WATERTOWN — The head of Advocate Drum is among six leaders of defense communities who are urging crucial Military Base Retention funds be reinstated in the state budget after ending four years ago.
In a letter to Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul and other state leaders, Advocate Drum Board of Directors Chair Thomas H. Carman and leaders from five other defense communities in New York wrote that the funds “have been noticeably absent” from the state budget.
“The lack of funding severely inhibits the work of defense communities in ensuring coordination between bases and local communities and surviving federal budget cuts and realignment measures,” they wrote.
Since the program’s inception about 20 years ago, the six communities received a total of $3 million to $5 million a year. The last time Military Base Retention was funded was in 2018 when $5 million was appropriated.
Advocate Drum was awarded between $200,000 and $300,000 every other year, Mr. Carman said.
“The military retention funds are very important,” Mr. Carman said. “They were used to sustain Advocate Drum.”
The letters were sent to the governor, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea A. Stewart-Cousins.
Several state senators were copied in on the letters. The letters follow up other lobbying efforts by the group.
In the past, the funds were used to strengthen the capacity of military posts as major contributors to economic and employment opportunities. Funds also helped prevent military installations from being deemed unnecessary by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, known as BRAC.
The letters were signed by officials representing Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station; Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse; Stratton Air National Guard Base near Schenectady; a group that works on behalf of military units in the Capital Region; the Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Development Council; and the Hudson Valley.
The funds were important to the New York economy, Mr. Carman said.
Defense spending in the state in 2020 reached $12.8 billion. Fort Drum generated $1.2 billion for the north country economy.
“The importance of protecting and growing the investments made in our communities cannot be understated,” the community defense leaders wrote.
The funding program began when former state Sen. James W. Wright arranged it, and continued with the support of state Sen. Patricia A. Ritchie, R-Heuvelton.
Noting that she has been a longtime advocate of the funding, Sen. Ritchie said Thursday that she has been championing for funds to be put back into the state budget.
“This investment would help support Fort Drum, the communities surrounding it and organizations that support it, like Advocate Drum,” she said. “As negotiations continue, I will continue to make the case for this funding being part of our state’s spending plan.”
Over the years, Fort Drum has received $6 million in Military Base Retention funds.
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