Magnolia State News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, on July 14 2023, voted to advance three FY2024 appropriations bills, each of which recommend lower discretionary funding levels than approved last year.

The committee on Thursday marked up the FY2024 Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill, the FY2024 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Bill, and the FY2024 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill.  Each measure complies with the statutory caps on discretionary funding established under the recently-enacted Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, the debt limit bill.

“Fiscal discipline is necessary and that requires us to make difficult choices on how to distribute annual discretionary spending.  These bills reflect that fact.  While not perfect, these measures attempt to responsibly invest taxpayer dollars on critical programs and projects,” Hyde-Smith said.

The committee-approved CJS Appropriations Bill is $12.1 billion below the FY2023 enacted spending level, the FSGG Appropriations Bill is $10.7 billion less, and the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill is $183.3 million lower.

With July 14 committee action and a June markup, five appropriations bills are available for Senate consideration.

“Within the spending constraints on these bills, I’ve worked with my colleagues to secure support for important work in Mississippi.  I am particularly pleased with the funding to support law enforcement and NOAA research undertaken by our research universities and organizations like the Institute of Maine Mammal Studies,” Hyde-Smith said.  “I hope the Senate will take up and debate these bills as soon as possible.”

The following are among the items of interest to Mississippi in the committee-passed Senate bills:

National Institute of Standards and Technology

• $4.0 million – Center for Simulated Environments and Experiences in STEM, Mississippi State University
• $5.5 million – Sustainable Materials Validation and Certification Lab, University of Southern Mississippi 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

• $3.0 million – Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rehabilitation, Institute of Maine Mammal Studies

Department of Justice

• $3.0 million – Scalable Rural Digital Forensics, University of Southern Mississippi
• $2.0 million – Interdiction Equipment and Specialty Vehicles, Mississippi Department of Public Safety
• Various Amounts – Technology, Communications, Equipment, and Training Upgrades, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, and Pearl River, George, and Clay counties

NASA

• $1.5 million – Air and Space Law Program, University of Mississippi

FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT

Office of National Drug Control Policy

• $4.4 million – Southern Region Drug-Use Reduction Program, University of Mississippi
• $350,000 – College Community Support, Mississippi State University
• $230,000 – Mississippi Substance Abuse Prevention Program, Hinds Community College

National Archives and Records Administration

• $2.7 million – Archive Digitization and Publication Project, University of Mississippi Medical Center
• $2.0 million – Center for Digital Humanities, University of Southern Mississippi
• $1.9 million – Civil Rights Collection Digitization and Preservation Initiative, Tougaloo College

Small Business Administration

• $2.4 million – Mississippi Business Intelligence, Mississippi State University
• $944,000 – Regional Innovation Partnerships – Innovate Mississippi

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

• Library of Congress Surplus Book Program – Level funding for this program, which benefits rural states like Mississippi.
• Library of Congress Veterans History Project – Increased funding for this oral history project, which has been used by Mississippi veterans to preserve their service recollections.
• John C. Stennis Center for Public Service – Level funding for this bipartisan legislative branch agency to promote and strengthen the highest ideals of public service in America.

Original source can be found here