Marshall Institute Meeting on Potential Impact of Sequestration on Space Industrial Base Tomorrow

The Marshall Institure and the Space Enterprise Council will hold another in their “Day without Space” seminar series tomorrow.  This time the topic is the potential impact of sequestration on the space industrial base.

Many aerospace companies and organizations are hammering home the message of what sequestration could do to the aerospace industry and its workforce if it goes into effect on January 2, 2013.  Last year’s Budget Control Act requires sequestration at that point in time if agreement has not been reached on an alternative method of reducing the deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next nine years.  Under sequestration, approximately 8 percent across-the-board budget cuts would be made to just about every government agency categorized as discretionary spending, including the Department of Defense, NASA and NOAA.

In particular, the industry wants Congress to realize that under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN), companies must notify employees of mass layoffs 60 days in advance, a deadline that is fast approaching.   The companies want the issue resolved before then.

Lockheed Martin President Robert Stevens told the House Armed Services Committee last week that his company would have to send out WARN notices to as many as 10,000 workers, but he has no idea what workers would be affected since he has no details on where the cuts would be made and, of course, Congress and the White House might find a way to avoid sequestration entirely before January 2.  

The meeting tomorrow is at 1:00 pm in 2325 Rayburn House Office Building.  Speakers are:

• Greg Keeley, Vice President, Intel & Homeland Policy at TechAmerica
• Leslee Gilbert, Vice President at Van Scoyoc Associates, former House Science Committee Staff Director
• Steven Bucci, Senior Research Fellow, Defense and Homeland Security, at the Heritage Foundation

More information is on the Marshall Institute’s website.