Bill would restore $2.5 million for effort to keep military bases

Gov. Bob Taft had requested $3.5 million for military base closing consultants, but the Ohio House stripped that money from his budget request. The state Senate restored $2.5 million of it Wednesday.
The state budget still needs to be approved by the Senate, then the differences in the House and Senate proposals need to be ironed out in conference before it is signed by Taft.
But state Sen. Marc Dann of Liberty, D-32nd, said he is optimistic that the $2.5 million will be signed into law.
The Youngstown Air Force Reserve Station in Vienna is among the most vulnerable military bases in the state for closure, and hiring experts to make the case for it to remain open will be beneficial, Dann said.
The station, home to the 910th Airlift Wing and Naval and Marine Corps Reserve units, infuses about $86 million into the Mahoning Valley economy. The airlift has 16 C-130s and employs more than 2,000 workers.
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to reduce about 25 percent of the nation's military bases. The list is supposed to be released in 2005.