News

Lawmakers Skeptical of Planned Army, Marine Corps Reductions

Members of the House Armed Services Committee last week questioned Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plan to cut the end strength of the Army by 27,000 soldiers and the Marine Corps by 15,000 to 20,000 troops starting in fiscal 2015. The size of the armed forces is “not something that you can just flip a switch,” Rep. Mac Thornberry said at the Feb. 16 hearing on the Pentagon’s FY 2012 budget request …

Amendment in House Reverses EDA Budget Cut

The House last week voted to restore an $80 million spending reduction to the Economic Development Administration that had been included in the House’s plan to fund federal operations through the remainder of fiscal 2011. If enacted into law, economic development assistance programs would receive $255 million, the same level of funding allocated in FY 2010 …

DOD Budget Remains Intact (Mostly), But Still No Closer to 2011 Funding Bill

With one glaring exception, DOD programs remained insulated from the hundreds of amendments offered on the House floor to deepen the spending cuts included in the House plan to fund the federal government for the duration of the current fiscal year. Late Friday night, the House rejected an amendment to the fiscal 2011 funding bill that would have pared funding for the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security by 3.5 percent, excluding veterans’ programs …

House Budget Cuts Get Personal; Republicans Hit Presidio Trust
- Base Redevelopment/ Environmental Cleanup, Congress/DoD, Headlines
- February 21, 2011
In what has been termed a swipe at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Republicans last week approved an amendment that would eliminate federal funding for the Presidio Trust during debate over the continuing resolution to fund the federal government through the end of fiscal 2011. The trust, the nonprofit established by Congress to administer the Presidio of San Francisco after it was shuttered in 1994, had been slated to receive $15 million in 2011 …
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Washington Symposium on Federal Realty Next Month
- Defense Real Estate, Headlines
- February 17, 2011
Public Sector Realty is sponsoring a symposium on federal realty and infrastructure March 4 in Washington, D.C. Sessions will include: Drop the “C”ost and Add the “V”alue to BRAC; The Inner Workings of a Renewable Energy Deal; 30-Year Present Value Analysis & Beyond: Converting Long-term Realty Assets into Annual Cash Accounting Expenses; and Federal Assets: An Asset & Portfolio Management Challenge & Opportunity …
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Authority Holds First Public Meeting on Reuse of Willow Grove
- Base Redevelopment/ Environmental Cleanup, Headlines
- February 17, 2011
The Horsham LRA held the first of several public meetings on Monday intended to collect public input on possible uses for the 892 surplus acres at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove. The redevelopment authority’s late start on crafting a reuse plan is a direct result of then-Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s attempt to turn the Philadelphia-area site into a state-run homeland security hub …
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