermilab's scientific experiments.

• Argonne Utilities Upgrade: $2.25 million to support laboratory infrastructure and eliminate the deferred maintenance costs on Argonne's campus.

• Bioenergy Research Centers: $118 million to support four centers working to establish a sustainable bioenergy industry, including the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

• Fast Reactor Program: $12 million, including for Argonne's Fast Reactor activities.

• Vehicle Technologies Office: $397 million, to continue research and development of advanced transportation technologies, including improvements to electric vehicles and charging, energy storage, battery recycling, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Argonne National Lab leads the nation in vehicle technologies research.

• Weatherization Assistance Program: $329 million to reduce energy costs for low-income households by implementing energy efficiency and weather resilience measures in homes.

• Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains: $17 million to support the supply of critical energy technologies, including distribution transformers.

• Indirect Cost Rates: Includes Durbin's requested bill language directing DOE to continue using its 2024 indirect cost rates for federal research projects instead of the 15 percent flat rate imposed by the Trump Administration.

Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies

Department of the Interior

Bureau of Land Management (BLM): $1.26 billion in total funding.

• Plant Conservation Activities: $20.6 million and includes Durbin's language supporting BLM's continued support of the Seed Strategy, the interagency Native Plant Materials Development Program, the Seeds of Success program, the Plant Conservation Alliance, and regional native plant materials development programs.

• Urban and Community Forestry (Chicago Region Trees Initiative): Includes Durbin's language prioritizing multi-organizational collaborations to support conservation and offset climate change for urban and community forestry grants.

• Migratory Bird Management Program, Incidental Take: Includes Durbin's language supporting an incidental take authorization program for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which will help bird species that are experiencing population decline.

National Park Service: $3.27 billion for NPS and $2.87 billion for the operation of the Park Service.

• New Philadelphia National Historic Site: Includes Durbin's language directing the National Park Service to ensure park operation begins in a reasonable timeframe for the newly established New Philadelphia site.

• Springfield Race Riot Site: Includes Durbin's language directing the National Park Service to work with the community to complete the Foundation Document for the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument and provide for park planning.

Land and Water Conservation Fund: $900 million in total funding.

• Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge: Includes Durbin's language supporting federal land acquisition by the National Fish and Wildlife Service for the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF): $1.6 billion to provide critical investments that create jobs, repair crumbling wastewater infrastructure, and protect public health and environmental quality. Ten percent of CWSRF may be used as grants to address lead exposure.

• Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (DWSRF): $1.12 billion to help water systems and states to ensure clean and safe drinking water is reliably delivered to communities. Fourteen percent of DWSRF may be used as grants to address lead exposure.

• EPA Compliance: $106.4 million to enable EPA and co-regulators to undertake inspections and other monitoring activities to determine if regulated entities are complying with environmental statutes as well as applicable regulations and permit conditions.

• EPA Enforcement: $368.3 million to ensure consistent and fair enforcement of all major environmental statutes and numerous regulations implementing each of those statutes. Includes Durbin's report language supporting EPA in addressing PFAS contamination.

• Bubbly Creek: Includes Durbin's report language on the inclusion of the restoration Bubbly Creek in EPA's Lakewide Management Plan (LAMP) and directs EPA to maximize its partnerships and resources to ensure no further delays.

• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI): $369 million for the initiative. It also includes Durbin's report language to allow funds from the program to be used for projects in the Chicago River Watershed. Congress established the GLRI to provide funding to states, tribes, local governments, and federal agencies to protect the Great Lakes. The program has provided $4 billion since 2010 to fund projects that restore habitat, fight invasive species, clean up toxic pollution, and reduce pollution runoff.

• Lake Explorer II Support Vessel Decommission: Includes Durbin's language regarding the importance of EPA replacing the Great Lakes research vessel Lake Explorer II so the agency may continue uninterrupted water quality and biological monitoring of the Great Lakes.

• Coal Combustion Residual Permit Program: Includes $9 million for federal and state permitting programs for coal combustion residuals.

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