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Regular Session, 2014 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 92
BY SENATOR JOHN SMITH AND REPRESENTATIVE ARMES
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To urge and request the governor of Louisiana to express support of the United States
Armed Services Active Duty, Reserve Component and National Guard; to recognize
the impact of the military on Louisiana's economy; to resource adequately those
efforts designed to protect and promote the missions, quality of life and economic
viability of Louisiana's military installation and defense communities.
WHEREAS, Moody Analytics' Precis lists the number one, four and five largest
employers in Louisiana other than state government as Fort Polk, Barksdale Air Force Base,
and the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base; and
WHEREAS, the 2013 Statewide Military Economic Impact Analysis, commissioned
by the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, indicates an annual military
economic impact of $8.7 billion to the Louisiana economy; and
WHEREAS, the military economy supports 82,800 jobs throughout Louisiana,
representing 4.35% of total state employment, annually contributes $287.3 million in state
and local revenue, and represents 2.20% of Louisiana's gross domestic product; and
WHEREAS, the military economy is measurable in every region of Louisiana,
having an impact of: $286 million in the Acadiana region, $527 million in the Bayou region,
$793 million in the Capital region, $1.76 billion in Central Louisiana, $141 million in
Northeast Louisiana, $1.86 billion in Northwest Louisiana, $2.86 billion in Southeast
Louisiana, and $508 million in Southwest Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, Barksdale Air Force Base provides an annual impact of $1.15 billion
to the Louisiana economy; and
WHEREAS, Fort Polk and the Joint Readiness Training Center provides an annual
impact of $2.17 billion to the Louisiana economy; and
WHEREAS, the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base-New Orleans, based in Belle
Chasse, Louisiana, provides an annual $573 million impact to the Louisiana economy; and SCR NO. 92 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, the Marine Corps Support Facility-New Orleans, home of the Marine
Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North Commands, which combined are the largest
commands in the United States Marine Corps, provide an annual $269 million impact to
Louisiana's economy; and
WHEREAS, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems (SPAWAR) Center Atlantic,
Detachment New Orleans, provides an annual impact of $147 million to Louisiana's
economy; and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana National Guard provides an annual impact of $694
million to Louisiana's economy; and
WHEREAS, the proposed fiscal year 2015 budget for the U.S. Department of
Defense will shrink by more than $75 billion over the next two years and could shrink even
more pending full enactment of "Sequestration"; and
WHEREAS, the proposed budget calls for reducing the size of the Army to as low
as 440,000 active duty soldiers from its current size of 520,000; and
WHEREAS, the proposed budget envisions a five percent reduction in the Army
National Guard and Army Reserve; and
WHEREAS, the Air Force proposes to eliminate the entire A-10 "Warthog" fleet,
having begun these cuts originally in 1992, then in 2005, and again in 2012, at Louisiana
military installations; and
WHEREAS, the fiscal year 2015 budget proposes a round of base closures and
realignments to occur in 2017; and
WHEREAS, these strategic cuts are applied to the U.S. Armed Forces across the
globe and these actions and their predecessors have been felt in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, in 2013, the United States Army's 2020 plan to reduce the force from
570,000 to 490,000 personnel threatened to eliminate the 4
th
Brigade Combat Team of the
10
th
Mountain Division, the largest brigade at Fort Polk; and
WHEREAS, the Army's current Programmatic Environmental Assessment continues
to restructure the force to as low as 440,000 soldiers, thereby revisiting the possibility of
deep cuts at Fort Polk; and
WHEREAS, in 2012, the Air Force initiated cuts to the overall A-10 fleet, resulting SCR NO. 92 ENROLLED
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in the loss of approximately 500 personnel at Barksdale Air Force Base; and
WHEREAS, in 2012, the Air Force proposed to eliminate the 259
th
Air Traffic
Control Squadron of the Louisiana Air National Guard, which provides air traffic control
services to both civilian and military aircraft, particularly those in support of training
operations at Fort Polk; and
WHEREAS, in 2012, the U.S. Navy eliminated the VAW-77 "Night Wolves"
squadron of E-2s and its critical drug interdiction mission, resulting in the loss of
approximately 150 personnel; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy VFA-204 "River Rattlers" squadron of F/A-18s continues
to experience persistent underfunding of maintenance requirement, potentially jeopardizing
the airworthiness and mission capability of the squadron, and potentially denying U.S. air
combat forces ideal adversarial training; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Air Force proposes to eliminate three F-15s from the Louisiana
Air National Guard 159
th
Fighter Wing, which maintains the only Active Duty mission at the
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base and is among only five Alert Missions in the United
States that remain on 24-hour standby to protect America's perimeter defenses; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command
(SPAWAR) instituted a rule in 2013 preventing Navy Working Capital Fund enterprises like
SPAWAR New Orleans from supporting mission requirements of non-Navy federal
programs and clients, including the Veterans Administration; and
WHEREAS, force restructure and cuts to Louisiana- based personnel and assets have
largely occurred outside the bounds of congressional oversight or in the formal environment
of an official Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC); and
WHEREAS, unchallenged, these threats to operations and assets at Louisiana
installations will persist, potentially resulting in loss of personnel, assets, missions and
installations; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's defense communities have struggled financially to meet the
challenge of these threats, and in some cases have been incapable of mounting any efforts
to challenge these threats.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby SCR NO. 92 ENROLLED
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express its support for the commitment, sacrifice and honor demonstrated by the service
personnel of the United States Armed Services Active Duty, Reserve Component, and
National Guard.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
recognize the irreplaceable impact of the military on the Louisiana economy and that action
to protect Louisiana's defense communities must be swift and sufficient.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby express
its support, and likewise urges the governor of Louisiana, to adequately resource those
efforts designed to protect and promote the missions, quality of life and economic viability
of Louisiana's military installations and defense communities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Governor Bobby Jindal.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES