KITTERY — Maine and New Hampshire’s U.S. senators say that $11.5 million in construction funding and the procurement of two Virginia-class submarines for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has been listed in a pending appropriations bill.

Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte say the provisions are part of a bill introduced Monday by the Senate and House Appropriations committees and could be voted on as early as Thursday.

The military construction funding would go toward the consolidation of some structural operations at the shipyard, to improve efficiency.

Collins, Shaheen and Ayotte had worked together before to restore funding in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act to build a second Virginia class submarine in Fiscal Year 2014.

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