Defense Communities 360 Headlines

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez last week signed a bill designed to help military personnel, their spouses and veterans more easily obtain occupational licenses in a range of fields if they already are qualified or certified in another state. The law covers a broad set of professional occupations such as barbers, architects and veterinarians, along with health care providers such as physicians, pharmacists, dentists and physical therapists …

A measure to exempt military housing owned by the private sector from local property taxes has been steadily moving through both chambers of the Florida Legislature. On Thursday the legislation cleared the last of several House committees and now will go to that chamber’s floor. A version of the bill also has moved through multiple Senate panels, and is expected to be debated in that chamber this week …

Air Force officials have set a goal of realizing $5 billion in net present value through the service’s enhanced use leasing program by 2020. The net present value of existing EULs is an estimated $249.2 million, reports the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. The center also has 25 projects in different EUL development phases worth an estimated $696 million in net present value …

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee will try to help close a deal between the state-supported China Development Bank and Lennar Corp. to invest $1.7 billion in two base redevelopment projects during his eight-day trip to China that began Friday. Lee is expected to sit down with officials from the Chinese bank to discuss the investment in the redevelopment of two former Navy bases, Treasure Island and Hunters Point Naval Shipyard …

The Army unexpectedly transferred 313 acres at the former Fort Monroe on Thursday to the site’s LRA, leaving a series of unanswered questions regarding the ongoing environmental cleanup, the border of the property reverting to Virginia and other matters. The Army and state officials had been discussing for more than a year the terms of how the Army would transfer the portion of the 570-acre post slated to revert to the commonwealth. The negotiations were intended to resolve who is responsible for the cleanup, long-term building maintenance, and the transfer of utilities and roads, reported the Daily Press …

A comprehensive cleanup of groundwater and soil at the former Schilling Air Force Base in central Kansas moved one step closer to being realized after the city of Salina, other local entities and the federal government filed a settlement agreement this week with the U.S. District Court in Kansas City. The $9.4 million agreement, which still needs to be approved by a federal judge, covers only the estimated cost of a remedial investigation, feasibility study and corrective action decision, and does not include the cleanup …

California Gov. Jerry Brown established a state military council Thursday to preserve the military’s role in the state’s economy and expand defense-related investment in California. The panel will be responsible for protecting California’s military installations and operations amid ongoing Pentagon budget cuts, and it will respond to changes in military strategy to position the state to continue innovation and leadership in its military mission …

The Air Force on Thursday released its plan to carry out the force structure changes mandated by the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill. The changes primarily reflect the compromise plan for eliminating and retiring aircraft from the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve that the Air Force proposed last November after lawmakers and governors rejected the service’s original proposal for scaling down its force structure …

More than 700,000 civilian workers at DOD will be forced to take 14 days of unpaid leave in fiscal 2013, eight fewer days than officials had been expecting, as a result of the spending measure President Obama signed into law on Tuesday. By shifting $10 billion into the Pentagon’s operations and maintenance accounts, the FY 2013 spending bill alleviated a shortfall in the account that pays for civilian salaries, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters on Thursday …

The sequester will force the Pentagon to cope with a $41 billion spending reduction in the current fiscal year, rather than an estimated $46 billion, after the fiscal 2013 spending package signed into law this week trimmed defense funding sufficiently to comply with the FY 2013 cap on discretionary spending. The continuing resolution that funded government operations in the first half of the year exceeded the discretionary cap imposed by 2011′s Budget Control Act and, as a result, would have triggered a second sequester to bring the defense budget in line with the cap …