Budget Cuts

Thousands of civilian workers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are being offered the option to retire early or take a buyout. The buyouts are an effort to prepare for a cut of 372 positions at the base this fall.

Many of the positions to be cut aren’t currently filled, and by offering early retirement and buyout options, Wright-Patt officials hope to move those who stay into open jobs elsewhere on the base.

“We just want to make sure that we take care of our people, that’s our key objective,” says Wright-Patt spokesman Daryl Mayer.

Leaders from Dayton, Cincinnati, and several other cities are calling on Republican Governor John Kasich to restore funds to local governments in a two-day tour called “Stop the Kasich Raid.” Municipalities have seen cuts in the last two state budgets totaling over $1.5 billion from several funding sources.

Speaking on the steps of Dayton City Hall, Cincinnati City Council member P.G. Sittenfeld targeted John Kasich for the rollbacks in local budgets.

A report released by the Pentagon this week warns of the consequences of continuing to fund the military at sequestration levels. The across-the-board spending caps have been relieved by a budget deal in Congress, but the Pentagon is saying that by 2021, the Department of Defense will have spent $1 trillion less than it had planned, making cuts in almost all areas including acquisition, research and personnel.

Thursday is the second day of meetings at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for small businesses in the defense industry. The event is part of an effort on the part of the Air Force to work more with small contractors; base officials say it helps them stay efficient as the government cuts defense budgets.

Those cuts have been bad news for local industry, which provides the Air Force with everything from computer systems to research to airplane parts—but not all contractors are feeling the same pain.

Large contractors cash in

Governor John Kasich has signed the capital budget, a $2.4 billion funding bill for infrastructure and building projects at public facilities and schools around the state.

Central State University in Greene County has announced it’s getting a $1 million gift from an alum, entrepreneur and media figure Josh Smith. On the same day the gift was announced, at least 17 people were laid off from the school.

The university has been in negotiations with labor unions for a while about the need to make cuts, and Central State spokeswoman Gayle Barge says seventeen people got letters on Tuesday—secretaries, facilities workers and mail people, many of them members of the AFSCME union.  

President Obama’s budget proposals have been making waves this week. He and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are pushing to downsize the Army and Air Force and finally end the war in Afghanistan.

But buried deeper in the President's defense budget, are line items for scientific research, says Michael Gessel with the Dayton Development Coalition.

 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has announced some details about the proposed military budget to be released by President Obama next week, and the Air Force—including Wright-Patterson Air Force Base—could see some major changes in the coming years.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is holding meetings all day Thursday to talk about cost-cutting measures. In January, base officials announced they want to attract partnerships with area businesses and governments as a way to save money.