Tuesday&8217;s show of force &8212; not to mention a five-hour wait &8212; proved successful for a group of local leaders lobbying for support for the Rentech project.

The bill that passed the Senate Wednesday isn&8217;t quite what we were hoping for &8212; $10 million instead of $14.5 million to help pay for infrastructure improvements at the Belwood Country Club site.

Still, members of the Senate Finance Committee who saw the nearly 20 officials from Adams County crowd into their meeting room were impressed by the turnout.

And the bill they sent to the Senate floor was one without any other projects attached &8212; likely the only kind Gov. Haley Barbour will be interested in signing this year.

The House bill, meanwhile, now includes projects for other areas, so area leaders are hoping the House will instead pass the Senate version of the bill.

The passage of a bill with less money is a minor setback on the way. The finance committee chairman has promised Natchez&8217;s Sen. Bob M. Dearing he will look at fully funding the request as long as due diligence on the project comes through.

This week&8217;s action marks just a few steps in the process toward getting the Rentech deal finalized. The support our local leaders showed by traveling to Jackson and sitting through five hours of other debate while their own meeting was delayed is just one example of the kind of persistence we have to have to get this project off the ground.