Roughly $540 million approved for Kentucky priorities in federal funding bill

Numerous Kentucky priorities have been granted funding through the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations for Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment and Energy-Water.

Roughly $540 million in federal funding was passed by the U.S. Senate and now heads to the President to be signed into law. Some of that funding, according to a news release from Senator Mitch McConnell's Office, includes $340 million to fund decommissioning, decontamination and environmental remediation at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, $7.45 million for improvements at the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area—such as maintenance projects at Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake—and $2.5 million for equipment at a new cybercrime training facility in Madisonville.

Friends of the Land Between the Lakes Executive Director Elaine Jackson says, ““This investment in the Woodlands Nature Station honors the original public commitment made when Land Between the Lakes was established and Senator McConnell’s support at the federal level is appreciated. The federal funding will help drive measurable economic development by increasing visitation, generating tourism spending, and supporting local businesses and rural workforce opportunities across the region. Land Between the Lakes belongs to the public, and this investment reinforces our responsibility to manage it in a way that is relevant, and forward-looking.”

Several other priorities were listed in the funding, including funds for aquatic invasive species management, the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, supporting efforts to regenerate the White Oak tree species, Justice Assistance grants, increased funding to the Delta Regional Authority and much, much more.