Last week, President Donald Trump “reluctantly” signed the $1.3-trillion omnibus spending bill, an act that many libertarian-leaning Republicans are calling a betrayal by the commander in chief.
Conservatives had been optimistic that Trump’s presidency would bring in a new reign of fiscal responsibility, and while many are crying foul over the spending bill, it will almost certainly become a campaign talking point for Tea Party candidates like Chris McDaniel, who is seeking at least one, if not both, of Mississippi’s Senate seats.
McDaniel has long railed against establishment Republicans like Thad Cochran, who will retire from the Senate in April, and Sen. Roger Wicker, men who are not shy about the fact that they represent a state that brings in more federal dollars than any other, according to the Tax Foundation.
Voters in Sunflower County, and across the Mississippi Delta will likely struggle in the mid-terms with the same emotions Trump struggled with prior to signing the spending bill.
Yes, we all want fiscal responsibility, but what happens if even a fraction of those federal dollars go away?
McDaniel would argue many of Mississippi’s social and economic problems stem from the type of dependency that has been enabled for decades by politicians like Cochran and Wicker.
The establishment Republicans would likely counter, “those federal dollars are going to go to somebody, and I’ll be doggone if I stand by and let them go to…fill in other Southern state here.”
Mississippi boasts being the most ‘conservative” state in the United States, but when it comes to omnibus bills, it is the state that has the most to lose by reduced federal spending, so expect the establishment to fight McDaniel with as much ferocity as it did when McDaniel challenged Cochran in 2014.
That being said, here’s a list of just some of the agencies and areas near us impacted by the recent spending bill.
Source: The Office of Sen. Thad Cochran
Promise Neighborhoods: (Sunflower County Specific) $78.2 million, an increase of $5 million from FY2017. This level of funding will support the continuation costs of all current grantees. Bill and report language included further directing the Department to develop a process to extend current high-quality grantees, such as the Indianola, Miss., program, an additional two years. Washington County has also received Promise Neighborhood Grant funding.
Institute for Museum and Library Services: (Sunflower County Specific) $240 million, a $9 million increase from FY2017, including $4 million increase for the Library Service Technology Act. This fund benefits the Mississippi Library Commission and local libraries across Mississippi. Additionally, Mississippi State University and the B.B. King Museum currently receive IMLS museum grants.
Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): $279.6 million, an increase of $34.9 million from FY2017. Alcorn State University, Coahoma Community College, Hinds Community College- Utica, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Rust College, and Tougaloo College benefit from this program.
HBCUs Strengthening Master’s Degree Programs: $8.5 million, a $1 million increase from FY2017, to support graduate education opportunities at the Masters level in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State University will benefit from this increase.
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
· Catfish Inspection: $8.0 million, a $5.5 million increase, to fully fund USDA foreign catfish inspection program.
· Imported Catfish Standards: Importantly, the bill also directs FSIS to complete equivalence determinations for all countries wishing to continue exporting catfish no later than 180 days after enactment, and would prohibit imports until a final rule of equivalence is issued if the deadline is not met.
Agricultural Research: $3.03 billion, $138.8 million above FY2017, for agriculture research programs, including the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The bill supports more than $26 million for USDA and university-related research activities conducted in Mississippi, including multiple initiatives based at the ARS laboratory at Stoneville, Miss.
Head Start: $9.9 billion, an increase of $610 million from FY2017. Head Start provides educational and health opportunities for children of low-income families. Head Start and Early Head Start programs serve over 24,000 Mississippi families with 19 centers across the state.
Delta States Rural Development Network: $14 million, $2 million above FY2017, for the Delta States Rural Development Network, which funds organizations in the eight Delta States (Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois) to address unmet local health care needs and prevalent health disparities through the development of new and innovative projects in rural Delta communities. Includes $4 million for the Delta Regional Authority partnership to provide technical assistance to rural hospitals in the region.
Telehealth: $4 million for Telehealth Centers of Excellence, $2.5 million above FY2017 levels. The University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson is one of two national Telehealth Centers of Excellence designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Joint Explanatory Statement also directs the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to conduct a study on Medicare telehealth utilization in consultation with the Telehealth Centers of Excellence.
Workforce Training Assistance to Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and Delta Regional Authority (DRA) Regions: $30 million, an increase of $30 million from FY2017, to provide reemployment and training assistance to dislocated workers in rural areas of the country. The bill devotes funds to assist unemployed workers from any industry within the ARC and DRA regions to adapt existing skills and learn new ones demanded by growing industries.
Mississippi Delta Health Collaborative: The Joint Explanatory Statement re-emphasizes language in the Senate report providing continued funding for the Mississippi Delta Health Collaborative for FY2017. This collaborative provides leadership in the Delta region to implement heart disease and stroke prevention interventions to reduce morbidity, mortality, and related health disparities.
Essential Air Service (EAS): $150 million for the EAS program, which will benefit the four Mississippi airports currently participating in the program: Greenville, Hattiesburg/Laurel, Meridian, and Tupelo.
Delta Regional Authority: $3.0 million for the Delta Regional Authority and $3.0 million for a competitive grant program for the Delta Health Alliance.
Delta Regional Authority (DRA): $25 million for DRA to continue promoting economic and community development in the Mississippi Delta region. Within the overall amount, not less than $10 million is for local infrastructure projects.
Prohibitions on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): The bill continues to prohibit the EPA from regulating certain types of ammunition and fishing tackle and continues a provision that treats biomass as carbon neutral. The bill includes the FARM Act, which provides relief to agricultural producers from certain reporting requirements.
