Services, IT support cut to save millions in Coast Guard's 2012 budget
Admiral Papp testifies about cuts in professional services, IT help desk contracts
The Coast Guard expects to save $22 million in fiscal 2012 by reducing professional services contracts and computer help desk contracts, Admiral Robert J. Papp, commandant of the Coast Guard, told a House subcommittee today.
Professional services contracts would be decreased by $15 million, while workstation help desk support would be consolidated into two regional centers, resulting in savings of $7 million and a loss of 56 contracting positions, Papp told the House Transportation Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
The budget proposal also includes $61 million in savings to be generated through management efficiencies, including a reduction in advice and assistance contracts. The amount was unspecified.
At the same time, the Coast Guard is asking for $110 million for pay and benefits for its acquisition workforce, including support for training under the government-wide Acquisition Workforce Initiative, Papp said.
Overall, the president is requesting $10 billion for the Coast Guard in fiscal 2012, an increase of 1.8 percent.
“Through tough decisions and resource trade-offs, the Coast Guard’s fiscal 2012 budget request leverages savings generated through management efficiencies and offsets, and allocates funding toward higher-order needs to support front-line operations,” Papp said in his testimony.
The proposed budget includes $642 million for surface assets including the fifth National Security Cutter and $290 million for air assets.
It includes $166 million for other assets, including command and control systems, which includes all communications, computers and command and control systems; deployment of a prototype logistics information management system; Rescue 21 deployments at Lake Michigan, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Hawaii and replacement of equipment at Western Rivers; and information-sharing systems for three inter-agency operations centers.
Other budget items include $6 million for a distress-alerting satellite system and $9 million for network security.
About the Author
Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week.