Republicans and Democrats alike praised the recent $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill passed last week; Republicans and Democrats alike also criticized it. All of Mississippi’s federal delegation voted for the measure that encompassed 12 appropriation bills. That includes the sole Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson and all Republicans: Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, and Reps. Alan Nunnelee, Gregg Harper and Steven Palazzo.
A release from Palazzo described the bill as cutting “federal spending for the fourth year in a row, for a record total of $165 billion since 2010…the legislation includes delays for some homeowners facing flood insurance rate increases due to changing FEMA flood map changes, protects defense budgets from further damaging defense cuts, and addresses cost-of-living adjustments for medically-retired military retirees and survivors.”
The flood insurance provision is particularly important to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and incorporated a measure cosponsored by Palazzo that “halts all FEMA work, through the end of this fiscal year, to implement rate increases on some of those homeowners affected by flood map changes. This provision sets the stage for broader reforms that we are working toward later this month or the next,” Palazzo said.
Brian Perry
Madison County Journal
1/22
Magnolia Tribune
