House approves spending package with aircrafts possibly for Youngstown Air Reserve Station

Staff report

WASHINGTON

The U.S. House approved a spending package that includes the purchase of four C-130J aircraft that U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan put into the bill with the hope they will go to the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna.

The planes, estimated to cost $300 million, are designated for U.S. Air Force Reserve units. The Air Force will decide which reserve base get the state-of-the-art planes.

YARS has the military’s only large-area fixed-wing aerial spray unit: the 910th Airlift Wing. The facility has 8 C-130H planes that are about 30 years old.

Also in the bill is $20 million for additive manufacturing at the U.S. Department of Defense that Ryan said could help fund America Makes-National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute in downtown Youngstown, and $10 million for the DOD’s technology transition program that could help fund the Tech Belt Innovation Center in downtown Warren.

The bill next goes to the Senate for consideration.

The “passage of several appropriations spending bills is a huge win for Northeast Ohio, and I’m proud to have used my position on the House Appropriations Committee to fund these critical projects for our district,” said Ryan of Howland, D-13th.