Connecticut Defense Industry Watching For Potential Federal Cuts

With some $12.7 billion at stake, and an employee workforce of tens of thousands in Connecticut, defense contractors are warily awaiting Congress' action on the looming fiscal crisis. 

Industry leaders are worried about how negotiations to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" might affect defense spending in Connecticut, according to a report in the Hartford Courant.

Any changes in Connecticut defense funding is significant given the size of the industry here, experts say.

The possibility of cuts is particarly scary in Groton, as two of the town's three largest employers - Submarine Base New London and Electric Boat - are defense related.

Groton’s sub base was targeted for partial closure in 1993 and total closure in 2005, but congressional leaders and the local community organized and prevented the cuts.

The Pentagon also announced last winter that BRAC might be a possiblity in 2013, but local legislators rallied against the measure, calling it "dead on arrival." 

Cuts to the industry, however, are included in the Budget Control Act of 2011, an agreement federal lawmakers forged to limit deficit spending. The act, and the cuts in it, will go into effect by year's end unless Congress reaches a new agreement.

At risk is a defense industry workforce in Connecticuct of 36,000 to 50,000 and about $860 million in defense-related taxes the state collects annually, the Courant reports.