Hinds Today

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi has lent her support to the final passage of a bill aimed at bolstering workforce development, health, and education initiatives in the state and across the nation. Hyde-Smith, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, played a role in securing resources for various projects benefiting Mississippi as part of a comprehensive appropriations package that has now received approval from Congress and awaits signing into law by the White House.

Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, expressed her commitment to advancing the bill, stating, "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."

Speaking on the content of the bill, Hyde-Smith highlighted its exclusion of certain contentious provisions, stating, “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 encompasses funding for critical initiatives such as the Office of Rural Health at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an entity Hyde-Smith had previously advocated for during the FY2023 appropriations process. This office is tasked with coordinating rural health efforts across various CDC programs and formulating a strategic plan for rural health.

Additionally, the bill includes provisions related to the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations, which cover agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Small Business Administration. Notably, the FSGG bill retracts $10.2 billion from IRS Enforcement and introduces measures to restrict certain expenditures, including a prohibition on the use of funds by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban gas stoves.

All appropriations bills for FY2024 were crafted in adherence to the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which imposed limits on discretionary funding and instituted reforms aimed at reducing the budget deficit significantly over the next decade.