GC states' ship, aviation fundings

Alabama is set to receive billions of dollars in federal funding after the Senate approved two spending bills that averted a government shutdown. Most of the funding earmarked for Alabama will be in the form of defense spending, including more than $1B for helicopter flight training at the Army’s Fort Rucker. The state’s share of defense spending also includes hundreds of millions of dollars for ships that will impact Mobile’s shipbuilding industry. One of the spending packages includes funds to deepen and widen the Port of Mobile; and $500,000 to help excavate the Clotilda - the last slave ship to reach America that was discovered near Mobile earlier this year. In Mississippi, the defense bill is expected to have a major impact, with provisions to support shipbuilding on the Gulf Coast, and fund defense manufacturing and military construction. In the area of shipbuilding, the bill authorizes an additional $277.9M for the LPD-31 Flight II Amphibious Transport Dock ship - for a total of $525M – at HII-Pascagoula; $650M for Amphibious Assault Ship LHA-9 early funding to leverage non-recurring engineering investment in LHA 8 (USS Bougainville); authorizes $260M for the purchase of long-lead time material for three FY-21 Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) Flight III destroyers; authorizes $15M to reduce production time and cost of Columbia class submarine propulsor components manufactured in Gulfport; and authorizes $15M to produce mission-ready advanced materials components in Gulfport for the naval hovercraft. Also, authorization for the procurement of MQ-4C Triton high-altitude long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles, and $47.25M for RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft, which are manufactured in Moss Point; and authorizes $16.8M for a fuel facilities replacement project at Columbus AFB. Louisiana: In an attempt to protect the Mississippi River Delta wetlands, provisions were included to fully utilize all funds collected in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) and Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF). The bill provides $105M for IWTF to fund projects on the inland waterways, while HMTF will receive $1.67B for the purpose of maintaining harbors; and in an effort to sustain flood mitigation, the Army Corps of Engineers will receive an additional $650M for the construction of flood-resistant infrastructure. In Florida, $2.42B to rebuild Tyndall AFB, and $173.2M for Military Construction projects in Florida; and $312M for the Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Cutter, being built at Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City. The spending bills await President Trump’s signature to be signed into law. (Sources: AL.com; U.S. Sens. Wicker, Rubio, Kennedy 12/18/19))