Subject: Good news, kinda
From: "Liz.Schrayer" <[email-masked]>
To: "Liz.Schrayer" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2016 15:10:33 +0000

[http://www.usglc.org/downloads/2015/09/usglc-logo.jpg]

Dear USGLC Board Members,

Phew, we dodged a big one yesterday, but largely because my colleagues and many of you were awesome. Here is the inside scoop that I am not sharing with the press.

Two weeks ago, a few of us met with the top Senate Appropriations staff at what we thought was a pro-forma meeting. After all, the Senate always "saves" us from the draconian cuts in the House. I was flabbergasted to hear that we should anticipate anywhere between a $3-4 billion cut to base funding in SFOPs. This would have been devastating given the turmoil in the world.

We went into major mobilization:

  *   Organized a Former Senators Letter by nearly 20 Senators on our Advisory Councils - including former Majority Leaders Bill First and Tom Daschle - who weighed-in with their old colleagues.
  *   Placed an op-ed in POLITICO by USGLC's military leaders Admiral Stavridis and General Zinni that saw more views and clicks on social media than any prior USGLC article. Senator Leahy even put the op-ed in the Congressional Record.
  *   USGLC State Leaders mobilized with immediate feedback, like the personal letter Senator John McCain sent to the Mayor of Tucson.
  *   Board and key members made calls, organizations rallied, and Senator Graham held a hearing on Tuesday with Bono and General Jim Jones.

The results speak for themselves - a 1% cut - approximately $600 million less than current levels. Clearly a cut - but somewhere between $2.4 and $3.4 billion less than we expected two weeks ago.

We're not celebrating - this still isn't ok - it's a reduction that is not keeping pace with the needs. But I am very proud of my colleagues - a well-executed effort led by Lindsay Plack, our Government Relations Director. I thank every one of you who made calls. It made a difference. Senators like Rubio, Graham, Blunt, Coons, Tillis, Gardner, Shaheen and others were willing to weigh in because of all the work we have been doing over the years and over the last few weeks.

Watch for our Budget Update with all the specific details. More to discuss soon at our May Board meeting - especially the long-term implications, both good and challenging.

Last item to share - Andrew Tisch and I met with General David Petraeus this week and he not only agreed to join our National Security Advisory Council, but also to keynote our State Leaders Summit on June 13 at 10am, so save the date!

Best,
Liz

Liz Schrayer, USGL