We have compiled a list of questions to assist you in submitting your request. If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact Senator Booker’s office at: appropriations@booker.senate.gov
For Fiscal Year 2025 our office deadline for submitting a CDS request is 11:59 pm on Monday, April 8, 2024.
Most not-for-profit organizations are eligible to submit a CDS request, including local governments such as municipalities and counties. For-Profit entities are prohibited from receiving CDS funding. Applicants and their projects must be located in New Jersey.
Currently, all but three of the twelve appropriations subcommittees are accepting CDS requests (Legislative Branch, Defense, and State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittees are not accepting CDS). You can find which accounts within the subcommittees are accepting CDS requests and more detailed guidance for each account on our main CDS page.
CDS requests can range in size from small to large, as long as they conform to the guidelines set out by the Senate Appropriations Committee and the applicable appropriations bill and account. Please keep in mind that there is a small pot of money available for CDS requests in the Senate for many worthy projects.
CDS projects should not be viewed as continuous funding sources, but rather a way to jump start or complete an activity – not sustain it over time. Successful CDS projects will match the project to the authorization or mission of an agency or account and have the support of local officials or communities. You can find projects funded in previous years on our disclosure page for examples of the types of projects that have been selected in the past.
After the deadline for submission, Senator Booker’s staff will evaluate all CDS requests to ensure they comply with Senate Rules. Afterwards all applications will be screened based on: alignment with Senator Booker’s legislative priorities, service to historically underserved communities, project justification, project feasibility, and project sustainability.
Once Senator Booker makes his CDS request to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee will consider his requests as well as the requests of all participating United States Senators. Once the Senate Appropriations Committee has decided which CDS requests will receive funding, that list will be posted to the Committee’s website at appropriations.senate.gov. This is a lengthy, months-long process. Please be aware of this as you are making your requests.
Please note that even if a project is requested by Sen. Booker and selected by the Senate Appropriations Committee, all CDS funding is contingent upon enactment of FY25 appropriations bills.
The Senate Appropriations Committee capped the amount of funding allowed to go to CDS items, which means that there is only a small amount of money available for many worthy projects. Please note that submitting a CDS request to Senator Booker does not guarantee federal funding. If your project was not selected, or you missed the deadline to apply, there will likely be an opportunity to submit a request next year. You can also find more information on Senator Booker’s website about applying for competitive federal grant funding opportunities: Grant Assistance.
The list of projects selected for funding in the House of Representatives will not be finalized before Senator Booker’s deadline for CDS request applications. An application to another Congressional office does not preclude you from also submitting your project to our office. Some eligible entities will request the same project or different pieces of a larger project with different members of their congressional delegation. Ultimately, it doesn’t hurt to submit to both the House and the Senate – we collaborate with other Congressional offices when determining our recommendations and throughout the appropriations process.
However, while applying for the same project with multiple offices may increase your chances of being recommended by one of the offices, the projects will go through independent selection processes in the Senate and the House, and then must be conferenced to fund a final list of projects.
Originally called “earmarks,” Congressionally Directed Spending refers to funds provided by Congress for projects or programs contained within a spending bill.
In 2011, Congress imposed a ban on “earmarks.” On April 26, 2021 the Senate Appropriations Committee announced that Congress would restore the authority to approve congressionally directed spending items with enhanced transparency and accountability.
In addition to the above-mentioned requirements, there are also several new rules meant to reform the process. These include:
CDS Requests, generally speaking, are funding requests for a specific project in a specific location – Example: Provide $500,000 for an entrepreneur training program at a nonprofit in City, State.
Programmatic Requests are requests to fund a specific program in the bill at a specified level. a. Example: Provide $150,000,000 for Small Business Development Centers.
Please direct all questions regarding Senator Booker’s CDS request process to appropriations@booker.senate.gov