Washington -- For the second straight day, the United States House of Representatives approved a bill yesterday that included funding for Wyoming projects requested by U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin (R-WY). 

“I’m a budget hawk and I always have been,” Cubin said.  “After Congress agrees on a budget, I work hard to ensure Wyoming gets a fair share of those budgeted dollars through the appropriations process.  The money I have secured this week will go a long way to improving Wyoming’s health care services as well supporting innovative research on renewable energy sources.”

Cubin secured the funding, totaling $1.3 million, earlier this week as the House approved two of the 13 bills Congress must pass annually to fund the government.  Cubin requested the funding earlier this year as part of this funding process. 

“Given Washington’s current fiscal and political climate, I am very pleased my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee provided funding for these projects,” Cubin said.  “This speaks not only to the quality and validity of the projects that have been funded, but also to the steadfast working relationships I have worked hard to develop with many of my Democratic colleagues across the aisle.” 

The bills, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill and the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, would provide funding for Fiscal Year 2008.  Both bills have now been handed over to the Senate for consideration, and the funding will not be approved until both bodies agree on a final version.  President Bush must then sign the bills into law. 

The following projects requested by Representative Cubin were approved by the House of Representatives this week:

* $200,000 for the Central Wyoming College (CWC) Virtual Training for Rural Health Care Nurses.  This funding will assist in the completion of the Virtual Medical Skills Center for Training Nurses in Rural Health Care, which will address a serious nursing shortage in Wyoming by building on CWC's existing two-way, broadcast quality, interactive classroom network. 

* $250,000 for the Wind River Community Health Center.  This funding will assist in the planning and development of a Community Health Center (CHC) to serve the residents of Riverton and the Wind River Indian Reservation.  The Wind River Reservation has been widely acknowledged to have a tremendous unmet medical need, and this CHC would significantly improve the ability of local residents to access preventative and basic health care.

* $250,000 for the Vision Therapy Project in Casper. This project is aimed at screening Natrona County School District (NCSD) students for vision-related learning disorders.   Teachers would be trained to identify students with vision disorders and advise parents on options for their children, and funding would be provided for screening equipment in classrooms.  In addition, a select group of students with vision disorders would receive weekly vision therapy.  The project would utilize volunteers from the Vision Therapy Project, a non-profit organization that has been working with Park Elementary School on the project’s pilot.

* $300,000 for Powell Valley Health Care (PVHC) electronic information technology expansion.  This funding will help link PVHC's emergency care facilities with the rest of its facilities as well as to other regional healthcare providers, improving speed, accuracy and efficiency in dealing with emergency medical situations.

* $300,000 for the Casper College Renewable Energy Program.   Casper College is developing a Renewable Energy Program within its already existing Division of Trades and Technology.  Further, it has secured a partnership with the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC), to build a small wind generator testing and training site at the RMOTC facility where the college can train technicians.  This funding would be used to purchase site equipment for the turbine, to construct a portable classroom, and for utility interconnection between the test site building and the turbine.