Alabama military bases could get millions from funding bill

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate advanced the military construction and veterans funding bill Tuesday, with millions directed toward Alabama’s military bases.

Four military installations in the state could receive funds for construction projects. Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, who sits on the appropriations committee, helped secure funding for some of the projects in the fiscal year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. The Senate bill passed out of committee last week.

The appropriations bill cleared a procedural step Tuesday by a vote of 91 to 7. Alabama’s two senators voted to advance it. The Senate is expected to take a final vote on the bill later this week.

In total, Alabama military installations could receive about $119 million for improvements. Britt directly secured about $32 million of that funding through earmarks, also known as congressional directed spending requests.

“One of the things that is critically important is that as this money is invested across the country, we have as much of it as possible invested in the state of Alabama, because it’s not an if, but a when, there will be another…base realignment and closure,” Britt told Alabama Daily News.

“And when that occurs, the better these facilities are, the more current and modern these facilities are, then the better opportunity we have to keep them open and thriving, keeping Alabama’s place in our national defense.”

If the Senate bill becomes law, Fort Rucker could receive $28.4 million, Maxwell Air Force Base would get $4 million, Redstone Arsenal would receive $55 million and Anniston Army Depot would receive $32 million. (See a detailed breakdown of funding for each base at the bottom of this article.)

Government funding will expire on Sept. 30. The military construction and veterans affairs appropriations bill is the first one being considered on the Senate floor this year. The House has passed two of the 12 appropriations bills so far.

With lawmakers out of Washington for a month during August recess, it will be difficult for Congress to pass all the bills on time, making a continuing resolution a likely scenario for fiscal year 2026.

Britt said she has been strongly pushing for Congress to pass all 12 spending bills this year.

“There is an entire segment that would like us to just operate on continuing resolutions,” she told ADN. I think that is not only not good for the taxpayer, but it’s shirking the responsibility that we have through the Constitution to do our work, and to be accountable to the people.”

A continuing resolution could last for a certain number of months or a full-year, as was the case for the last fiscal year. The most recent CR excluded earmarks that lawmakers can request for projects in their district or state.

“So as needs change every year, it’s important that we have new bills that reflect that,” Britt said. “There are a lot of priorities, everything from Redstone to Maxwell to the incredible work that’s done there at Fort Rucker and we want to continue to protect those.”

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The U.S. House passed its military construction and veterans funding bill in June mostly along party lines. Alabama’s Republicans voted for it and the state’s Democrats opposed it.

The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, secured $18 million in the House bill for an access control point at Anniston Army Depot.

The Senate appropriations bill allocates a total of $19.8 billion for military construction projects and $133.3 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

A breakdown of money directed to Alabama’s military installations in the Senate funding bill:

Fort Rucker ($28.4 million): Requested by Britt

• Flight Control Tower at Tabernacle Stagefield – $8.1 million
• Fire and Rescue Station at Tabernacle Stagefield – $6.6 million
• Medical Evacuation Support Facility – $7.4 million (also requested by Tuberville)
• Flight Control Tower at Cairns Army Airfield – $2.7 million
• Lowe Army Aircraft Maintenance Hangar – $3.6 million

Maxwell Air Force Base ($4 million): Requested by Britt

• Combined All-Domain Wargaming Center – $4 million

Redstone Arsenal ($55 million):

• Propulsion Systems Building – $55 million

Anniston Army Depot ($32 million):

• General Purpose Warehouse – $32 million