U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi
Both Senators Wicker, Hyde-Smith support the move.
On Tuesday, Mississippi U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) voted to advance a Continuing Resolution making its way through Congress that funds the government on a short-term basis. Included in that resolution is $20 million for the city of Jackson’s water system.
“I support providing additional resources to help the city of Jackson address its water infrastructure needs. The $20 million included in this funding legislation would build on the initial $5 million provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers earlier this year through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Wicker said in a statement. “I recognize this funding will not be enough to address the long-standing water infrastructure issues in Jackson, but this is a good start.”
The 2007 Water Resources Development Act authorized $25 million for the City of Jackson’s water and wastewater infrastructure needs. This authorization was provided through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Section 219 Environmental Infrastructure Assistance Program. According to Wicker’s office, the city of Jackson received an initial $5 million appropriation from that authorization earlier this year, which will enable the Corps of Engineers to complete projects in partnership with the city.
The 72-23 Senate vote on the resolution came after West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin pulled his controversial “permitting reform” provisions from consideration.
The provisions had been advanced as part of a deal Manchin made with Senate Democratic leadership but were strongly opposed by many Republicans.
“Senator Manchin’s backroom deal on ‘permitting reform’ paved the way for Democrats to pass a disastrous tax and spending bill, but he thought he could ask Republicans to help him complete the arrangement,” Wicker added. “Republicans stood strong and let Senate leadership know that they would not support a fatally flawed proposal that would have created new regulatory risks for traditional power and further undermined our energy independence. Senate Democrats were forced to accept reality and withdraw this counterproductive proposal.”
“The so-called ‘permitting reform’ discarded,” Hyde-Smith tweeted. “Just as well since it wasn’t actually reform. It was just more red tape, taking energy policy from bad to worse, with potential electricity grid takeovers from states.”
The resolution would fund the U.S. government through December 16th.
The $20 million for Jackson is a far cry from the $200 million Democratic 2nd District Congressman Bennie Thompson had proposed late last week, saying in absence of a plan from the city of Jackson the dollar amount was a “Bennie Thompson figure.”
READ MORE: Spitballing federal spending? Congressman Thompson seeking $200 million for Jackson water system
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