U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) has voted for committee passage of an FY2025 appropriations measure that recommends $47.7 million for construction projects at military installations across Mississippi.
Hyde-Smith serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee that approved the FY2025 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Bill, making the measure available for consideration by the full Senate. The bill, passed unanimously 27-0, was among the first FY2025 funding measures approved by the committee on Thursday.
“There is an ongoing need to consider upgrades and improvements at Mississippi’s military installations in order to allow them to sustain and expand their missions. The funding is this bill will advance that goal, and I will continue to work on this bill to support Mississippi’s active duty and reserve bases until we get it signed into law,” said Hyde-Smith.
Hyde-Smith worked with the MilCon-VA Appropriations Subcommittee to secure the following recommended funding for Mississippi:
● $25.0 million for an air traffic control tower at Keesler Air Force Base.
● $11.0 million for the Army National Guard Readiness Center in Southaven
● $5.0 million for planning and design of a fuel cell/corrosion control hangar at Key Field Air National Guard Base, Meridian.
● $5.0 million for planning and design of a maintenance hangar at Key Field.
● $1.0 million for planning and design of an upgraded fuel hydrant system at Key Field.
● $700,000 for planning and design of a jet engine thermal simulator at the Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg.
The Senate MilCon-VA measure also recommends $339.5 billion for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for FY2025. This funding includes $69.5 million for the Armed Forces Retirement Home, which operates facilities in Gulfport and Washington, D.C.
The three measures approved by the committee comply with the statutory caps on discretionary funding established under the recently-enacted Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, the debt limit bill.
