Posted April 14, 2009
Friends - as you know, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently announced its time frame and process for requesting Member High Priority Projects (HPP) in the SAFETEA-LU reauthorization legislation.
If the requesting entity received funds in SAFETEA-LU or previous appropriations, please account for that funding (spent/not spent) in a separate document. This is an internal office requirement.
Like the appropriations process, all requests must be posted on the official website. Please note that as we did for the appropriations requests, we will comply with this requirement and in addition, post the original request letter from the entity as a pdf along with the required information.
The committee has indicated the online form for offices to submit HPPs will be available from April 27 - May 8. That means we have a very short window of time to gather all the necessary information for project submission. Please indicate if you intend to submit a project for consideration by responding to this email by COB, Thursday, April 9. All forms and supporting documentation will be required by COB, Friday, April 24. Please submit the form in a Word document, and provide all required letters on letterhead in pdf form. If there is a reason why you can not meet these deadlines, please let me know immediately.
Please do not hesitate to call/email should you have any questions or concerns. Thank you in advance and I look forward to working with you throughout the reauthorization process.
Posted
President Obama has continued to stress the importance of spending stimulus money not just quickly but well.
In a memo released last week , the president said it is imperative to spend the money on worthy projects.
“‘We must not allow Recovery Act funds to be distributed on the basis of factors other than the merits of proposed projects or in response to improper influence or pressure. We must also empower executive department and agency officials to exercise their available discretion and judgment to help ensure that Recovery Act funds are expended for projects that further the job creation, economic recovery, and other purposes of Recovery Act and are not used for imprudent projects.’”
“‘Decisions about how Recovery Act dollars are spent will be based on the merits,’” Obama told the National Conference of State Legislatures. Initiatives that maximize job creation, make health care affordable, rebuild crumbling roads and bridges, or provide other ‘enduring benefits’ to taxpayers must take priority, he said.”
Posted
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) and the White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) are reporting a 33 percent increase in the number of Internet crimes reported to the IC3 in 2008 over 2007. The number of reported Internet crimes actually declined between 2006 and 2007. Despite that decline, the value of reported crimes grew more in 2007 than in 2008. According to the report, the total dollar amount of reported internet fraud increased by 40 percent from 2006 to 2007, while total reported losses grew by less than 11 percent between 2007 and 2008. Between 2005 and 2006 the total number of complaints received by the IC3 actually declined by 24,000, while the total monetary value of the loss grew by less than 8 percent, the slowest growth since 2004.
E-mail is the most common method scammers use to contact victims while contact made through Web pages is second, according to the report. The majority of reported fraud concerned non-delivery of goods and auction fraud. Credit/debit card fraud constituted 9 percent of reports while 2 percent of complaints concerned identity theft.
Geographic analysis of where scams originated and their victims showed two-thirds of attacks originated and affected victims in the United States with California, New York, Florida and Texas being the top four states for the incidence of both attackers and victims.
Posted
The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs announced a list of more than 40 open solicitations for grants. The grants include funding for programs aimed at Internet crimes against children, rural law enforcement, corrections, courts, forensics and more.
Virginia Adds Competitive Grants Resources Info
Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine today announced the addition of competitive grants resources information to the commonwealth’s stimulus site, and users may now sign up for economic recovery e-mail updates. According to a release from the Governor’s Office, Virginia will receive about $4.8 billion through the ARRA, but only a limited amount of that money will be available for projects chosen by the state. However, additional federal stimulus funding is available through the ARRA competitive grant process.
Entities that submitted proposals to the original stimulus are encouraged to stay current on the ARRA federal grants opportunities and apply for any appropriate grants as they become available. The Governor’s Office recommended that those interested in researching or applying for a competitive grant register with the federal government as soon as possible to avoid delays in processing applications. More information on the federal grant application process is available through Grants.gov.
Posted
The U.S. Treasury Department/Internal Revenue Service issued guidance on April 3, on several new types of bonds created under the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Guidance (Notice 2009-26) is provided on the Build America Bonds program, which will assist state and local governments in lowering their borrowing costs on capital improvement projects. Build America Bonds are taxable and state and local governments are given the option of receiving a direct federal payment subsidy equal to 35 percent of the borrowing costs on these bonds. According to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, “Build America Bonds is an innovative approach to augment the ailing tax-exempt bond market and shows the Administration’s commitment to economic recovery for Main Street.”
Guidance (Notice 2009- 35 and Notice 2009-30) is also provided on Qualified School Construction Bonds and Qualified Zone Academy Bonds. These tax credit bond programs allow state and local governments to finance authorized public school construction projects and other eligible costs for public schools with interest-free borrowing. For Qualified School Construction Bonds, the guidance provides for the division of $11 in billion national bond volume authorizations for 2009 among the states and the 100 largest local school districts based on federal school funding. For the Qualified Zone Academy Bonds, the guidance provides for the division of the $1.4 billion in national bond volume authorizations for 2008 and 2009 among the states based on poverty levels.
Posted April 1, 2009
EPA recently announced Requests for Applications (RFAs) for the competitive portion of the $300 million in funding from the American Recovery and REinvestment of 2009 through the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA).
This funding will be available through three separate funding assistance programs:
1. National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program ($156 million)
2. SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance Program ($30 million)
3. National Emerging Technology Program ($20 million)
The National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance and the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance RFAs will be open for 40 days and will close on April 28, 2009. The National Emerging Technology RFA will be open for 47 days and will close on May 5, 2009.
Of particular use to local governments, the $156 million in competitive grants slated for distribution through the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program can be used in municipal diesel vehicle fleets, such as waste haulers and school buses for :
- Exhaust controls
- Engine upgrades
- Cleaner fuel use
- Idle reduction technologies
- Engine re-powers
- Vehicle or equipment replacement
For more information concerning Diesel Emissions Reduction Grants, as well as other Economic Recovery opportunities, please contact us.
Please note, statements and opinions expressed are solely those of their respective authors and may not represent the views of The National Alliance for Healthy Communities or its employees thereof. The National Alliance for Healthy Communities is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information.
Posted
Part of nearly $8 billion in Recovery Act funding for energy efficiency efforts nationwide that will create 100,000 jobs and cut energy bills for families.
Washington DC — Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Chu today announced California will receive $411,904,061 in weatherization and energy efficiency funding - including $185,811,061 for the Weatherization Assistance Program and $226,093,000 for the State Energy Program. This is part of a nationwide investment announced today of nearly $8 billion under the President’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - an investment that will put approximately 87,000 Americans to work. “This energy efficiency funding for states is an important investment in making America more energy independent, creating a cleaner economy and creating more jobs for the 21st century that can’t be outsourced,” said Vice President Biden.
The funding will support weatherization of homes, including adding more insulation, sealing leaks and modernizing heating and air conditioning equipment, which will pay for itself many times over.
“Even as we sieze the enormous potential of clean energy sources like wind and solar, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes a major investment in energy efficiency, which is the most cost effective route to energy independence,” Chu said.
The Weatherization Assistance Program will allow an average investment of up to $6,500 per home in energy efficiency upgrades and will be available for families making about $44,000 a year for a family of four.
The State Energy Program funding will be available for rebates to consumers for home energy audits or other energy saving improvements; development of renewable energy projects for clean electricity generation and alternative fuels; promotion of Energy Star products; efficiency upgrades for state and local government buildings; and other innovative state efforts to help save families money on their energy bills.
The DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program allows low-income families to reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient, reducing heating bills by an average of 32% and overall energy bills by hundreds of dollars per year.
The State Energy Program (SEP) provides grants to states and directs funding to state energy offices from technology programs in the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. States use grants to address their energy priorities and program funding to adopt emerging renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
States often combine many sources of funding for their projects, including DOE and private industry. The State Energy Program plays a role when:
the state energy office is involved in the project,
the State Energy Program provides funding, or
the state uses petroleum violation escrow funds for part of the project and it is in the state’s SEP plan.
Please note, statements and opinions expressed are solely those of their respective authors and may not represent the views of The National Alliance for Healthy Communities or its employees thereof. The National Alliance for Healthy Communities is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information.
Posted
Today the Department of Justice announced that it is now accepting applications for $1 billion in Recovery Act Funds for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program. Funds awarded to law enforcement agencies by the COPS Office provide 100 percent of entry-level salary and benefits for each officer for three years. All jurisdictions that receive funding must plan to retain COPS-funded officer positions for at least one year after the grant ends.
The COPS Office is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (H.R.1) includes $4 billion in Department of Justice grant funding to enhance state, local, and tribal law enforcement efforts, including the hiring of new police officers, to combat violence against women, and to fight internet crimes against children. Similar to the JAG awards, COPS Recovery Act funds can also be used to hire new officers or rehire recently laid off officers, fill unfunded vacancies and help prevent scheduled layoffs within law enforcement agencies.
Please note, statements and opinions expressed are solely those of their respective authors and may not represent the views of The National Alliance for Healthy Communities or its employees thereof. The National Alliance for Healthy Communities is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information.
Posted
Local government and others can’t get the necessary permits from the South Coast Air Quality Management District due to a November court decision that many are just learning about.
This could mean that the Whittier police station or Los Angeles County fire station on the border of La Mirada and Habra - both under construction - can’t open.
Other types of new businesses affected are auto body shops, service stations, printers, and even car dealerships.
The fight stems over how new pollution-generating facilities are allowed in Southern California. Before any such plant can be opened, emission credits to offset the anticipated pollution from the new building or facility are needed.
It is believed that the whole point of the offset process is to ensure no net increase in pollution levels and air quality is upheld across the region. The AQMD issued these permits free for facilities that produced less than four tons per year of pollutants.
However, several years ago citing the energy crisis, AQMD decided it also wanted to make them available for power plants. Some think it would be prudent under a temporary basis to allow power plants access - in this case to purchase emission credits at $92,000 per pound.
Four environmental groups sued saying these credits were going to go to polluters at too low a cost. They also felt that the district sold these scarce credits to facilities that earned millions of dollars.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann I. Jones in November 2008 struck down two AQMD rules, one allowing the issuance of credits to power plants and another its credit-tracking system. Jones ruled that AQMD hadn’t done an adequate job of environmental analysis.
AQMD plans to readopt its rule on the tracking system minus the power plant provision. That could take nine to 12 months to do and would allow them to be issued to the same low-polluter facilities.
The word is just now getting out to local cities and others. Some still aren’t even aware of it.
Please note, statements and opinions expressed are solely those of their respective authors and may not represent the views of The National Alliance for Healthy Communities or its employees thereof. The National Alliance for Healthy Communities is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information.
Posted
Having just “closed” an estimated $42 billion budget deficit in February through a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes, the State of California now faces an additional $8 billion deficit for fiscal year 2009-10, as projected by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Californians should be disturbed by the magnitude of the ongoing problem. Losing so much revenue in such a short time frame illustrates just how detrimental state government has been to California’s economic prosperity. State government was living a whopping 33% above its means.
The $50 billion deficit spans two fiscal years (2008-09 and 2009-10), translating to an average shortfall of about $25 billion a year. With annual general fund expenditures now hovering around $100 billion, the deficit suggests that California’s budget should be sized at a more reasonable level of $75 billion a year.
Consider the following: Most economists now agree that the United States as a whole entered the current recession over a year ago, back in December of 2007. But, interestingly, not all states experienced this same fate. Six states actually managed to avoid slipping into the recession as late as January 2009. This analysis suggests that California’s recession began in March 2007.
California is a high tax state.
Please note, statements and opinions expressed are solely those of their respective authors and may not represent the views of The National Alliance for Healthy Communities or its employees thereof. The National Alliance for Healthy Communities is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information.
Posted
The political happenings in Los Angeles when the President came to town and was greeted by the governor at a town hall meeting.
President Obama spoke positively about the initiatives supported by Governor Schwarzenegger in California’s May special election. The main initiative creates a spending limit. So the President is praising the idea of a spending limit at the time he is offering record setting trillion dollar budgets and enormous spending packages through his stimulus program.
At the same time, Governor Schwarzenegger heaped warm praise on the President and his handling of the economy. Part of the president’s economic package includes tax cuts for many Americans. Governor Schwarzenegger’s recently passed budget included tax increases for all Californians.
One thing that was figured out is how to easily pass a tax increase by a two-thirds vote and have the public agree. Get the legislators angry at one group of people and make sure the voters are just as angry at those same people. The tax on the AIG executives who received bonuses passed by an overwhelming 328 to 93 vote.
So who are the people angry enough at in California that the Legislators could get the two-thirds vote to tax and get no protest? Well, there’s the Legislators themselves. Legislators got only about 20-percent approval ratings in recent polls. Imagine the Legislators passing a tax increase and getting no protests.
Please note, statements and opinions expressed are solely those of their respective authors and may not represent the views of The National Alliance for Healthy Communities or its employees thereof. The National Alliance for Healthy Communities is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information.
