Bill will benefit state waterways, lift Delta’s odds

WASHINGTON - The $1.1 trillion federal spending bill that the U.S. Senate passed Thursday includes millions of dollars for Arkansas, members of the state’s congressional delegation say.


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The Delta Regional Authority, which channels money to economic-development programs in poor counties in eight states, will get $15 million, and $11.6 million will go to maintenance and operation of Bull Shoals Lake in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.

The bill also provides a new name for an old location, renaming the White River National Wildlife Refuge as the Senator Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge in honor of the 88-year-old Democrat’s work creating it. The bill also includes $550,000 for the refuge.

Arkansas and other states touching the Mississippi River and its tributaries will split more than $300 million for channel improvements and levees.

The bill provides funding for maintenance and operation of waterways including the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System ($28.5 million); Dardanelle Lock and Dam ($7.75 million); DeGray Lake ($5.6 million); and Millwood Lake ($2.7 million), as well as the $11.6 million for Bull Shoals Lake.

The Senate voted 72-26 to approve legislation containing the funding Thursday evening, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature. U.S. Sens. Mark Pryor and John Boozman both voted yes.

On Wednesday, the House voted 359-67 to pass the bill with the support of U.S. Reps. Tim Griffin and Steve Womack. Arkansas’ other two House members, U.S. Reps. Tom Cotton and Rick Crawford, voted no.

The bill gathers 12 annual spending bills covering defense, education, agriculture and a range of other fields into a combined “omnibus” spending package. It funds the government through the end of September and keeps the federal government from shutting down again.

Boozman called it an “important first step toward Congress reclaiming its spending authority.”

The bill completes a budget deal passed in December that set spending levels for the current fiscal year, 2014, and for fiscal 2015. It means lawmakers have passed traditional spending bills for the first time since Obama’s first year in office.

“For too long, we have ceded our power of the purse, allowing President Obama to set spending priorities. As we have realized all too well, his priorities are often at odds with ours in Arkansas. This is an important first step toward returning spending authority back to Congress where it belongs,” Boozman said.

The first-term senator said he was particularly pleased that the bill offers assurances that the Greers Ferry and Norfork fish hatcheries in north-central Arkansas will not close. The region isn’t known for any major industry beyond trout fishing and could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism money without the federal funding.

Whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the agencies that built the dams at those two sites should foot the bill has led to near-yearly fights about funding. The hatcheries were created to mitigate the loss of local fish when the dams were built to produce electricity. The dams changed the water temperature, killing native fish but creating a perfect cold-water environment for trout.

“These hatcheries replenish fisheries that were impacted by the construction of federal dams on our rivers. Working together, the Arkansas delegation has been able to keep our hatcheries open. This language, in particular, is vital to ensuring they can continue to operate,” Boozman said.

In a news release, Pryor said he is proud to have helped write the agriculture section of the bill.

“Folks back home are tired of gridlock politics in Washington. I am, too. After a lot of hard work and negotiations, I’m pleased that we were able to get this bipartisan bill over the finish line - successfully thwarting the threat of another irresponsible government shutdown,” Pryor said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/17/2014

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