It’s BRAC!
The United States has been shutting down military installations built in the midst of the Cold War, well, since the middle of the Cold War. Seeing that individual representatives would fight hard to keep their districts’ military bases up and running, Congress passed the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act in 1990. This law established the BRAC Commission, a board appointed by the president that is charged with shutting down bases. In 2005 it issued a list of closures, including Fort McPherson in Atlanta and Fort Gillem in Forest Park. The word in Washington is that the next round of BRAC closures might come as early as 2019.
The Georgia State House has formed a 15-member study committee to examine ways that Georgia can avoid further closures. Georgia has nine major defense installations and the fifth largest active duty population in the country. Juggernauts such as Fort Benning, Fort Gordon, and Dobbins Air Base might be at risk when the next BRAC recommendations come down.
Gov. Deal has kept his eye on the ball so far. In 2012, he established the Governor’s Defense Initiative to make sure that economic development projects were being coordinated with base retention efforts. Here are a few of the programs:
- Governor’s High Demand Career Initiative: Listen to the needs of businesses representing industries around the state, including a military focus, and identify paths that will effectively train the skilled workforce they need for the future.
- GUARD Initiative: An ongoing effort to assist and strengthen Georgia aerospace and defense companies who perform Department of Defense (DoD) related work in creating new business opportunities and managing their talent resources.
- Operation: Workforce: Georgia’s veteran and transitioning service member employment initiative. This program connects current and former service members with the workforce system, and at the same time, Georgia businesses with this skilled workforce.
- The Georgia Institute of Technology’s VET² program: Partners with industry leaders like Gulfstream Aerospace and JCB to provide both classroom and experiential learning experiences for transitioning service members.
- Georgia Veteran Education Career Transition Resource Center (VECTR):The University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia joined forces to develop the program which will open in Warner Robins. The 32,000 square-foot facility will serve as an academic and workforce gateway for veterans as they prepare for civilian employment, re-enter Georgia’s workforce and systems of higher education.
In the 2016 session, state legislators tried to complement Gov. Deal’s plan to make Georgia more military friendly. Supporting the military was a bipartisan effort (who knew?). House Democrats introduced a package of bills to help Georgia meet goals set by the Department of Defense’s USA4 Military Families Initiative. This initiative was called “A Promise Kept,” and it dealt with everything from professional licensing for transitioning service members to punishing companies that engage in predatory lending with members of the military. Two of the bills, the Military Spouses and Veterans Licensure Act and the Protecting Guardsmen’s Employment Act were signed into law.
On the Republican side, State Sen. Larry Walker III (R-Perry) brought forward a plan to cut down the waiting period that military dependents with Medicaid and other medical coverage have to endure if they temporarily leave the state. Sen. Walker endured the relentless hazing that comes with a member’s first bill and got it passed through the Senate. Unfortunately, it did not make it through the House.
More controversial ideas came from Rep. Jesse Petrea (R-Savannah) and Rep. John Yates (R-Griffin). Both of their plans would have exempted military retirement payments from state income taxes, although Rep. Petrea’s bill would have offset the lost revenue with a rise in the excise tax on cigarette sales. Rep. Yates’ bill left the tax cut unfunded. Neither bill passed, but Rep. Petrea said that he always expected a multi-year fight and will be bringing his bill back in future sessions.
The House study committee was named in early June. It will hold at least five meetings to discuss ways for Georgia to keep its bases from being shut down. Look for its report and recommendations to come out by December 1st.
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Rob
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Deal’s initiatives seem a lot more productive to making GA a place for a military installation that social support legislation and tax breaks.
A recent AJC article went on about how police recruiting had a huge washout. When asked what efforts were made to the most preferred applicant, from the military….it appeared that was not the focus…..
When the legislators focus on anything but encouraging professional skills and connections to business and public needs, it is time to shut down the base.
Reduce the 150,000 troops currently stationed in foreign countries (this does not include shipboard navy & marines) to the number required to adequately protect US embassies and US government assets. Done. No need of a committee.
That’s part of it but we do need a BRAC, better scrutiny of new weapons programs and need to keep overall personnel numbers small but effective and efficient.
We really should shut down these death factories, especially the ones in Marietta. Its time for people to get a ‘real job’ and quit living off socialist programs like the military /S
and yes, that is a Capital S
Does your solution extend to traditional socialist welfare programs, too?
Do you even Internet, bro?
Some military families have been know to use the USDA food stamp programs in the states they are located, so that would be defeating the military friendly goal for Georgia. Just saying.
Perhaps 1 to 2% use food stamps. It low ranking individuals with large number of family members, often a single parent.
You have to weigh the good and the bad. I deal with many military families on USDA programs through some of my charity work for teaching women how to shop and cook on limited budgets. The majority of the ones I see are married, under twenty-five and have a single child under 18 months, one parent is 3-6 years in duty, and the other parent stays home or works part time.
Things that keep bases open are how easy it is for military dependents to transaction over from one state systems to the next. The special education system that Georgia got cited for as not being in compliance with ADA requirements – the majority of the schools were located in military installation areas.