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[color=#000000]From the Hartford Courant and New England Cable News.
Effort To Keep Sub Base Afloat
Lawmakers Offer Incentives To Help Boost EB's Business
March 23, 2005
By JESSE HAMILTON, Courant Staff Writer A group of state legislators hopes to erect a shield of cash and incentives to protect the vulnerable Navy submarine base in Groton from this year's nationwide round of base closures.
The bipartisan group is pushing a Senate bill for $40 million in improvements and some major tax benefits aimed at keeping the base from shutting down and taking Electric Boat, hundreds of subcontractors and 25,000 jobs with it.
Connecticut's long history with nuclear submarines could end if the base appears on the list of military facilities to be closed. The secretary of defense will release a list of his suggestions May 16, and a nine-member commission - nominated last week amid criticism that it had no representatives from the Northeast - will be responsible for sending a final list to the president in September.
Groton's base was on a proposed base-closing list in 1993 but escaped the final ax.
Under a banner reading "S.O.S., Save Our Submarines" in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford Tuesday, lawmakers made their case for spending millions to save a Connecticut defense industry that, according to some estimates, does $2.5 billion worth of business a year.
"Let me go right to the heart of things," said Sen. Gary LeBeau, D-East Hartford. "This is about Connecticut jobs and Connecticut's economy."
He and Catherine Cook, R-Mystic, authored the bill, which would set aside $40 million for energy-efficiency projects - advances such as on-site fuel cells - to reduce utility bills for the base and Electric Boat. But much more sweeping is its proposal to repeal local property taxes on new manufacturing equipment bought by Connecticut companies after July 1. Proponents argue that would improve the business climate for Electric Boat and its hundreds of subcontractors.
"This is Connecticut's step up," said Cook. "The most significant action today is that we're taking some action."
Were the Groton base to close, it would start an "economic tsunami" that would go far beyond the loss of 17 submarines, LeBeau said. Electric Boat and hundreds of businesses would absorb major hits.
A vice president of Electric Boat, retired Navy Rear Adm. John B. Padgett III, admitted such an event would cause components of his company to "shift elsewhere."
House Speaker James A. Amann said, "There is no more critical thing facing us in the state right now."
If the base closed, "what would we do?" he asked Tuesday's audience. "What would we do?"
For more than a year, the Pentagon has been examining bases across the country, asking questions and compiling detailed information for the Base Realignment and Closure process. The Bush administration has estimated that as many as a quarter of U.S. military bases are unnecessary.
Several New England bases could make this year's list, including the sub base; the naval shipyard in Portsmouth, Maine; and Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. The goals are cost savings and efficiency.
In the dwindling world of submarines, there are three bases on the East Coast]
Effort To Keep Sub Base Afloat
Lawmakers Offer Incentives To Help Boost EB's Business
March 23, 2005
By JESSE HAMILTON, Courant Staff Writer A group of state legislators hopes to erect a shield of cash and incentives to protect the vulnerable Navy submarine base in Groton from this year's nationwide round of base closures.
The bipartisan group is pushing a Senate bill for $40 million in improvements and some major tax benefits aimed at keeping the base from shutting down and taking Electric Boat, hundreds of subcontractors and 25,000 jobs with it.
Connecticut's long history with nuclear submarines could end if the base appears on the list of military facilities to be closed. The secretary of defense will release a list of his suggestions May 16, and a nine-member commission - nominated last week amid criticism that it had no representatives from the Northeast - will be responsible for sending a final list to the president in September.
Groton's base was on a proposed base-closing list in 1993 but escaped the final ax.
Under a banner reading "S.O.S., Save Our Submarines" in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford Tuesday, lawmakers made their case for spending millions to save a Connecticut defense industry that, according to some estimates, does $2.5 billion worth of business a year.
"Let me go right to the heart of things," said Sen. Gary LeBeau, D-East Hartford. "This is about Connecticut jobs and Connecticut's economy."
He and Catherine Cook, R-Mystic, authored the bill, which would set aside $40 million for energy-efficiency projects - advances such as on-site fuel cells - to reduce utility bills for the base and Electric Boat. But much more sweeping is its proposal to repeal local property taxes on new manufacturing equipment bought by Connecticut companies after July 1. Proponents argue that would improve the business climate for Electric Boat and its hundreds of subcontractors.
"This is Connecticut's step up," said Cook. "The most significant action today is that we're taking some action."
Were the Groton base to close, it would start an "economic tsunami" that would go far beyond the loss of 17 submarines, LeBeau said. Electric Boat and hundreds of businesses would absorb major hits.
A vice president of Electric Boat, retired Navy Rear Adm. John B. Padgett III, admitted such an event would cause components of his company to "shift elsewhere."
House Speaker James A. Amann said, "There is no more critical thing facing us in the state right now."
If the base closed, "what would we do?" he asked Tuesday's audience. "What would we do?"
For more than a year, the Pentagon has been examining bases across the country, asking questions and compiling detailed information for the Base Realignment and Closure process. The Bush administration has estimated that as many as a quarter of U.S. military bases are unnecessary.
Several New England bases could make this year's list, including the sub base; the naval shipyard in Portsmouth, Maine; and Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts. The goals are cost savings and efficiency.
In the dwindling world of submarines, there are three bases on the East Coast]
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