The Ferguson Group Blog

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, The Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments. Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

Senate Panel Approves Sweeping Immigration Reform Bill

On Tuesday, May 21^st, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the Gang of Eight’s immigration reform bill with a vote of 13 to 5.  The legislation, set for full Senate consideration next month, provides sweeping new investments in border security, and program and visa revisions for high-tech and low-skilled workers.  Read More… 

House Panel Approves Spending Cuts, Assumes More to Come

The House Appropriations Committee approved a $967 billion spending cap for fiscal year 2014 spending; an $80 billion cut from current spending.  As agencies struggle with $85 billion in current sequester cuts, this $80 billion cut would be in addition to next year’s installment of $109 billion in automatic cuts.  Read More…

Report:  Grid Vulnerable to Attacks

A new congressional reports says that the American electric grid in vulnerable to foreign cyber attacks, and is calling for stronger standards to protect it.  The report provides information from more than 100 electric utility companies, where more than a dozen of those companies say they face cyber attacks almost daily.  One company reports they are the target of about 10,000 cyber attacks each month.  Read More…

State and Local Technology Shows Feds How to Cut Waste

Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held an educational demonstration where state and local government cases served as prime examples of how you can both cut costs and make sure payments make it to the right places.  The demonstration was also meant to raise support for the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act), which failed to move through Congress last year.  Read More… 

Rail Subcommittee Questions Value of Amtrak’s Long-Haul Routes

As the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee faces the impending expiration of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act in September, the Rail subcommittee is mulling the value of Amtrak’s long-haul routes, which lost a combined $600 million in 2012.  Read More…

Supporters of Medicaid Expansion Take Issue to the Ballot

A year ago, the Supreme Court ruled that states did not have to accept enhanced Medicaid matching rates that were part of the Affordable Care Act. Battles raged in several state legislatures and between state officials and Governors over whether or not to accept the new funding. In all but a few states, supporters of expansion lost. They appear to have paused and regrouped. States including Montana, Arizona, and Ohio have groups organizing to put the issue on their 2014 ballots, doing an end run around legislatures and Governors. In Arizona, the approach is backed by the Speaker of the House. Under the Affordable Care Act, states may opt in for enhanced services and eligibility, at 100% federal cost for the first three years, with the out year cost shares dropping to 90%. Under the normal Medicaid program, the federal share may vary from 50% up to a current high of 75% of program cost. Medicaid programs are federally supported by administered by states. In the strictest sense, states do not have to participate but if they choose to, they must ensure certain standards of care and eligibility set by the federal government.

MAC Makes its Mark at Brownfields Conference

On May 16, TFG and its Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (MAC) hosted 2 events at the US EPA's annual Brownfields Conference in Atlanta, GA.  Speakers at the MAC-sponsored Town Hall on Manufacturing and Community Revitalization and the Roundtable on the MAC's soon-to-be-published "Roadmap for Auto Community Revitalization" included Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, EPA Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus and Senior White House aide Jay Williams.

The MAC was founded in December 2008 as the Mayors Auto Coalition and expanded its mission to include all manufacturing communities in June 2012, which now includes communities as varied as Lansing, MI; Indianapolis, IN; and Beaverton, OR.  For more information on the MAC, visit us at www.manufactutingalliance.us.

America is Your Park

On June 6, Coca-Cola will kick-off its America Is Your Park program, which awards hundreds of thousands of dollars in recreation grants.  Park and recreation agencies will not want to miss out on this opportunity.

Coca-Cola will provide a preview of the program, prior to the official launch, during a 30-minute webinar and Q&A session on Wednesday, May 22 at 12 p.m. ET. The webinar will cover ways you and your community can get involved this year. Visit this site to register for the webinar and then to attend the webinar on Wednesday, simply use the same link, enter your email address and press “log-in."

Oak Ridge, TN Sees Progress on Two Fronts

The City of Oak Ridge was the focus of congressional hearings in the House and Senate on May 16th. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) and Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) presided over a hearing of the House Nuclear Clean Up Caucus featuring representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and a major Department of Energy Contractor (UCOR).  They discussed the status of the clean up efforts related to the World War II nuclear weapons program and high-level energy research and development programs in Oak Ridge.  Much progress has been made because of the Recovery Act.  Additional work remains and the schedule for clean up, remediation, and deindustrialization is being adjusted because of the sequester.  

In the Senate, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee considered and approved S. 507, legislation that would authorize the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a bill sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).  The park will commemorate and celebrate the role that Oak Ridge, TN, Los Alamos, NM, and Hanford WA played in World War II.  Clean up of the nuclear weapons process will expedite the City's work in expanding its industrial and commercial base and further solidify the region as a national center of advanced energy research and production and advanced manufacturing techniques.  The Manhattan Project legislation will support tourism and recreation, attracting visitors from around the world.  Several WWII workers still live in Oak Ridge and enacting this legislation will enable the U.S. Parks Service to incorporate their stories into the work of the park.  

 

Folks are Talking...

And they’re talking about the tax exempt status of municipal bonds.  The past few months have seen well-organized and active opposition to the elimination of the tax exempt status of municipal bonds, but apparently the threat has not been eliminated.  We got a hold off an internal Senate Finance Committee white paper prepared by Committee staff this week that details tax reform options that Finance Committee members may wish to consider as they work towards reforming our nation’s tax system.  Unfortunately the paper includes options to limit, replace, or repeal the current-law exclusion for municipal bond interest.

This means that we must keep up the pressure on Congress, let them know that you are deeply opposed to any limitation on the tax exempt status on municipal bonds, and if your Senator is a Member of the Senate Finance Committee, your outreach is particularly vital.  

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, The Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments. Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

Almost the Same Cost, Spend Differently:  Comparing Farm Bills in House, Senate Committees

Even though both the House and Senate Farm Bill drafts look to spend about $500 billion over a five-year period, there are some major differences on how the money will be allocated.  See how the different bills deal with food stamps, direct payments, crop insurance, price protection and food aid.  Read More…

On Tech Visas, Orrin Hatch Holds Some Cards

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), a major tech industry advocate, has been a supporter of H-1B visas and is being seen as a potential swing vote on the Gang of Eight immigration bill.   With his leverage, Hatch is pushing for his tech-friendly amendments in the bill, and has stated that he will oppose the legislation without his provisions.  Read More…

Senate Votes to Extend Federal Law Overseeing Water Resources Projects

The Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA) has jumped its first major hurtle, sailing through the Senate on Wednesday by a vote of 83-14.  The comprehensive water bill will promote imperative investments in water infrastructure projects in the new earmark-ban era.  This bill is the first water bill to be passed by the Senate since 2007.  Read More…

House Panel Passes $73.3B Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Bill

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs moved its first bill from the subcommittee on May 15^th.  The $73.3 billion appropriations bill looks to provide $9.9 billion for military construction projects and $63.1 billion of discretionary spending to the Department of Veterans Affairs.  Read More…

Has High-Speed Rail Been Derailed?

In 2008, the Administration made high-speed rail a national priority.  However, with the lack of funding and differing opinions amongst Congress, the future of high-speed rail in California and the rest of the United States is slowly becoming an intangible vision.  Read More…

Lower Health Care Costs May Last

Through a recent study, Harvard economists have predicted that the lagging growth of U.S. health care costs could mean significantly less spending on Medicare, translating in $770 billion worth of savings over the next decade.   The economists point to several factors that explain the recent downshift in growth and how this relates to projected estimates of health care costs by the Congressional Budget Office and Medicare and Medicaid Services.  Read More…

Ready, Set, Go…..FY 2014 Appropriations Race is Now Underway

The House of Representatives is the first chamber out of the gate as they begin consideration this week of two out of the twelve annual appropriations bills that will fund the federal government for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014.

The House Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee will mark up its FY 2014 bill today (May 15th) and the Homeland Security Subcommittee will markup its bill on Thursday (May 16th). The House Appropriations Committee has already released drafts of both bills. Highlights include the following:

FY 2014 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Bill 

• The bill provides a total of $38.9 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Homeland Security, a decrease of $617.6 million below the FY 2013 enacted level and a decrease of $34.9 million compared to the President’s request.
• $10.6 billion for Customs and Border Protection, an increase of $35 million above the President’s request.
• $6.2 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, the same amount as Obama requested, $6.2 billion.
• $2.5 billion for first responder grants, $36.4 million above the fiscal year 2013 enacted level and $402 million above the President’s request. This includes $1.5 billion for State and Local grants, $675 million for Assistance to Firefighter Grants, and $350 million for Emergency Management Performance Grants.

FY 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill 

• The bill provides a total of $73.3 billion in discretionary funding, which is $1.4 billion above the enacted level for FY 2013, but nearly $1.4 billion below the President’s request.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will continue to conduct hearings this week, with the goal of drafting individual bills after the week long Memorial Day recess, which is scheduled to begin on May 27th.

Although the appropriations process is underway in both Chambers, we expect the process will highlight the wide gap of $91 billion between the budgets passed individually by the House and Senate for FY 2014. The House plans to adhere to their $967 billion spending cap, which reflects the sequester cuts, while the Senate will use $1.058 trillion as a cap and ignore the sequestration cuts.

At this present time, there is no indication the House and Senate will come together on a compromise budget, so each body will produce different spending bills based on these spending limits, so brace yourself for another potentially drawn out appropriations process this year.

FEMA Wants to Help Integrate Hazard Mitigation into Your Community’s Plans

 

FEMA is not only gearing up for the start of hurricane season at the end of this month, but has also been busy updating and releasing a number of guidance documents for local governments. One that my local government friends might find most helpful is one entitled Integrating Hazard Mitigation Into Local Planning.

 

Per FEMA, this is “a publication that highlights case studies and tools for community officials providing practical guidance on how to incorporate risk reduction strategies into existing local plans, policies, codes, and programs that guide community development or redevelopment patterns. It includes recommended steps and tools to assist with local integration efforts, along with ideas for overcoming possible impediments, and presents a series of case studies to demonstrate successful integration in practice. The document also includes several pull-out fact sheets to provide succinct guidance on specific integration topics.  This resource is intended for those who are engaged in any type of local planning, but primarily community planners and emergency managers who are involved with hazard mitigation planning and implementation. This guide was produced with extensive outreach to relevant subject matter experts and the involvement of stakeholder representatives from local communities, State and Federal agencies, academic institutions, private sector companies, and non-profit organizations.”

 

To sign up to receive FEMA alerts and publications via e-mail, please follow this link.

FEMA Wants to Help Integrate Hazard Mitigation into Your Community’s Plans

 

FEMA is not only gearing up for the start of hurricane season at the end of this month, but has also been busy updating and releasing a number of guidance documents for local governments. One that my local government friends might find most helpful is one entitled Integrating Hazard Mitigation Into Local Planning.

 

Per FEMA, this is “a publication that highlights case studies and tools for community officials providing practical guidance on how to incorporate risk reduction strategies into existing local plans, policies, codes, and programs that guide community development or redevelopment patterns. It includes recommended steps and tools to assist with local integration efforts, along with ideas for overcoming possible impediments, and presents a series of case studies to demonstrate successful integration in practice. The document also includes several pull-out fact sheets to provide succinct guidance on specific integration topics.  This resource is intended for those who are engaged in any type of local planning, but primarily community planners and emergency managers who are involved with hazard mitigation planning and implementation. This guide was produced with extensive outreach to relevant subject matter experts and the involvement of stakeholder representatives from local communities, State and Federal agencies, academic institutions, private sector companies, and non-profit organizations.”

 

To sign up to receive FEMA alerts and publications via e-mail, please follow this link.