Fed budget impasse would hurt Tinker AFB, officials say
As the U.S. Congress struggled Thursday to resolve yet another budget impasse, Tinker Air Force Base officials have warned that failure to resolve the problem quickly could have major ramifications.
Cuts to flying hours, a civilian hiring freeze and another round of sequestration that would
require spending cuts are examples of consequences that the impasse could have on the base, officials said.
“The effects of not having a budget stretch far and wide across Tinker and ultimately detract from our ability to produce combat air power for America,” Col. Kenyon Bell, 72nd Air Base Wing Commander, said in a news release.
Faced with a Friday end-of-the-day deadline for passing a budget to avoid a partial federal government shutdown, lawmakers have been working on a stopgap measure called a continuing resolution that would extend the deadline and allow government programs to continue to operate at existing spending levels until an agreement is reached.
When the federal government shut down for 16 days in 2013 due to federal lawmakers’ inability to pass a budget, Tinker’s large population of civilian workers were among those furloughed for a combined 6.6 million work days, base officials said.
“When situations like this occur, we lose faith with our civilian Airmen, which has longlasting impacts,” Bell said. “While our workforce is dedicated to the defense of our nation, in the end people still have a requirement to provide for their families and those skilled workers will very possibly look elsewhere to find employment.”
While a continuing resolution to extend the deadline would offer some temporary relief, it is not a good solution, Tinker officials said.
Many of Tinker’s facilities were built in the 1960s and a continuing resolution would negatively affect workers’ ability to properly maintain, improve and modernize critical facilities, they said.
“When old generators and pipes break, it’s not just creature comforts that are impacted,” Bell said.
“Critical processes to restore aircraft are also hampered.”
Uncertainties about how long the government will operate under continuing resolutions and what the spending levels will be when a budget is ultimately approved create inefficiencies, said Eddie Lewis, director of Financial Management Directorate for both the Air Force Sustainment Center and Tinker Air Force Base.
“This uncertainty impacts our ability to efficiently execute our funds on critical national defense requirements,” Lewis said. “For example, multiple contract actions may be required due to receiving our funds incrementally.”