Senator Cochran’s earmark savvy benefits Mississippi biodefense center
Republican Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi is famous for his support of federal earmarks and regularly ranks near the top among senators for the number and size of his annual earmark haul; on Sunday the Senate passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus federal spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year, and Cochran managed to insert $150 million worth of earmarks for Mississippi; among the beneficiaries is Jackson State University’s National Center for Biodefense Communications, which conducts research and compiles data on bioterrorism threats to agriculture, and which is slated to receive $750,000 through the bill
Mississippi Republican Senator Thad Cochran broke ranks with fellow Republicans Sunday to pass a $1.1 trillion omnibus federal spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year. The bill combined $447 billion for transportation, housing, and urban development with roughly $650 billion for federal benefit programs like Medicare. It also included $3.9 billion in earmarks for special projects, of which $150 million went to Mississippi. Support from Cochran and two other Republicans, Senator Susan Collins of Maine and Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, gave Democrats the sixty votes they needed to surpass a threatened GOP filibuster. The spending measure now awaits President Barack Obama’s signature.
“As a compilation of six of the annual 12 appropriations bills taken up by Congress, this measure includes a significant level of federal support for projects and programs in Mississippi,” Cochran said in a statement. “I support the directed funding in this legislation that will encourage improvements in education, health care, transportation and economic development in Mississippi.”
Cochran, a former Appropriations Committee chairman, is notorious for his support of federal earmarks and regularly ranks near the top among senators for the number and size of his annual earmark haul.
Jackson Free Press’s Ward Schaefer writes that according to watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, the spending bill contained 5,224 earmarks worth a total of $3.9 billion. Of that, more than $150 million is devoted to projects in Mississippi.
By comparison, Washington Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations subcommittee, only obtained 61 earmarks worth $68.8 million.
Mississippi’s earmarks include $14.3 million for a new National Guard center in Monticello, $16.3 million for a Joint Forces Training Center at Camp Shelby, and $9.8 million for a maintenance facility at the Columbus Air Force Base.
Jackson-area earmarks include $8 million for improvements to the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Arthur C. Guyton Laboratory. Jackson State University’s National Center for Biodefense Communications, which conducts research and compiles data on bioterrorism threats to agriculture, is slated to receive $750,000 through the bill. The bill also directs $2.3 million for improvements at Jackson-Evers International Airport.
Schaefer notes that Mississippi’s other Senator, Republican Roger Wicker, voted against the spending bill.
