April 22, 2016 — MILFORD, Conn. — U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said that a subcommittee’s appropriations bill approved Thursday includes more than $20 million in federal funds for Long Island Sound programs, and $200 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has a research lab in Milford.
Murphy is a member of the appropriations subcommittee of the U.S. Senate committee on Commerce, Science, Justice, and Related Agencies. The funding, in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, “would support critical aquaculture research and improve regulatory permitting that supports over 700 local jobs and helps to improve the health of Long Island Sound,” Murphy said.
The Milford Lab is one of just two NOAA labs nationwide supporting aquaculture research, he said. The subcommittee bill “includes language addressing concerns around staffing changes and funding cuts at Milford Lab,” Murphy said in a prepared statement.