Military Base Closures and the Impact Aid Program for Education

Abstract

Congress authorizes the Department of Defense (DoD) to realign or close military installations to meet the changing military requirements facing the United States and to reduce the costs of maintaining excess military infrastructure. DoD compiles a list of recommended Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) actions that is then submitted to an independent BRAC Commission to review. The Commission subsequently submits its list of recommended actions to the President. The most recent BRAC Commission submitted its recommendations for base closures and realignment to the President on Sep 8, 2005. After agreeing with the recommendations, the President sent the Commission report to Congress on Sep 15, 2005. Congress has 45 days to enact a joint resolution of disapproval. The 2005 BRAC recommendations include the closure of 22 major military installations and the realignment of 33 others. The effect of these changes includes both an estimated savings of $35.6 billion for the military over the next 20 years and socioeconomic impacts on the communities affected by the changes. Included in these socioeconomic impacts are the effects on local educational agencies (LEA) serving children affected by the BRAC recommendations. Under the Impact Aid program, the Federal Government provides financial assistance to LEAs adversely affected by its activities. The program provides various types of payments, including compensation to LEAs for the federal ownership of property, funds for school construction, and compensation to LEAs enrolling federally connected children. These children include children whose parents are in the Armed Forces as well as children whose parents are employed on federal property, such as a military installation. This report provides overviews of the Impact Aid Program and the BRAC recommendations, and discusses the potential effects of the BRAC recommendations on LEAs that will both lose and gain students as a result of the changes.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Nov 04, 2005
Accession Number
ADA481109

Entities

People

  • Rebecca R. Skinner

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Base Closures
  • Congress
  • Contractors
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • Government (Foreign)
  • Governments
  • Law
  • Military Facilities
  • Military Personnel
  • National Governments
  • Naval Air Stations
  • Naval Shore Facilities
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting