Scott, Moody Steer $935M to Florida Military Bases in Defense Bill

Florida's two U.S. senators have secured nearly $1 billion for military installations across the state through this year's Senate National Defense Authorization Act — money that will land at bases from Key West to the First Coast, with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station among the biggest beneficiaries.

Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) announced Wednesday that $935 million in federal funding has been directed to Florida through the defense bill. President Donald Trump has not yet signed the legislation. Once he does, the spending would take effect in the federal fiscal year 2027 budget.

For Treasure Coast residents, the most direct impact comes at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, roughly 60 miles north of Stuart on Brevard County's coastline. The funding supports the Eastern Range and what the Pentagon considers the nation's busiest launch site, financing a new command facility, base support and communications warehouses, launch facility infrastructure, security forces upgrades, vehicle maintenance facilities, and a missile-defense test facility. The station's operations and the aerospace supply chain it anchors employ thousands of workers across the region, including contractors and vendors who commute from Indian River and Brevard counties.

Moody, a freshman senator and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, framed the funding in personal terms. "Supporting our armed forces is not just my job — as a mom in a military family, it is personal to me," she said in a statement. "These wins are not just allocated dollars; they are a down payment on the future of our military in Florida, aimed at strengthening the state's installations and defense industrial base."

Scott, a longtime advocate for Florida's defense footprint, noted the state hosts more than twenty military installations and three combatant commands. "I am pleased to see so many critical provisions have been included in this year's version of the bill that will help Florida, our warfighters, and our national security," he said.

Beyond Cape Canaveral, the spending package covers Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City for gate and emergency rescue station upgrades; Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach for recruit training capacity and hangar design; Homestead Air Force Reserve Base for a climate-controlled tactical storage warehouse; Naval Air Station Jacksonville for a new power generation grid; Camp Blanding's Florida National Guard installation for a multipurpose training range; the Marine Corps Support Facility on Blount Island for communications modernization; and Naval Air Station Key West for a new command-and-control facility.

The legislation now awaits Trump's signature.

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