Cochran: Coast included in funding package
U.S. Senator Thad Cochran said Sunday several South Mississippi projects are funded in an omnibus FY2010 appropriations package that will be forwarded to President Barack Obama.
Cochran, ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, voted Sunday with the Senate, which approved the package in a 57-35 vote.
“As a compilation of six of the annual 12 appropriations bills taken up by Congress, this measure includes a significant level of federal support for projects and programs in Mississippi,” Cochran said in a news release. “I support the directed funding in this legislation that will encourage improvements in education, health care, transportation and economic development in Mississippi. The military construction portion of the legislation will also advance the ongoing efforts to ensure that Defense Department installations in Mississippi continue to grow in a fashion that supports our men and women in uniform.”
If the bill the president signs the bill it will become law, and the money will be disbursed. The following South Mississippi projects are included in the measure:
n $2 million toward a road north of Interstate 10 between Mississippi 609 and Mississippi 15
n $1 million for a new interchange and service road in Pearl River County at Anchor Lake and Service Road
n $2 million for Coast Transit Authority for construction of “two public transportation multimodal centers”
n $2.5 million for runway and taxiway improvements at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport
n $700,000 for the first phase of construction at the Walter Anderson Arts Pavilion in Jackson County
n $9.8 million for Keesler Air Force Base’s Reserve Aerial Port Squadron
n $134 million for the Armed Forces Retirement Home from the home’s trust fund, some of which will be used to operate the home in Washington, and some of which will be used at the Gulfport retirement home being rebuilt here
n $475,000 for Memorial Hospital at Gulfport to establish the Coast’s first “stroke education and prevention network”
n $200,000 for Pearl River Community College to buy new teaching technology and equipment
n $350,000 for hospitality and resort management workforce training at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Perkinston
n $4.5 million toward construction of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northern Gulf Institute, a consortium led byMississippi State University, which includes the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi
n $3.7 million for USM’s Marine Aquaculture Center to support development and commercialization of new aquaculture technology
n $1 million for the nonprofit Institute of Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport to continue development of the Center for Marine Education and Research
n $1.25 million for the Mississippi Automated Systems Project, an effort through USM to improve records-management systems for court and law enforcement agencies
Sun Herald
11/13/9
Magnolia Tribune
