A plan by Republicans in Congress would strip away $9 million in federal earmarks across Deschutes County should it become law, wrenching progress on a diverse set of prominent projects.

The bill passed by House Republicans on Tuesday, a continuing resolution, was House Speaker Mike Johnson’s effort to avoid a government shutdown while cutting programs, as President Donald Trump and advisor Elon Musk continue a barrage on federal spending.

The bill needed support of Senate Democrats, who were pinched between supporting the cost-cutting bill or letting government funding lapse as the shutdown deadline loomed Friday at midnight.

Senate support of the bill would mean significant funding blows in Deschutes County, including for an outdoor homeless shelter land purchase in Bend, a sewer system buildout in Terrebonne, a road project east of Redmond and the long-planned regional emergency coordination center at the Redmond Airport.

Democrat leaders in Central Oregon slammed the spending plan.

U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Oregon, who voted against the bill, said in a press release the bill would strip away $30 million in congressionally directed spending, or earmarks, for projects within her district, which stretches from Bend to southeast of Portland.

“This is a trash bill with unmet promises to our district,” Bynum said in the release.

Deschutes County Commissioner Patti Adair, a Republican, said she is supportive of federal cost-cutting measures, citing “out of control” federal debt. She said she hopes the state Legislature will be able to fund critical projects in Central Oregon like the emergency center and sewer system.

“We’ve got to get the federal funding under control in this country,” she said.

In an email to The Bulletin, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler criticized the spending plan, and said it “removes critical funding for our work to respond to homelessness.”

Trump’s executive orders have also thrown into question the security of a $32 million Federal Railroad Administration grant the city received in January to pay for a railroad overcrossing project on Reed Market Road.

The city is working with outdoor shelter provider Central Oregon Villages to secure a permanent site for its operations and expand capacity. A congressional earmark of $1.25 million was the only funding the project had under its belt, said Donna Burklo, interim manager of the shelter.

The cluster of small shelters provides temporary homes for 22 people on land in east Bend. The lease for that property will expire by late 2026, when the shelter hopes to buy a permanent site and add shelters.

“A new location would provide for an increase in shelter beds — a much needed gap in the city’s housing continuum,” Burklo said in an email.

Burklo doesn’t expect the federal funding loss to delay that timeline. She believes the project has other funding options, though none have been identified.

Emergency center

Sizeable sums of federal spending were headed to two projects east of Redmond: a planned emergency coordination center officials are hoping to get off the ground and a bicycle and pedestrian safety project on state Highway 126.

Government agencies have been collaborating for several years on the Central Oregon Ready-Responsive-Resilient Project, or CORE3, which would serve as a coordination center in the event of a large disaster — particularly a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake — and as a training facility for public safety agencies. The project was set to receive a $2 million congressional earmark.

State lawmakers from Central Oregon introduced a bill in the Legislature earlier this year to help propel development of the project.

State Sen. Anthony Broadman, D-Bend, slammed the spending bill in a press release.

“This is short sighted and dangerous,” Broadman said. “When the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake happens, Oregon will be at the center of a devastating natural disaster. We must prepare for that disaster right now, and every second and every dollar counts. Oregonians deserve safety and preparation.”

Leaders hope to break ground in 2026. That will require development of nearby transportation facilities, including a planned safety project on Highway 126 that the bill stripped of $3.5 million in earmarks.

According to Bynum’s office, the project will include shared-use path sidewalks, crossings, and accessibility features along the highway in east Redmond.

Chris Crabb, a spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation, said the agency hasn’t developed a website for the project yet because it “won’t exist” without the federal earmarks.

Sewer project takes a hit

With cuts to federal earmarks the effort to replace substandard septic systems in Terrebonne with a connected sewer system will miss out on $2 million.

Engineering estimates put the sewer system buildout at $8 million, including $5.6 million to be constructed by the Terrebonne Sanitary District, which formed in 2023.

Parker Vernon, who helped kickstart the sewer effort, called the federal funding loss a “big hit to the budget” for the new system. Vernon’s family owns a mobile home park in Terrebonne with an aging septic system. For Vernon and other business owners, the new sewer system is a hail mary to stay in business.

The district hopes to connect its wastewater with the city of Redmond’s new treatment facility. The first phase of the project will have the capacity to hook up 300 buildings and include six miles of pipe. Over time, the collection system could be expanded to serve more than 1,000 buildings.