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!

Lawmakers Advancing Flood Insurance Bill

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have approved a measure to delay flood insurance changes for hundreds of thousands of homeowners as part of the Homeland Security appropriations bill.  This reprieve relieves homeowners in major flood areas from paying new flood insurance premiums that are significantly higher than their current premiums.  Some homeowners may face multifold premium increases once these Congressional delays expire.  Read More…

Industry Perspective:  State Government Leads President’s E-Government Charge

The Administration has recently outlined its agenda to make the federal government more innovative and efficient.  Many of the improvements President Obama is urging federal agencies to adopt have already been created and perfected by the true government innovators: state governments.  Read More…

 Oregon could be First State with Miles-Traveled Fee

Vehicles Miles Traveled (VMT) is seen by many as the future alternative to the gas tax for transportation infrastructure funding.  Now, Oregon is one signature away from being the first state to charge some drivers based on how many miles they drive, as opposed to how many gallons of gas they buy.  Read More…

Ending Tax Breaks on Municipal Bonds Shifts Burden to the Rest of Us

If it becomes a reality, the Administration’s proposal to put a 28% tax cap on municipal bond interest will drastically alter the incentives for private investors to invest in municipal bonds.        As a result:  investors do not invest, borrowing costs for state and local governments increase, public projects do not get funded, and critical infrastructure throughout the nation falls by the wayside.  Read More…   

Dem Source:  Energy Efficiency Bill Hitting Senate Floor This Month

Rumor has it that the Senate will take on the massive energy efficiency bill before Congress takes off for the August recess.  The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2013 (the first major piece of energy legislation to be considered since 2007) looks to authorize initiatives that encourage energy conservation from major federal buildings to privately owned homes.  Read More…

Mapping the Sequester

The progressive think-thank Center for American Progress (CAP) released a new "Mapping the Sequester" project that shows how selected areas around the U.S. have been impacted by the sequester.  Information is available on CAP’s website by state or by city.  They also share subject matter and area experts who may be contact for more detailed information on issues including the economy, education, women's rights, poverty.  The sequester, all caused by the Budget Control Act of 2011, reduced spending levels in a dramatic way to address the debt crisis.  It was part of an agreement reached two summers ago between Congress and the White House around raising the debt ceiling.  This year, cuts have forced more than 650,000 workers in the defense industry to suffer reductions, layoffs, and reductions in force (RIFs).  Head Start programs,meal programs for senior, and cancer research initiatives are all being scaled back due to budget cuts.  “Mapping the Sequester” provides a visual representation on where those cutbacks hit hardest.  It demonstrates that the sequester has had a real and negative impact on already vulnerable communities. 

The Affordable Care Act Outreach Campaign

The Administration has kicked off a health care reform outreach campaign to educate the uninsured and prepare them to enroll in Medicaid and exchange health plans. 

Last week, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced $150 million in grant awards to 1,159 health centers across the nation to enroll uninsured Americans in new health coverage options made available by the Affordable Care Act.  These grant funds will allow consumers to get help understanding their coverage options through the new Health Insurance Marketplace, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program; determine their eligibility and what financial help they can get; and enroll in new affordable health coverage options.

The goal of the Administration is to make applying for health coverage as easy as possible. There will be a new, consumer-focused website at www.healthcare.gov which is also available in Spanish at www.CuidadoDeSalud.gov; along with a 24-hour-a-day consumer call center that offers services in 150 languages to help Americans understand their coverage options and select the plan that best suits their needs when open enrollment in the new Health Insurance Marketplace begins Oct. 1, 2013.

DHS Top Job Demands Local Law Enforcement Knowledge

If you watched the Sunday morning “Inside the Beltway”  television programs this week, no doubt you heard some discussion of potential successors to Secretary Janet Napolitano, who is leaving the Department of Homeland Security to head up the California University system.

His picks  included retired Coast Guard commandant Thad Allen; New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly; and William Bratton, who has led police departments in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. Two of the three come from a local law enforcement and homeland security background, which could be an asset as federal mandates and decreasing funding to key FEMA state and municipal government funding programs are further squeezing local agencies.

These are some good choices and we will no doubt hear many more. My vote is for a veteran of local law enforcement who has the on the ground knowledge that effective DHS leadership requires.

Urban Transit: All Aboard for Energy Savings

A new report released by the International Energy Agency asserts that urban areas around the world could save as much as $70 trillion by 2050 by improving the energy efficiency of urban transport systems.  That’s far more than bus fare!

The report, "A Tale of Renewed Cities," finds that as urban populations increase (and today more than half the world’s population lives in cities), the need for efficient transport solutions will become more acute. The report cites several model communities, including Belgrade, Serbia  which has developed a master plan to 2021 and has already modernized its public transportation system with more than 30 new efficient trams and 400 high-capacity compressed natural gas buses.

By 2050, only 37 years from now, the share of global inhabitants living in cities is expected to climb to 70 percent. That’s not long from an urban transportation planner’s standpoint and there is much to be done.

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! - See more at: http://thefergusongroup.typepad.com/grants/2013/07/wednesday-news-roundup.html#sthash.TSw8Ue3i.dpuf

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! - See more at: http://thefergusongroup.typepad.com/grants/2013/07/wednesday-news-roundup.html#sthash.TSw8Ue3i.dpuf

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!

Some State Health Exchanges Won’t be Finished by Deadline

When the Obamacare health insurance marketplaces open October 1^st, some state-based marketplaces warn they will not be ready until several weeks after the exchanges launch.  Although this delay is not seen as a major problem, some say it is a reminder of how quickly the insurance marketplace system is being implemented.  Read More…

Make Way for State and Local Cyber-Ranges

The federal government has been interested in creating an unclassified, nationwide network of cyberexercise facilities that would allow IT professionals to practice for cyberattacks in multi-regional/stakeholder efforts.  If funding efforts are realized, Michigan will become the first hub of the network by October 1^st of this year.  Read More…

Obama Takes Stand in Culture Wars with High Awards for Arts, Humanities

The 24 honorees the Obama Administration has selected to receive this year’s National Humanities Medals and National Medals of Art continue to show a turn away from choosing celebrities and more towards writers and academics known for their strong critiques of American government and policy.  Although the awards “aren’t about politics,” the awardees chosen always seem to represent a Presidents administration and its view on social and political culture.  Read More…

Changing Tax Exemption for Municipal Bonds Faces Stiff Opposition

Although changing the tax exempt status for municipal bonds has the backing of many congressional lawmakers and the Obama Administration, the change is still facing strong opposition from state and local governments.  The opposition force says the reduction or elimination of the tax exemption would raise the costs for municipalities to fund infrastructure projects, causing several negative impacts on localities throughout the nation.  Read More…

Immigration Overhaul Could Boost U.S. States’ Revenue:  Report

A new study released by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that granting citizenship to 11 million illegal immigrants could add $2 billion to the revenues collected by state and local governments currently home to undocumented immigrants.  Read More…

It's Complicated...

..so much so that the Obama Administration has announced that it will delay the deadline for employers to offer basic health care coverage for their employees by a year, pushing it back to 2015.  The Affordable Care Act (ACA) places penalties of up to $3,000 per worker on businesses with 50 or more employees that fail to offer minimal health care coverage.  Small businesses (those with 50 or fewer employees) will continue to be exempt from the penalties.  

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy Mark Mazur wrote, “We have heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively.”  Starting last year, several business trade groups became increasingly vocal in their concerns that the insurance mandate would compromise economic growth.  They complained of difficulties in navigating proposed reporting requirements and understanding and adapting to new rules for counting full-time and part-time employees.  ACA’s reporting requirements for businesses alone are extensive and include any period in which any employee and any of his/her dependents were covered by health insurance.  

The final language specifying the terms of the delay is expected by July 15.

It’s About time – Reducing the Lifespan of the Infrastructure Project Permitting Process

Is there a transportation planner out there who hasn’t at one time or another been frustrated by the time it takes to approve and build a road or bridge project?  Large or small, the time involved in bringing these projects to fruition can sometimes take up a good chunk of one’s career!  Well, the time is now to weigh in with your federal lawmakers on legislative fixes because several lawmakers have already stepped forward with potential solutions.

Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) recently announced her soon-to-be-introduced legislation that would lessen the time it takes to get through the permitting process needed in order to build large-scale infrastructure projects.

On the other side of the Capitol, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) announced that streamlining the time it takes to receive permitting approval will be a top issue when his committee begins working on a new bill to reauthorize the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (commonly known as MAP-21), which expires after fiscal 2014.  He intends to build on the streamlining process legislators began while crafting MAP-21, during which they expanded the list of categorical exclusions and established stricter penalties for agencies that do not meet review deadlines.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ranking member, Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), has also weighed in on the infrastructure and streamlining front by introducing legislation that would authorize $5.5 billion to replace and repair structurally deficient bridges.  While he has been somewhat critical of the emphasis lawmakers put on streamlining in MAP-21, his criticism is more focused on the need to direct more attention and federal funding toward the bridge repair and maintenance program, than it is critical of streamlining in and of itself.   

With less than 2 years until MAP-21 expires, don’t waste time in communicating examples of your infrastructure project streamlining needs to your TFG project manager, who can help you package your experience and ideas for your congressional members to share with the Congress.   

What Can Public Agencies Learn from the Tale of the Phantom Planter?

In a story that is so outlandish that it made it onto the Drudge Report, a Washington Post columnist updated us this weekend on WMATA’s (our DC transit agency) decision to rip out thousands of flowers surrounding DC’s Dupont Circle Metro station that were planted by good neighbor and local garden artist Henry Gorden.  Rather than protect this civic amenity by allowing Mr. Docter to water the plants, or by watering the plants themselves, WMATA crews were dispatched last week to rip out the flowers, a move that has disappointed commuters and civic leaders alike. 

While most public agencies inject common sense into their decision making processes, this time is seems that WMATA has elevated regulations and precedent above the common good and common sense.  How would you have handled this in your own community? Are there people in your community who have stepped up to beautify public spaces and how have you encouraged or recognized their work?

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!

U.S. to Back Loans for Emissions-Cutting Technology

The Department of Energy and the Obama Administration are pushing to gain support for the creation of pollution-cutting fossil fuel technologies through a loan-guarantee program as part of President Obama’s second-term climate plan.  The DOE and the Administration are hoping this loan initiative will further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce innovative ways to create cleaner energy.  Read More…

Boehner Pressed on Farm Bill Split 

House Speaker John Boehner is feeling the pressure from a broad coalition of commodity, wildlife, forest and renewable energy groups to not split the nutrition title from the upcoming farm bill.  No final decision has been made, but concerns have grown as Republican leadership, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor, have promoted the idea of splitting the bill.  Read More…

New App Helps Emergency Volunteers Collaborate Better

A new public safety mobile app, CERTify, is helping community emergency response coordinators stay connected with their volunteer teams and other public safety groups.  The app could help improve communication between volunteers, community teams and first responders in the event of a disaster.  Read More…

How Some Cities are Creating Permanent Pipelines of Innovation

How do cities create a long-term innovation pipeline with scarce resources to create an atmosphere ripe for progress?  Researchers from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation have organized three main strategies localities can use to advance their innovation future.  Read More…

A Big Step:  Water Resources Measure Approved, Confronts U.S. Water Infrastructure Challenge

Since the Senate approved the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) in May, support has been gaining for its passage alongside the Water Resources Development Act.  Supporters say that WIFIA would benefit “everyone who receives a water bill,” and would repair critical water infrastructure at lower costs to municipalities throughout the nation.  Read More…

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! - See more at: http://thefergusongroup.typepad.com/grants/2013/06/wednesday-news-roundup-1.html#sthash.lqoA3EH0.dpuf

 

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!

- See more at: http://thefergusongroup.typepad.com/grants/2013/06/wednesday-news-roundup-2.html#sthash.fHWGfrwW.dpuf