Congress passed its 2008 budget with $1 billion less in the military Base Realignment and Closure Construction account than original estimates, and Maryland may have the most to lose.
As officials in the Defense Department and other agencies figure out how to spend the $7.3 billion that was allotted for BRAC projects across the country, Maryland legislators are trying to preserve full funding for Old Line State initiatives, including the transfer of services from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to Bethesda National Naval Medical Center.
Maryland’s entire congressional delegation urged the Secretary of Defense Friday to fully fund military construction projects that will result from base closures and reorganizations across the state.
“Unless the funds are made available to these mission-critical projects this year, it will be very difficult to complete implementation of the BRAC recommendations by 2011, as required by law,” the letter from the Maryland delegation, led by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., to Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said.
Maryland military base changes are expected to add jobs but also increase strains on area infrastructures near the Bethesda hospital, Aberdeen proving ground, Andrews Air Force base, Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head, Fort Meade and Fort Detrick.
A Navy report released two weeks ago said it wasn’t the Navy’s responsibility to pay for recommended road improvements to accommodate the additional traffic the base changes are expected to bring to Bethesda. Officials estimate the Bethesda hospital will gain as many as 2,500 additional workers and see its patient load nearly double to more than 900,000 visits per year.
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., told The Examiner last week he believes every Maryland BRAC project will get federal funding as a result of efforts by the state’s delegation.
“There is already too much traffic in the area of this facility and with the increased numbers it’s going to make matters worse,” Cardin said. “The federal government has a responsibility to help partner a solution to that issue.”
Mikulski’s spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz said she was confident Maryland project funding would be intact.
“Sen. Mikulski, as a lead appropriator, is going to make sure we get this funding restored,” Schwartz said.
BY THE NUMBERS
Maryland BRAC Budget
$700 million for Maryland military construction projects
$215 million specifically for National Naval Medical Center.
