DALLAS - Texas lawmakers appear willing to raise money to prevent closing of bases in the Lone Star State.
Two bills that passed in the state Senate would increase funds to shield military bases from the next round of closures or help them convert to civilian uses.
Senate bills 18 and 318 are expected to get a friendly hearing from the state House Committee on Defense and Veterans Affairs chaired by Rep. Susan Lewis King. The Abilene Republican is author of a House version of SB 18, which raises grants to communities with military bases to $5 million from the previous $2 million.
"Many Texas military bases are in need of major renovations and repairs and these grants can help keep up their BRAC scores to help avoid a potential closure," said Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, author of SB 18. BRAC is the "base realignment and closure" process designed to allow closure or consolidation of military bases with minimal political considerations.
The 2005 BRAC closed bases in Texarkana, Corpus Christi and San Antonio, but Texas was a net beneficiary as thousands of military personnel based elsewhere moved to expanded installations in the state. Ft. Bliss in El Paso expanded dramatically, gaining nearly $5 billion in additional investment and prompting major bond issues by the city, county and school districts serving the post.
The 2005 BRAC was designed to save federal taxpayers more than $35 billion by 2025.
Beyond SB 318, a coalition of local governments in Texas is asking legislators to provide $150 million in the next two-year budget to support military installations.
The money would go to the Texas Military Preparedness Commission for grants.
Backers say the request represents only 0.1% of the nearly $150 billion that the state's 15 installations bring to the Texas economy -- "a very small price to pay to protect the military mission and jobs at Texas military installations," wrote the Texas Mayors of Military Communities.
The legislative action in Austin coincides with efforts in Washington to get the next round of BRAC moving by 2017. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, plans to offer an amendment to the annual defense policy bill approving a new round of base closures.
Last year, the House Rules Committee blocked Smith's proposal from receiving a vote when the House debated the measure.
Lt. Gen. David D. Halverson, commander of Army Installation Management Command and assistant chief of staff for installation management, called for another round of BRAC on April 21.
"We have to decide what to relocate or tear down to decrease our costs on posts," he said.
Halverson cited Ft. Bliss in El Paso as a positive example. A water desalination plant at the world's largest Army post allows the Army to make its own water at a cheaper price. The reverse-osmosis plant is the largest non-seawater desalination plant in the world.
Halverson said that while the Army is making headway in cutting its $1.6 billion electricity and water expense, it is still "a fixed cost that doesn't go anywhere but up."
By the end of fiscal year 2016, the Army plans to reduce its ranks by 95,000 soldiers from a wartime high of 570,000. As a result, the Army expects excess infrastructure to be about 18% of its total.
For the bond market, reductions in force translate to less demand for military housing in some locations and increases in others. Local governments in 2005 also issued bonds to finance infrastructure improvements or to acquire property for open space around bases.
