rtment provided an advisory list of bases to be closed and realigned to an independent commission; this commission held hearings on the individual bases on the list and whatever changes it felt were necessary. It then submitted its list to Congress, which could only reject the entire list by passing a resolution. This process ensured that politics were not part of the final decisions on whether to close particular bases.
The laws also established federal agencies which were designed to assist communities recover from the effects of base closures. Because base closures can have severe economic effects on nearby communities, federal assistance is usually necessary to help the communities make the transition to economies based upon civilian industries. The process established by these agencies is designed to assist communities in creating redevelopment plans which will be successful in redeveloping the site.
The largest set of base closures was that recommended by the 1993 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. One hundred thirty bases were closed and forty-five were realigned. The NTC was recommended for closure by the 1993 Commission. California was the state which had the most bases closed, suffering heavier economic and employment losses than any other state. The effects of these closures come on top of the 1990 recession, from which California has not yet recovered. Southern California in particular relied upon defense-related industries for a large proportion of its employment and economic wealth. The end of the Cold War resulted in a drastic decrease in defense spending by the federal government and defense contractors were forced to lay off thousands of workers in Southern California. These job losses rippled throughout the region, as industries which relied upon defense workers as consumers saw their own profits fall and were themselves forced to lay off workers. In addition, the decrease in defense spending ca...