Commentary: Santa Fe--The New Mexico State Senate voted unanimously to confirm the reappointment of Senator Bill Burt (R-Alamogordo) to the Military Base Planning Commission. His colleagues on the Senate Floor extolled the virtues of Senator Burt and the work he does on the Military Base Planning Commission as they confirmed his appointment.
Senators said Burt is the “right man for the right job” to help enhance the missions at the military bases located in the state and to protect New Mexico’s military bases from closing.
Senator Burt says the commission has been every effective in advocating for the military bases located in New Mexico and helping to enhance the missions of the bases in the state. He said the work is critical for the protection of our nation and important economically to the state. He said New Mexico military bases and the Department of Defense has an over $9 billion dollar impact to the state.
(see youtube video for additional quotes.) Senator Burt has been a member of the commission since its inception in 2003.
In addition to enhancing missions, the commission prepares a plan to keep the military bases open for the next round of BRAC which might be in 2019 (BRAC stands for Base Realignment and Closure.) He said the commission meets on a quarterly bases in the communities where the bases are located. Those bases include: Kirtland AFB, Cannon AFB, White Sands Missile Range & Holloman AFB.
Two years ago, Senator Burt sponsored a bill that became law to make the Military Base Planning Commission more efficient and effective. The new law reduced membership from 17 to 12 members and requires it to be more “community based.” It now requires that members are from counties adjoining the bases, as well as at-large members from other areas of the state. Members of the committee include: The Lt. Governor, nine people from communities where the bases are located and who work these issues on a day- to- day basis and two at-large members. The commissioners are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.