Downstate air base to benefit from spending bill

MASCOUTAH -- A military base and an airport are two southern Illinois locations that will get some upgrades, courtesy of a $447 billion spending bill approved by Congress this week.

At Scott Air Force Base near Mascoutah, a $7.4 million earmark will help pay for a new two-story building that'll replace a five-decades-old medical evacuation site with a leaking roof and an often-flooded basement.

The facility has been used for sending pilots and medical evacuation teams to Iraq and Afghanistan during the recent wars.

The bill also calls for more than $779,000 to build a firefighting building at an airport near Carbondale.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill.