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Congress approves RNC Convention funds for Tampa

Posted Nov 17, 2011 by Christian M. Wade

Updated Nov 18, 2011 at 12:48 PM

UPDATE: President Obama signed the bill today.

Congress has signed off on a spending package that will provide $50 million in security funding for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa next August.

The appropriation – tucked into a $182 billion measure intended to keep the federal government running through Dec. 16 and fund several agencies in 2012 – was approved by the House, 298-121, on Thursday and gained final Senate passage, 70-30, later in the evening. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the so-called “minibus” bill.

The money will be used to hire, provide housing and food for more than 4,000 additional law enforcement officers from across the region who will provide security at the event, as well as surveillance cameras, riot gear and other security equipment for police officers.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn has said without the federal funding there would be no convention.

Congressional approval of the funding marks the end of an intensive, yearlong effort on the part of Tampa and Charlotte, N.C., which is hosting the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Buckhorn and other city officials have traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet personally with White House officials and leaders from the House and Senate.

Both cities had asked for a combined $110 million for convention funding, or $55 million each, but the request was whittled down by the joint-conference committee this week as part of a hard-fought bargain between the GOP-controlled House and the Democratic Senate, which have been wrestling for several months over proposed spending cuts.