May 20, 2004

California Moves To Protect Itself Against Base Closures

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Eric A. Daniels
916-551-1543

Subcommittee Endorses $1 million for effort

Sacramento - The Assembly Budget Subcommittee #4 approved an augmentation to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's State Budget Proposal today of $1 million for the Office of Military Base Realignment and Reuse (OMBRR). The motion was made by Assemblyman George Nakano, representative of the Los Angeles Air Force Base.

Speaking in unison, the members of the committee cast a non-partisan vote in favor of the augmentation, which will be used to coordinate California's efforts to fend off the upcoming round of military base closures. This money will be added to the $180,000 already allocated for the operation of the office.

"California is solidifying itself against other states that would seize military missions and the jobs that they provide from our workforce," stated Andrea Seastrand, Executive Director of the California Space Authority. "This proactive move by the Subcommittee shows true leadership and it will protect California's place in the defense of our nation."

The U.S. Congress has authorized another round of base closures to begin in 2005. California must be prepared to fight the closure of any further base in our state, but in particular those bases that maintain key space assets: Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, Edwards Air Force Base in Antelope Valley, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. These three bases alone represent 13500 direct jobs and 63000 contract jobs. They consist of a total $4.2 billion in payroll and $9.1 billion in contracts annually (70% of these contracts are let to California companies). The survival of the space enterprise community in California depends on these three bases remaining in the California economic mix.

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Assemblyman George Nakano's press release [MS Word, 21kb]

See CSA's BRAC page.

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