SCA Spring Annual Membership Meeting- Notebook Now Available!
The SCA Annual General Membership Meeting Notebook is now available to download HERE. The notebook contains all meeting agendas and supporting material. We ask that meeting attendees please download, print a color copy, and bring all sections of the notebook to the meeting.
The notebook pages are numbered within the Commercial, Government, Regulatory and General Administrative Report sections. A table of contents that includes section pages numbers can be found at the beginning of each section to navigate supporting documents. We recommend that attendees print the notebook double-sided as there is a large amount of content included. If you have trouble accessing, downloading or printing the notebook or any other questions, please contact Paula Reever (questions sent in response to this email will bounce back).
We look forward to seeing you in Washington, D.C. next week!
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BUDGET UPDATE
House and Senate Budgets at Odds
The acting director of the Office of Management and Budget said Wednesday in a letter to Hal Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, that the President will not sign any spending bills until the House Republican leadership moves back to the spending targets agreed to in last summer’s Budget Control Act (BCA). The GOP resolution adopted in the House cuts about $19 billion from the total discretionary spending allowed under the Budget Control Act and then shifts money between the defense and nondefense categories established under the law. The Senate Budget Committee marked up its budget resolution this week, keeping in place the amounts agreed to in the BCA for FY13 spending limits and basing its long-term budget on the 2010 bipartisan Fiscal Commission plan, also known as the Bowles-Simpson plan. Jeffrey Zients, the OMB official, told Rogers that the House budget resolution "breaks our bipartisan agreement" and is not acceptable. "Until the House of Representatives indicates that it will abide by last summer's agreement, the president will not be able to sign any appropriations bills."
A copy of the letter can be read here:
No Unfunded Priorities Lists
In a break with tradition that will have a big effect on defense budgeting, this year members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will not give Congress formal lists of programs that they would like to see funded but that didn’t fit into the president’s budget request. Officially known as Unfunded Priorities Lists — but colloquially called “wish lists” — the documents have effectively been an extension of the Pentagon’s annual spending request for more than a decade. The chiefs’ decisions, which members have learned of just in the last week, are already fueling a debate about whether the defense budget is sufficient. The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Howard P. “Buck” McKeon of California, says the lists provide an important tool for Congress to assess the adverse impact of budget cuts and where additional funds might help the military. The dollar value of the lists has shrunk considerably in recent years, going from scores of billions of dollars in some cases to a few billion. But the chiefs’ decision to terminate them entirely for the first time is a clear sign of tighter fiscal times.
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JONES ACT NEWS
GAO Maps Out Jones Act Study
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced this week that they expect their study on the impact of the Jones Act shipping laws on Puerto Rico to be done by year’s end.
The objective of the study, requested by Rep. Pedro Pierluisi, is to “provide policymakers with a comprehensive, descriptive summary of information on the Puerto Rican and Carribbean Basin trade markets, and how the Jones Act potentially affects these markets.”
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NEWS FROM THE HILL
House Subcommittee Recommends $1 Billion for 2013 Dredging
On Thursday the U.S. House Energy & Water Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), approved its fiscal 2013 funding bill for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including a $1 billion draw from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for maintaining America’s deep-draft navigation channels and harbors. This would be the largest regular annual appropriation for navigation maintenance. The annual revenue collected from the HMT is approximately $1.5 billion and the trust fund is estimated to contain nearly $7 billion by the end of fiscal 2013.
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NAVY LEAGUE HOSTS SEA AIR SPACE- SCA CO-HOSTS EVENT’S CONGRESSIONAL SHIPBUILDING CAUCUS
2012 Sea Air Space Exposition
The 2012 Sea-Air-Space Exposition was held at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort and Convention Center in Washington D.C. this week, concluding April 18. During the three-day event Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard leadership and industry leaders spoke about topics ranging from the current and future naval vessels to the future of naval capabilities. More than 10,000 attendees had the opportunity to browse more than 180 booths from industry leaders and naval commands.
Additionally, SCA Co-Hosted the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus for the event on Wednesday, April 18. The Honorable Sean J. Stackley, Assistant Secretary to the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition addressed the crowd of over 500 people with an update on the 30 year shipbuilding plan and a promise that “demand for affordability will continue.” The Assistant Secretary will also address the SCA next Wednesday during SCA’s Annual meeting.
The 2013 Sea-Air-Space Expo is scheduled to be held at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center April 8th through April 10th.
A link to Expo highlights and materials can be found HERE.