Five craziest uses of taxpayer money in 2023

For decades, liberal politicians have used taxpayer funding to subsidize their social agenda. 2023 was no exception as Campus Reform reported various stories in which the public was forced foot the bill for progressive causes.

Below are just some of the leftist initiatives your tax dollars might have gone toward.

1. WA becomes first state to subsidize Plan B in college vending machines

Earlier this month, Washington became the first state to ensure emergency contraception for students through college campus vending machines via taxpayer dollars. This will include public funding for birth control methods like Plan B to appear alongside medications like Tylenol, as well as snacks and candy throughout state universities and community colleges. 

Washington colleges will be able to apply for a $10,000 grant from the state to provide such vending machines starting this year. The state has allocated $200,000 in funding for institutions to provide these machines.

2. NIH funds program matching LGBT teens and adults for ‘mentoring’ without parental consent

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is currently providing $203,050 in funding for a pilot project that matches transgender and LGBTQ youth with adult “mentors” online. 

The project, preliminarily named the “Teen Connection Project,” launched earlier this summer and is set to run until the end of January 2025—though all funding will be provided by January 2024, according to the project description’s budget.

3. Massachusetts to fund tuition assistance for illegals, free college, and DEI initiatives

While the Massachusetts FY 2024 budget increases spending generally, the state legislature plans to cut education funds slightly by $5 million, allocating part of the remaining funds to diversity initiatives, free education offerings, and support for “vulnerable populations,” including the LGBTQ community. Governor Maura Healey’s signed the budget on August 9.

The budget, detailed in H. 4040, shows that higher education appropriations total over $406 million, a slight decrease from the $411 million budgeted for FY 2023.

4. Georgia State rolls out federally funded electric bus fleet, as similar efforts across the country fail

Georgia State University has received a $22 million federal grant to roll out an all-electric bus fleet.

Georgia State announced last week that it was one of 130 grant recipients nationwide to receive a federal grant to electrify its Panther Express bus service. The $22.3 million grant will provide 18 new electric buses and charging infrastructure. But the transition to an electric bus fleet has been significantly complicated where it has already been tried.

5. UArizona gets $10 million from EPA for ‘Environmental Justice Center’ to ‘build a more equitable world’

The University of Arizona has received a $10 million award from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fund a new environmental justice center.

EPA’s award will support the Western Environmental Science Technical Assistance Center for Environmental Justice (WEST EJ) for five years. The WEST EJ Center “will help communities achieve environmental and energy justice by serving as a one-stop shop for hands-on technical assistance, multifaceted training, and other eligible forms of assistance, resources and support,” the university said in a press release.