spacetoday.net: White House forms task force for Florida space jobs

Posted: Wed, May 5, 2010, 7:32 AM ET (1132 GMT)
President Obama at KSC (NASA)

President Barack Obama announced this week the formation of a high-level task force charged with developing a plan for mitigating the economic impacts of space policy changes on Florida's Space Coast region. The task force, co-chaired by the NASA administrator and the Secretary of Commerce, also includes several other Cabinet secretaries and other top White House officials. The task force will work to develop recommendations for promoting economic development and job creation in areas affected by existing plans to retire the shuttle and new plans to also cancel Constellation, with a particular emphasis on the region of Florida that includes the Kennedy Space Center. In his speech at KSC last month, President Obama announced his plans to create the task force, which will also make recommendations on how to best spend $40 million in transition assistance funding for the region. The task force's plan is due to the president by August 15.