News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

House Version Of Bill Suggests C-130s Could Stay Home

Governor Rick Perry is shown at Fort Worth's C-130 hangars in April.
Courtesy of Governor Rick Perry
/
flickr
Governor Rick Perry is shown at Fort Worth's C-130 hangars in April.

Texas' fight to keep eight Air National Guard C-130 airplanes in Fort Worth may be paying off.   In Congress, the House version of the defense spending bill strips out a provision that would transfer the planes to a base in Montana in 2014.

Governor Rick Perry, along with other Gulf Coast governors, says moving the planes would pose a safety risk because they can be used to transport people out of natural disasters, like hurricanes.

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price believes it’s also an economic issue.

"They’ve been here a long time, and they have families here, they have crews here," Price said. "We have support crews here with them, which is obviously additional spending and jobs for our local economy."

The Air Force has proposed transferring the C-130 plans as part of a major reorganization designed to reduce military spending.