Terri has brought billions in federal funding to Alabama to improve our infrastructure and strengthen our communities—both urban and rural. She has fought to rebuild our roads and bridges, fix our broken water and sewer systems, and ensure every Alabamian has access to high-speed internet.

Securing Wastewater Infrastructure Funding: Terri has taken bold actions to bring federal funding and resources to Alabama to address the wastewater crisis in the Black Belt.

  • Terri  introduced the Rural Decentralized Water Systems Reauthorization Act to help combat Alabama’s rural wastewater crisis by strengthening and expanding the existing USDA Rural Decentralized Water Systems Program. 
  • She secured $5,150,072 for the University of Alabama to improve wastewater conditions in Alabama’s Black Belt. This funding, which was awarded by USDA Rural Development, will be used to provide both technical assistance and construction in 15 Black Belt counties. 
  • Terri advocated for the inclusion of $1.47 billion for rural water and waste program loans and over $500 million in water and waste grants for clean and reliable drinking water systems and sanitary waste disposal systems.
  • Terri secured $10 million from the EPA for a project in Hayneville to address critical sewer and wastewater needs. 
  • In 2022, Terri invited EPA Administrator Michael Regan to Lowndes County to announce an initiative funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to help fix our broken wastewater system. 
  • Terri voted to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law, a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure. The law contained $12 billion for clean wastewater and stormwater management systems, including several of Terri’s wastewater initiatives, including: 
  • Terri’s bill, the Decentralized Wastewater Grant Act, which establishes a new grant program to help low- and moderate-income households connect their homes to existing wastewater infrastructure or install or upgrade individually owned septic tanks. 
  • Terri secured $782 million for the Alabama State Revolving Fund in the IIJA. This 5-year investment will improve water infrastructure across Alabama and includes $23 billion nationally for the bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act. 
  • Terri helped to create the Rural and Low-Income Water Assistance Pilot Program to establish a new EPA program to provide grants to utilities to assist low-income ratepayers. 
  • Terri worked closely with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to ensure that state funding received through the American Rescue Plan was allocated for wastewater infrastructure projects. This includes $5 million to fund demonstration sewer projects in the Black Belt. 
  • Terri secured $5 million for a pilot program to provide grants to a regional wastewater consortium to fund technical assistance and construction of regional wastewater systems by engineering experts at the University of Alabama, University of South Alabama, and Auburn University. 
  • The Rural Septic Tank Access Act, authored by Terri, passed as part of the 2018 Farm Bill. This newly created USDA program provides grants to improve rural decentralized water systems and water wells. 

Modernizing Alabama’s Infrastructure: Terri was the only member of the Alabama Delegation to vote in favor of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This bill is the largest investment in American infrastructure in our country’s history.  In Alabama, the law will invest:

  • $5.2 billion for Alabama roads
  • $225 million for Alabama bridges
  • $400 million for Alabama public transportation improvements
  • $782 million for water infrastructure in the state
  • $100+ million for broadband in Alabama

Investing in Public Transportation: The infrastructure law supported by Terri will invest $76,383,752 to upgrade and expand local transit in Alabama. $11,791,104 of these funds have been allocated for local transit projects in the Birmingham region. This investment will allow local transit authorities to buy new buses and railcars, address repair backlogs, modernize fleets, and transition to new technologies that reduce carbon emissions.

Expanding Broadband Access to All Alabamians: In our 21st century economy, access to reliable high-speed internet is not a luxury. It is a necessity. Under the Biden Administration, Terri secured over $1.4 billion to expand high-speed internet access in Alabama.  Terri also secured over $18 million in funding to bring high-speed internet to HBCU campuses in Alabama.