Republicans’ “clean” continuing resolution to keep the government open included some high-profile additions, like tens of millions in security funding in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, as well as a fix for the hole Congress blew through the District of Columbia’s budget.
But another funding fix was slipped into the temporary government funding bill that even some lawmakers had missed as of Friday: money to address water-sanitation issues in Jackson, Mississippi.
“There’s authority in there for them to move some of the money that has been designated to certain areas,” Rep. Michael Guest, a Republican who represents a portion of Jackson, told NOTUS. “Some money that would have been designated, if I’m not mistaken, for capital improvements, can be moved and now used on the operating side. So that language was included.”
Guest told NOTUS that he worked with Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith to get the language into the legislation.
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The language in the bill allows for up to $54 million to be available for “technical assistance and grants” in areas that were declared an emergency in August 2022. President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Jackson over its water crisis then.
Jackson, a majority-Black city with more than 160,000 residents, has had water-quality issues for decades, in part due to neglect of the city’s aging infrastructure. The issues reached a high point in August 2022 when heavy rainfall almost caused Jackson’s water system to collapse. Residents in the city lost running water, causing people to have to wait in long lines at distribution sites for water to drink and bathe in. A boil water notice was also issued.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat whose district includes most of Jackson, told NOTUS that he wasn’t aware of any language in the continuing resolution to alleviate the city’s water troubles.
“I got the $600 million … and I was the only person in the (House) delegation who voted for it,” Thompson said, referring to funding the city previously received from Congress to repair its water system in December 2022.
Mississippians will have to wait and see if they’ll receive the resources after the CR passed through the House but stalled in the Senate. While other Democrats support addressing water infrastructure, they say the short-term funding bill isn’t something they can support.
Rep. Shomari Figures, an Alabama Democrat, told NOTUS he couldn’t support the bill because it did not include an extension of health care subsidies, but he’s hoping he can work with Guest and other Republicans on similar issues in his own state.
“We’re always generally supportive of infrastructure investments and improvements, especially fixing water systems, fresh water systems,” Figures said. “We need some to fix in our district as well. So looking forward to how we can work with him (Guest) and others in driving those resources.”
Sen. Chris Coons, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, told NOTUS that he didn’t know how that language got into the continuing resolution, but says there’s plenty of things he wishes were in the bill.
“Look, there are lots of things I think should be in whatever bill we take up to try and keep the government open,” Coons said. “Most importantly, things that restore funding for health care, and what the majority is characterizing as a clean-CR thing lacks funding for critical health care programs.”
Sen. Jeff Merkley expressed the same dismay with what wasn’t included. “We didn’t get virtually anything in the CR, so I’m not aware of what happened on Jackson,” he said.
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