The Professional Services Council and the Aerospace Industries Association sent letters to congressional leaders asking them to authorize emergency funding and reimburse COVID-19 pandemic-related expenses of defense contractors, Defense News reported Wednesday.
The PSC and defense industry executives asked Congress to extend Section 3610 authorities under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act from Sept. 30 to the end of December of this year to help contractors retain highly skilled employees. Section 3610 allows federal contractors to apply for reimbursement for pandemic-related costs.
“Failure to sustain the employees in that workforce will lead to negative impacts on the agencies which they support as well as on the workers themselves, their families, and their employer companies,” David Berteau, president and CEO of PSC and a two-time Wash100 awardee, said in the letter. “Such a failure could also lead to furloughs and layoffs that would further damage an already faltering economy. Extending Section 3610 authorities will help prevent these negative consequences.”
AIA called on congressional leaders to consider the Pentagon’s request for emergency funds as lawmakers work on their next stimulus package.
“Absorbing the magnitude of the Department’s estimated costs without appropriations would threaten recent improvements to readiness, jeopardize critical defense sector jobs which have helped stabilize communities across the country during the pandemic, and further erode the domestic supply base,” the AIA letter states.
