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Regular Session, 2011
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 176
BY REPRESENTATIVE EDWARDS
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Economic Development to complete a
military economic impact analysis.
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana is home to the Louisiana National Guard, United
States Air Force, United States Army, United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States
Coast Guard, United States Marines, United States Navy, Louisiana Department of Veterans
Affairs, United States Veterans Administration, as well as significant military support
activities such as shipbuilding and vehicle manufacturing; and
WHEREAS, the state commissioned a 2002 military economic impact analysis to
take inventory and assess the value of the military presence in the state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, in 2002, the impact of the military on Louisiana's economy amounted
to more than seven billion dollars in gross sales revenue, three billion five hundred sixty-
three million dollars in household earnings, two hundred seventeen million two hundred
thousand dollars in sales tax collections, and one hundred twelve thousand seven hundred
forty-three total jobs; and
WHEREAS, since 2002, and with consideration given to base realignment and
closure requirements mandated by congress in 2005, Louisiana's military profile and
economic impact have evolved dramatically; and
WHEREAS, Fort Polk, Barksdale Air Force Base, and the Naval Air Station Joint
Reserve Base are the first, forth, and fifth largest employers, respectively, in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Fort Polk is one of only two Army installations set to grow
geographically and Fort Polk's expansion will be the largest of any base in the entire Army
for twenty or more years; and
WHEREAS, fifty percent of all soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are trained
first at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 176
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WHEREAS, in 2009, Barksdale Air Force Base was named as the headquarters of
the Air Force Global Strike Command, which is the first major command in the United
States Air Force in thirty years, and which is described by the secretary of the Air Force and
the Air Force chief of staff as the most important mission in the United States Air Force; and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana invested more than one hundred fifty million
dollars to provide a new headquarters building and quality of life amenities for the United
States Marine Force Reserve and Marine Force North, which is the command center for all
United States Marine Corps Reserves and all United States Marines in North America; and
WHEREAS, the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Belle Chasse, is the command
center for response and recovery for major disasters in the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana and
remains one of the preeminent training locations for naval aviators in the United States; and
WHEREAS, since the prosecution of the War on Terror, the United States Coast
Guard has emerged as the preeminent force to protect the homeland; and
WHEREAS, the Eighth District of the United States Coast Guard is headquartered
in New Orleans and is the largest jurisdiction in the entire United States Coast Guard; and
WHEREAS, the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers has nearly
completed fifteen billion dollars in Hurricane Storm Damage Risk Reduction System
improvements in the greater New Orleans area; and
WHEREAS, under the leadership of the Louisiana Army National Guard at Camp
Minden, the newly established one hundred million dollar Regional Training Institute at
Camp Minden will provide leadership training and military occupational specialty training
for the seven-state region of Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New Mexico,
and Kansas; and
WHEREAS, Fort Polk, Barksdale Air Force Base, Marine Support Activity New
Orleans, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Belle Chasse, the United States Coast Guard
Eighth District, Jackson Barracks, Camp Minden, Gillis W. Long Center, and other military
facilities have experienced nearly one billion dollars in direct capital investment since 2002;
and
WHEREAS, the overall military impact is significant to the state's overall economy,
and each major military installation and activity uniquely impacts each regional economy;
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WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana recognizes eight unique economic regions and
regional hubs of the state as Bayou in the Houma/Thibodaux area, Southeast in the New
Orleans area, Capital in the Baton Rouge area, Acadiana in the Lafayette area, Southwest
in the Lake Charles area, Central in the Alexandria area, Northeast in the Monroe area, and
Northwest in the Shreveport/Bossier area, each of which is impacted by a military
installation or significant military activity; and
WHEREAS, the governor's Military Advisory Board unanimously recommended on
June 7, 2010, that the state complete a military economic impact analysis and reaffirmed this
recommendation on June 8, 2011.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana Department of Economic Development to complete a
thorough military economic impact analysis which includes an inventory of the current
military presence in Louisiana and an assessment of the military's overall impact on the state
and to the region that hosts each installation or major military operation and submit a report
to the governor's Military Advisory Board by December 31, 2011.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
speaker of the House of Representatives, the president of the Senate, the governor's Military
Advisory Board, the House of Representatives Special Committee on Military and Veterans
Affairs, the Senate Select Committee on Veterans Affairs, and the secretary of the
Department of Economic Development.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE