Caucus pleased with sum for Delta

Legislation seen boosting region

WASHINGTON - The Mississippi Delta Grassroots Caucus cheered the millions set aside for the Delta region in a federal spending bill signed Friday by President Barack Obama.

The caucus advocates economic development projects in the Delta, which includes Arkansas. The co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority - the federal agency that actually receives the money - was a bit more subdued, saying the funding is near the annual level set before across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration were put in place.

The authority channels money to economic-development programs in poor counties in eight states.

It will get $12 million out of the $1.1 trillion legislation to divvy up among projects in those states. The legislation also includes $3 million for the Rural Community Assistance Partnership that helps provide utilities and clean water in rural areas.

The “omnibus” bill covers annual spending for defense, education, agriculture and a variety of other items. It funds the government through the end of September and keeps the federal government from shutting down again, as it did in October.

The authority helps 252 of the nation’s poorest counties and parishes across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, according to its website. Forty-two of Arkansas’ 75 counties - most of the eastern half of the state - fall into the authority’s service area.

The authority supports job-training and workforce development programs, as well as issuing grants for infrastructure and industrial development to attract new business, according to the website.

The agency’s allotted $12 million will be divided based on a formula that considers poverty levels, population and how many counties are in the Delta, authority co-chairman Chris Masingill said.

Arkansas projects will get up to $1.3 million, he said. The largest amount, about $2 million, will go to Louisiana, Masingill said.

He said the $12 million isn’t much above what the authority received before the sequestration cuts, but it’s better than having the authority’s budget trimmed even further.

The funding is $3.81 million higher than the president proposed in his budget, a release from the caucus stated.

“We’re worried every year. It’s an ongoing concern. To have the $12 million is level funding … we’ll take it,” he said. “Now we can get back to the business of helping to create jobs.”

Communities can apply for grants to build infrastructure such as roads or harbors, create job-training courses or improve the quality of life for people in the area, Delta caucus senior adviser Kevin Smith said.

Smith said that in the past, money has gone to organizing “medical boot camps,” where physicians and Army and National Guard members perform free medical services at various Delta locations.

“It’s been really popular,” Smith said. “That line’s outside and around the block for people who haven’t been able to get medical care or dental care.”

State Rep. Mark McElroy, D-Tillar, said an increase for the Delta Regional Authority while other areas of the federal budget are being cut shows that Congress recognizes that the whole country hurts when the poorest counties are struggling. It also shows how hard Arkansas’ delegation worked, he said.

“That was a pleasant surprise, especially in this atmosphere that we have now with the gridlock and the budget,” he said. “It’s good to know that Republicans and Democrats working together can still do a lot of great things. Makes me proud to be an American when it works.”

Lee Powell, the authority’s Washington-based director, praised members of Congress who voted for the bill this week.

Voting yes in Arkansas’ delegation were U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor, a Democrat, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a Republican, and Republican U.S. Reps. Steve Womack and Tim Griffin.

U.S. Reps. Rick Crawford and Tom Cotton, both Arkansas Republicans, voted no.

“We’re glad to see senators from both parties … who are working together for a change. This is very refreshing,” Powell said. “We have to give a lot of credit to members like Pryor and Boozman … and other senators from that region for going to bat on that for us.”

To the members who didn’t vote in favor of the spending bill, Powell simply asked that they consider voting for bipartisan compromises in the future.

Spokesmen for both Arkansas congressmen who voted no acknowledged that the bill included items that would benefit the state but said the members couldn’t reconcile how much the bill spent, especially given that it cut many veterans’ cost-of-living increase.

“I think folks respect and know his position,” said Crawford’s chief of staff, Jonah Shumate.

Cotton spokesman Caroline Rabbitt said calls from constituents “have been supportive of his vote, particularly when it comes to the veterans portion of it.”

Arkansas, Pages 13 on 01/18/2014

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