The Ferguson Group Blog

Infrastructure Funding: Keep Their Feet to the Fire

The current transportation authorization expires in September 2014, at which point the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for road and transit programs, will face a shortfall.

Senator Barbara Boxer , who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee remains hopeful that that widespread acknowledgement of the infrastructure investment crisis will lead to consensus on a long-term funding measure for transportation projects. "I just believe that we can do this. We can set aside some of our deep differences and we can do this because business, labor, the public wants this. They see what's happening," said Boxer this week.

There are no easy answers when it comes to finding the resources to fund infrastructure in our Country, but Congress may be forced to action if communities and industry hold their elected officials’ feet to the fire, so keep up the pressure!

Those Streets are Sooooo Last Century…

If your residents are saying that about streets in your community, it is time for you to check out the National Association of City Transportation Officials’ newly-released Urban Street Design Guide, a “blueprint for 21st century streetscape.”

NACTO has done the tough work ofcompiling the innovative practices that will make for  streets that are safe, sustainable, resilient, multi-modal, economically beneficial, and do the ever important job of accommodating traffic!

Health Exchanges Roll Out Amid Controversy

The Obama Administration released partial data on insurance rates for those state-based health insurance exchanges that will be run by the federal government.  The rates have been much-anticipated because they will cover the major of states (35) that did not choose to run the exchanges on their own.  The announcement gave sample rates but not precise figures and should help the White House ease the public’s fear of “rate shock.”  Plan rates are based on tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) that change according to the level of monthly premiums, reimbursement rates, and coverage.  Tennessee would have the least expensive bronze plan costing $119 per month, while Wyoming would have the most expensive at $286 per month.  Subsidies for individuals and families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level would further lower those rates.   The announcement emphasized how affordable coverage would be for young adults (27 or older) after subsidies, citing rates of $48 per month in Arkansas and an average among covered states of $100 per month.  Final rates for all federally-run state exchanges are not expected until October 1, when full scale enrollment is set to begin.

With the White House celebrating the rate announcements, opponents in the Congress continue their efforts to delay implementation and defund the Affordable Care Act’s core programs.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ended a sometimes dramatic floor speech that nearly lasted a full day.  He and other opponents are seeking to pass a Continuing Resolution that defunds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as part of the effort to keep the government funded under a Continuing Resolution.  The House Republican Study Committee recently released a “repeal and replace” proposal that completely replace the ACA with a series of market reforms.  With a looming show down on the need to raise the nation’s debt borrowing capability, opponents are also seeking to repeal or delay ACA implementation as part of those negotiations. 

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!

Business Community Urging Action on Pre-K Plan

American businesses are throwing support behind the Obama Administration’s $75 billion proposal for universal pre-K. Why?  Businesses know a worthwhile investment when they see one, and they know that quality early education has positive social and economic effects, leading to a stronger, more skilled, and more competitive workforce.  Read More…

Business Starts Early on Next Transportation Bill

With dwindling resources in the Highway Trust Fund and increasing investments needed for the nations highway and transit infrastructure, Congressional Members and stakeholders know that when the current transportation bill expires in October 2014, they better be ready.  Organizations, associations, businesses and lawmakers alike have already been working for months to make sure that the next transportation bill fills the potholes left by insufficient investments made in the past.  Read More… 

Predicting the Epicenter of Crime:  Analytics Tool Cuts Crime Rates

A new predictive policing tool is helping police forecast where and when crime will happen using similar mathematic methods geologists use to predict earthquakes.  The concept of tracking crime hot spots is not new, but the PredPol tracking technology cuts the reaction time to changes in crime patterns that might not be readily apparent by just looking at hot spots marked on a map.  Read More…

State Reliance on Federal Dollars near All-Time High

States are finding themselves relying on the federal government for cash infusions more than ever before.  Federal grant programs accounted for a large portion of state budget revenues (more than one-third in some states) in fiscal year 2011, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts Fiscal Federalism Initiative. That’s down slightly from the percentage of federal dollars that flowed into state coffers in fiscal year 2010, but it’s far above historical precedent.  Read More…

Shutdown or Not, Farm Bill Extension Expires on Oct. 1

One thing is certain on October 1: Congress will have allowed the nine-month extension of the 2008 farm bill to expire and the impacts could be staggering.  Not only will some major USDA programs lose funding, but it is also predicted that if no action is taken by January 1, 2014, the price of dairy supports will double, possibly causing the price of milk to skyrocket to $8 a gallon.  Read More…

MindMixer & Code for America Launch Five-Week Civic Engagement Contest

Ideation Nation, a five-week civic engagement rally created by MindMixer and Code for America, is asking Americans to share their ideas about how technology could improve communities.  The platform is open now until October 31, so put on your thinking caps and post an innovative idea…it could win you expert advice and $5,000 to make your idea a reality.  Read More…

Online Sales Tax Collection: The House Principles

When the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act in May by a vote of 69 to 27, a major point of contention was language exempting some small businesses from collecting sales tax on out-of-state transactions. The legislation said businesses with more than $1 million in annual revenue would have to collect tax for online transactions. Now the House of Representative is getting ready to take up its own Internet sales tax legislation.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee released Basic Principles on Remote Sales Tax outlining concerns and priorities for a bill that would allow online retailers to collect sales tax. The Committee received input from taxpayers, industry groups, and representatives of state and local governments to develop these seven basic principles. Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) developed the principles to promote public debate on the issue with hopes that it will create innovative solutions.

The “Basic Principles on Remote Sales Tax” are:

1. Tax Relief – Using the Internet should not create new or discriminatory taxes not faced in the offline world. Nor should any fresh precedent be created for other areas of interstate taxation by States.

2. Tech Neutrality – Brick & Mortar, Exclusively Online, and Brick & Click businesses should all be on equal footing. The sales tax compliance burden on online Internet sellers should not be less, but neither should it be greater than that on similarly situated offline businesses.

3. No Regulation Without Representation – Those who would bear state taxation, regulation and compliance burdens should have direct recourse to protest unfair, unwise or discriminatory rates and enforcement.

4. Simplicity – Governments should not stifle businesses by shifting onerous compliance requirements onto them; laws should be so simple and compliance so inexpensive and reliable as to render a small business exemption unnecessary.

 5. Tax Competition – Governments should be encouraged to compete with one another to keep tax rates low and American businesses should not be disadvantaged vis-a-vis their foreign competitors.

6. States' Rights – States should be sovereign within their physical boundaries. In addition, the federal government should not mandate that States impose any sales tax compliance burdens.

7. Privacy Rights – Sensitive customer data must be protected.

 

Murray, Cantwell Introduce Bill Repealing Harbor Maintenance Tax

Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) have introduced a bill, the Maritime Goods Movement Act for the 21st Century, which proposes to repeal replace the harbor maintenance tax (HMT) with a new user fee. The bill institutes a new user fee that in most respects would look like the HMT and continue to be assessed on cargo at a rate of 0.125% of cargo value. provide more revenue for harbor deepening projects and repeal the tax that currently funds port maintenance.

If the Murray-Cantwell bill is enacted, most all revenue from the user fee would be allocated for port channel maintenance. Since 1986, tax revenue collected from importers and domestic shippers goes into the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund and is then appropriated for port projects, particularly harbor maintenance dredging. However, the fund has been a target of congressional reform because not all the revenue collected is actually used for harbor maintenance. The bill would also prevent shippers from avoiding the fee by using ports in neighboring countries and then bringing their cargo into the U.S. via trucks or rail.  For fiscal year 2013, the administration estimated the fund would receive $1.8 billion in revenue but only requested $848 million for maintenance projects.  In addition to charging the fee on “diverted” transshipped cargo at the border If the Murray-Cantwell bill maritime user fee is enacted, two other principal changes will occur. A portion of the revenue will be devoted to infrastructure improvements to benefit both cross border freight movements and certain ports where user fee collections are greater than is allocated in dredging funds.  Second, available funding for port projects is expected to double because of the bill’s provisions to make channel funding levels correspond with actual revenue.

 

Major bills in both the House and Senate have also tried to address the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund problem and have had considerable support in Congress, but in past years only watered down language has managed to get through Congress and signed into law.  for would not immediately divert all money collected through the harbor maintenance tax to port projects. The Senate-passed Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (S. 601) gradually increases the authorization amount of funds used for port projects until 2020 when the authorization for appropriations would be equal to all revenue collected through the fund must be used for harbor maintenance. In the House, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (H.R. 3080) that was passed out of Committee last week takes an incentive approach by setting increasingly higher target levels for funding and using those targets as trigger points for allowing 5% of HMTF funds for expanded eligible uses.  would increase harbor maintenance revenue devoted to port projects to 80 percent by 2020.  Neither of those bills, however, have enforcement mechanisms, which the Murray-Cantwell bill does, to ensure full funding.  A House-Senate Conference on the two reauthorization bills may provide an opportunity for the non-tax part of the Murray-Cantwell legislation to be incorporated into the final package.

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!

JusticeMobile App Gives Officers Direct Access to Criminal Information

A new app created by the California Department of Justice will soon give police officers throughout the state of California access to state and federal criminal justice information just by searching in an app on their smartphone.  The app allows officers to check vehicle registrations, driver’s licenses, criminal history, mental health alerts, firearms registration, and other criminal record data.  Read More…

A Town-Gown Clash over the Costs of Public Services

With increased financial pressures on municipalities across the nation, college towns are clashing with the tax exempt academic institutions in their jurisdictions on paying for public services.  As tax exempt entities, colleges are under no legal requirement to pay for public services, and now town-versus-gown squabbles over Pilot payments are becoming increasingly common as local budgets get even tighter.  Read More…

EPA Restarts Stalled Drive to Improve Water Protection

On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers submitted a proposal to the White House that would establish new regulations under the Clean Water Act.  The new rules are a continuation of efforts by the EPA and the Corps to expand and clarify federal oversight of constructions activities and the protection streams and waterways from negative externalities of these projects.   Read More…

Obama Administration Continues Follow-Through on Broadband Infrastructure Executive Order

After the release of a June 2012 Executive Order on accelerating broadband infrastructure deployment, the Obama Administration has since committed to the development of broadband deployment efficiency.  In a WhiteHouse.gov blog post Monday, the Administration highlighted the launch of several new broadband tracking tools that the Office of Science and Technology hopes will make a difference in the cost and effectiveness of broadband deployment throughout the nation.  Read More…

House Moving on Waterways Measure

The House Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) is set to be marked up in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on September 19, readying the legislation for a floor vote sometime this fall.  Many say the markup is a strong sign that the passage of a Water Resources Development Act is on the horizon (we can only hope)!  Read More…

House Internet Sales Tax Bill to Follow Seven Principles

Congressman Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released a set of seven major principles he suggests the House considers when writing their version of the Senate-passed Marketplace Fairness Act. Some say the legislation could be passed as early as this year; however, there is no word when the committee will begin drafting a bill.  Read More…

Chairman Hosts Twitter Town Hall on Water Infrastructure and Jobs

House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) is hosting a Twitter Town Hall on Tuesday, September 17^th to highlight the connections between the federal government’s investment in water infrastructure and jobs and economic growth.  The T&I Committee is attempting to move the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) this month and the Chair hopes that expanding the understanding of how important the bill is to the economy will increase support within the House. The latest WRRDA bill includes several reforms that supporters say will streamline project approvals and cut government red tape.  Leading into Tuesday’s Town Hall, he issued a YouTube video to set the stage.  On Tuesday, he expects to field a host of questions.  The Town Hall starts at 4:30pm (EST), and the hashtag is #WRRDA.  The last time Congress passed a water resources authorization bill was in 2008, overriding a veto from then-President Bush. 

The Future of National Parks

Now here’s an idea worth repeating: educate future adults about some of the things the federal government makes possible in American life.  The National Park Service (NPS) is doing just that.  The agency recently launched a state-of-the-art education initiative just for kids. NPS has created a web portal where teachers can search for lesson plans and plan for field trips.  To really grab their student’s attention, teachers can now use the latest distance technology learning programs to enable their students to interact, in real time, with park rangers in world class national parks thousands of miles away.  Students can directly ask the park rangers questions and see the nation’s great parks in a way that makes them feel like they are there.  This program seems destined to nurture a future generation of adults with an increased level of appreciation for our great American park system.    

 

Click here to see the NPS website for teachers.

Online Sales Tax Collection: The Very Latest on the Marketplace Fairness Act

With the Senate having passed legislation earlier this session that will require retailers to collect and remit taxes to states from internet sales, and the House due to consider the same, polling and lobbying on the topic are ramping up.

Last week The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), without taking a position on the legislation,  urged lawmakers to exempt more retailers from collecting tax in order to help those retailers to comply with the potential new mandate. The AICPA  conveyed this in a Sept. 10 letter to the chairmen and ranking members of the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the Judiciary committees of both chambers.

On the heels of that letter, a poll was released on Friday  by the Marketplace Fairness Coalition, which supports the legislation, showing 53 percent of voters  favor of the bill and 37 percent oppose. Their poll was released a day after the National Taxpayers Union and the R Street Institute, which oppose the legislation, released a poll showing that respondents opposed changes in tax policy like those in the Marketplace Fairness Act by 57 percent to 35 percent.