Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) Webinar

The Offices of Senators Blumenthal and Murphy will be hosting two webinars to provide an overview of the fiscal year 2027 (fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026) Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) process.

According to Senate Rule XLIV, CDS requests (formerly known as earmarks), are provisions “included primarily at the request of a Senator providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific state, location, or congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.” Generally speaking, this is funding requested for a specific project in a specific location. It is also referred to as Community Project Funding (CPF).

During the webinar, staff will provide an overview and timeline of the fiscal year 2027 appropriations process, discuss the various funding opportunities and eligibility requirements, and moderate a Q&A session. If you are interested in applying for a CDS grant, we recommend you attend one of the informational webinars.