A new Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Bill will provide $8.6 million for improvements at Lawrence County Hospital.

On Saturday, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), of Brookhaven, supported final passage of the series of bills that will provide resources for communities, universities, schools and organizations in Mississippi to improve workforce development, health and education efforts.

Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee, worked to secure support for Mississippi projects included in the six-bill package that has been given final congressional approval by the Senate and sent to the White House to be signed into law.

“I’ve worked to ensure the Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Bill included responsible investments that would promote the health, education, and workforce needs in Mississippi and around the nation, particularly in rural areas where resources can be hard to secure,” Hyde-Smith said. “I’m pleased our final bill does not contain any poison pill funding or provisions, such as new funding for Title X family planning, gun violence research, or climate change initiatives.”

The bill continues funding for an Office of Rural Health at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which was established through Hyde-Smith’s efforts during the FY2023 appropriations process. The CDC Office of Rural Health is responsible for coordinating rural health efforts across CDC programs, and developing a strategic plan for rural health.

Some of the items of interest in the final FY2024 Labor, HHS, and Education Appropriations Bill for Mississippi include:

• $8.6 million for Lawrence County Hospital Improvements
• $3.2 million for the University of Mississippi Medical Center Psychiatric Emergency Services
• $1.0 million for North Sunflower Medical Center Community Response Project
• $2.8 million for the Hinds Community College (HCC) STEM Training Academy
• $247,000 for Vicksburg Family Development Service Child Abuse Prevention
• $94,000 for the Itawamba Agricultural High School Agricultural Science and Workforce Development Program

The final FY2024 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Bill funds the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Small Business Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, Office of National Drug Policy, and other agencies. The final bill claws back $10.2 billion from IRS Enforcement provided through the Inflation Reduction Act and freezes IRS discretionary spending for the second consecutive year. It also includes a new provision that prevents the Consumer Product Safety Commission from using funding in the bill to ban gas stoves.

Some of the items of interest to Mississippi in the FSGG bill include;

• $2.4 million for the Mississippi State University (MSU) Mississippi Business Intelligence Project
• $944,000 for Innovate Mississippi to Establish Eighth Regional Partner
• $350,000 for MSU Collegiate Recovery Community Assistance
• $230,000 for HCC Substance Abuse Prevention and Awareness Campaign

Overall, all FY2024 appropriations bills were written to adhere to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 which capped discretionary funding and made other reforms to reduce the budget deficit by roughly $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.