U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024 through the U.S. Senate.
In it, he said, are significant resources to support many of Kentucky’s key institutions and programs, ad as senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, McConnell added he personally “advocated on behalf of the Commonwealth in this year’s government funding process.”
The legislation targets six major areas of federal government:
— Agriculture and rural development
— Commerce, justice, and science
— Energy and water development
— Interior and environment
— military construction and veterans affairs
— And transportation, housing and urban development
McConnell noted the SAC had been working on this draft for the better part of a year, and still maintains a conservative approach.
In regard to the News Edge listening area, and securing national defense:
— It provides funding toward Fort Campbell projects, including: $38 million for a large vehicle/aerial gunnery training range, $5.5 million for construction of a new airfield fire and rescue station, $3.15 million for construction of an equipment staging area to support overseas deployment, and $1.7 million to conduct design and engineering of a runway extension.
In fighting back against substance abuse and crime:
— It delivers robust funding mechanisms for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) program, the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, the National Guard Counter-Drug program, the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, and the Comprehensive Addiction Recovery through Effective Employment and Reentry (CAREER) Act transitional housing program.
For infrastructure and economy:
— It supports critical grant programs for the Delta Regional Authority to support economic development in the Mississippi Delta region, which includes several counties in Western Kentucky.
— It opens up more than $325 million for the continued necessary environmental cleanup operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, as well as another $15 million for the treatment and offsite shipment of oxide cylinders.
— And it includes funding for the FAA rural airport programs that fund small Kentucky airports.
And in preserving Kentucky’s natural beauty:
— It garners $40.5 million to help combat the spread of Asian carp, an invasive species present in Kentucky waterways, alongside additional funding for collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct barriers.
— It guarantees language expediting construction of the Kentucky Lock and Dam.
— It enables Land Between the Lakes to receive up to $3 million in additional funds, on top of its annual allocation from the U.S. Forest Service.
— It balances language directing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prioritize addressing a land acquisition backlog at Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge in far Western Kentucky and Green River National Wildlife Refuge in Henderson.
— And it contains language instructing the U.S. Forest Service to work on White Oak restoration, used for bourbon barrels.
Many other appropriations, including support for Appalachia, Fort Knox, the Kentucky National Guard, and the Commonwealth’s rural airports, can be found in the Act.
The measure now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.
