Transcript ALA Legislative Agenda

ALA Public Policy Agenda
ALA is full partner in protecting benefit
 Educate major public policy makers on importance
of benefit
 Industry has huge stake in commissary viability
 Meetings, June 15th forum—Capitol Hill
 Authorizing and appropriations committees
Challenges
 Deficit Reduction Commission
 DoD Overhead Reductions
 OMB/White House Budget Guidance
 HASC Budget Review
DoD Budget Review and Overhead Reductions
 2012-2017 – One percent real growth
 Need 2-3 percent to maintain force structure, combat
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capability
DBB says 40 % of DoD is overhead
Take out $100 billion in overhead
$8 billion in 2012 ($2B per Service)
$3 B then $4 B then $7 B
Agencies $1 billion
$2 B then $3 B then $7 B
Services keep savings
POM due July 31
“We were country when country wasn’t cool”
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Cost cutting is not new to DeCA
Took out major costs:
1991 Consolidation—hundreds of millions
Commercial distribution--$600 million back to DoD for Stock
Funds
Ongoing cost saving measures
Normal trajectory would have taken it to over $2 billion
Lean and mean
DeCA has constantly been in cost cutting or no growth mode
Other QoL areas realizing 30, 40, and often 100 & 200
percent increases
Talking about health care co-pays: We’ve always had copays—it’s called surcharge
Commissary Benefit—Huge ROI to DoD
 Reduces COLAs
 Non-pay compensation
 Thousands of family members employed by
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commissaries and industry
$5 billion invested by patrons in bricks and mortar and
IT since DeCA created
Underpins DoD’s overseas transportation system
70 percent increase in food stamp redemption
Sunk costs – buying the car but not putting gas in it
Sales imperative—increase share of AD who use benefit
Store directors/regions critical
Surveys show citizens losing faith in institutions
 GSEs such as Postal Service, Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac failing
 DeCA is shining example of a Private Sector/public
sector partnership that works
 Top of the heap in Federal Accountability
 Patron satisfaction at all time highs
Consistent with FLOTUS goals
 Support Military Quality of Life
 Support Health life style
 Support reducing child obesity
 QoL a National Security Council Imperative
Ingrained in the OSD fabric
 Not inextricable without a major cost
 Adapts for force structure (Brigade re-stationing)
 BRAC
 Traffic driver for Exchanges
 Underpins transportation system
 Maintains ties with installations
Commissary system’s Constitution is Title 10
Our Foundation
 Sets out who can shop
 Sets out pricing (cost plus 5)
 Guidance on what can be sold
 This Constitution only modified at high risk,
especially in a high threat
It’s a Wonderful Life
 DeCA as George Bailey
 TBD as Mr. Potter
 What would the world look like if DeCA didn’t exist?
 Thousands of family members out of work
 Hundreds of millions in increased COLAs and military
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pay—more on food stamps
Sale of foreign products overseas—impact U.S.
manufacturing
$5 billion patron surcharge investment wasted
Military forced to make household tradeoffs
Exchange sales drop, MWR dividends decrease
Influencing the Process
 ALA meetings with key decision makers
 Networking with partners
 National Military Family Association
 The Military Coalition
 Armed Forces Marketing Council
 Coalition of Military Distributors
 Trade and Service Media
 ALA Annual Convention
 Support the system. Support the June 15 Caucus
 Davis, Wilson, Ortiz, Forbes, Jones, Public Policy
and Capitol Hill Reports, 3 % withholding.
ALA & DeCA
Protecting the
Benefit