The Ferguson Group Blog

Happy Thanksgiving from TFG Blog!

We are taking a break from the blog during the Thanksgiving Holiday but we will be back on Monday, December 2.

 

Wednesday News Roundup

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

Time Ticking for States to Opt In or Out of FirstNet

The First Responders Network Authority, better known as FirstNet, is in the process of drawing public safety communication network designs for each state as part of the new nationwide emergency communications network.  Once designs are completed, each state will have 90 days to decide if they want in or out of FirstNet.  Rejecting the plan, however, will present its own set of challenges.  Read More…

A Better Path to Local Government Regulatory Reform

With funding from the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation is building an online inventory of best practices for regulatory reform.  The Regulatory Reform for the 21^st Century project aims to help local governments streamline their regulatory processes while supporting local and regional economic development.  Read More…

California Water Woes Hit Hard in Driest Year on Record

California officials say that this year is shaping up to be the driest on record in California, and everyone is feeling the pinch.  The water districts that supply the San Joaquin Valley were told last week that without an unexpectedly wet winter, the state would be able to provide just 5% of the water that districts had contracted to buy for next year.  Read More…

Lawmakers Ready Budget Fallback Options Amid Tax Impasse

With budget negotiators still at an impasse over revenue, lawmakers are drafting plans to “smooth” the impact of a blunt $19 billion defense cut set to start in January.  This plan would redistribute the 2014 defense reductions across the 10-year sequester, allowing next year’s spending to remain at or higher than the current $518 billion level.  Read More…

Boehner:  Immigration ‘Absolutely Not’ Dead

Despite no firm commitment on a House vote, last week Speak John Boehner declared that immigration reform was “absolutely not” dead for this Congress, renewing hopes that a deal can be reached.  Speaker Boehner wants to take immigration reform one step at a time, and says he is “encouraged” that the President is now open to the idea of passing several immigration bills as opposed to one comprehensive measure.  Read More…

New Census App Helps Users Find Local Statistics on the Go

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau launched Dwellr, a mobile app that allows users to access key demographic information for thousands of places across the U.S.  Powered by American Community Survey statistics, Dwellr can create a list of U.S. locations that match user preferences, and allows user to quickly access demographic in their area.  Read More…

HIV/AIDS services and sequestration

Two of the largest of HIV/AIDS service organizations (amfAR and NMAC) released a new infographic illustrating the potential impact of sequestration in Fiscal Year 2014, should it be allowed to go into effect.  These estimates are based on the latest publicly available data on budget allocations and unit costs. Applying a 7.3% cut to these programs through sequestration would have a serious impact on people living with HIV/AIDS, particularly people of color, who are disproportionately affected by the epidemic. saving medications to manage their HIV viral load, with 65% of those being people of color. 

The states that suffer the most include California, Florida, Texas, New York, Georgia, New Jersey, and Illinois.  Should sequester be allowed to continue, the NIH will face a $229 million cut to highly consequential research on HIV and AIDS.  Several studies document that HIV+ people who regularly adhere to their medical regimes and who have secure housing and employment can effectively manage the disease over long periods of time.  The biggest causes of lack of adherence are housing and employment instability.  Taking away the ability of highly vulnerable populations' ability to administer their health care and remain stable drives new infections.  It ultimately produced higher medical costs for the poor and indigent. 

http://www.amfar.org/impact-of-fy14-budget-sequestration-on-us-funded-global-health-programs/

Economic Development Assistance Programs Funding Opportunity

Today, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) publish its FY 2014 Economic Development Assistance Programs Federal Funding Opportunity.
 
EDA is soliciting applications from rural and urban areas to provide investments that support construction, non-construction, technical assistance, and revolving loan fund projects under EDA’s Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance programs.

Grants and cooperative agreements made under these programs are designed to leverage existing regional assets and support the implementation of economic development strategies that advance new ideas and creative approaches to advance economic prosperity in distressed communities.
 
The first funding cycle of FY 2014 is covered under EDA’s FY 2013 funding and the next four funding cycle deadlines are:

·         December 13, 2013 for funding cycle 2 of FY 2014;
·         March 14, 2014 for funding cycle 3 of FY 2014;
·         June 13, 2014 for funding cycle 4 of FY 2014; and
·         October 17, 2014 for funding cycle 1 of FY 2015.

For more information go to: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html.

TFG’s MAC Coalition to Co-Host White House Manufacturing Summit on Dec. 5

TFG’s Manufacturing Alliance of Communities (MAC) has been asked by the White House to help plan and co-host (along with the US Conference of Mayors) a half-day Manufacturing Summit at the White House on December 5, featuring National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, Department of Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, and Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.  The MAC will also be hosting a Mayors Breakfast and meeting with Congressional manufacturing leaders on December 5. 

MAC (website: www.manufacturingalliance.us) was formed by mayors of automotive communities in December 2008, as the domestic automotive industry was in crisis, to give local governments a voice in the national debate about the future of the industry. Since its inception, MAC has fought to keep open auto plants open, to ensure that communities with closed facilities have the resources to redevelop these sites, and to educate federal policymakers about the vital role that manufacturing plays in the American economy. In 2012, MAC widened its mission to include all manufacturing communities to become the Manufacturing Alliance of Communities. Today, MAC works with 50 communities in eight states and works closely with these localities to craft local revitalization strategies.   

If you are interested in joining the MAC, please contact Bill Hanka at 202-261-6003 or [email protected].

Conflicting Data on Affordable Care Act (ACA)

How to sort through the conflicting information on the Affordable Care Act and how it’s impacting President Obama’s second term? With so much information celebrating the bill and criticizing its implementation and effect on health care coverage, it is no wonder the public is either confused or now opposed to it. 

Here are a few points of analysis.  Several states (including California, Kentucky, Connecticut, and Maryland) are on track to make or exceed their enrollment targets for state exchanges that they run.  Data is not yet public on enrollment in states where the federal government runs the exchange, and the White House denies media reports that enrollment is far behind anticipated levels. 

HHS is saying that improvements to the healthcare.gov website are being made daily.  Regardless of the improvements, the President’s job approval is suffering, apparently due to the very public failure of the exchange roll out.  It is currently at 42 percent according to a poll by the Washington Post and ABC News.  A Reuters news poll found that 59% of Americans now oppose the ACA. 

Currently, the tension shows no sign of dissipating.  The public is increasingly skeptical of ACA but more and more people are signing up for coverage under the exchanges. 

 

Wednesday News Roundup

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

 

Mobile App Tracks Emergency Volunteers

Deploy Pro, a new mobile app that uses a GPS-based interactive map to display the positions of team members using color-coded pins, will help community emergency response teams (CERT) track the locations of fellow volunteers and key points of interest during a deployment. Mike Ross, the app creator, says it will be available early next month for use by any CERT team in the U.S.  Read More…

Obama Launches Competition to Revamp High Schools

On Tuesday, President Obama launched Youth CareerConnect, a new competitive grant program that awards education institution partnerships with grants to build programs that prepare students for the job market. Youth CareerConnect will deliver 25 to 40 grants of $2 million to $7 million.  Applications are due on January 27, 2014.  Read More…

Frank Lucas:  This Week Key to Farm Bill

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas told reporters Tuesday that if a farm bill is to have any chance of gaining passage before Congress recesses for the holidays in December, this needs to be the week a deal is made. Although the Chairman is worried, he said negotiators have made some progress this week. Read More…

The Struggle to Innovate When Resources Are Scarce

Many municipalities are struggling to keep up with the demands for even the most basic public services in the face of deep cuts to their budgets, and they are looking towards innovative ways to keep providing the best services for their residents.  A new initiative by the city of Oakland, California to improve their public safety platform is an example of a great idea that has a hard time becoming a reality because of diminishing resources.  This article offers suggestions on how to successfully execute important, but complicated, initiatives in your municipality under budget constraints. Read More…

More Metro Economies Struggling in 2013:  Report

In a report released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors Monday, they’ve concluded that one-third of cities and their surrounding suburbs are experiencing decline or stagnation in their economies.  Although the majority of metro areas are experiencing some growth in 2013, thirty-eight percent of those areas have grown only one-percent or less.  Read More…

 

 

Lead Fire Hydrants Caught In Conflagration Over EPA Interpretation

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released a “Frequently Asked Questions” document which could have significant negative financial impacts on municipal governments.  Under the Office of Water interpretation of 2011’s Reduction of Lead in Drinking Water Act (P.L. 111-380), fire hydrants are not exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).  With an effective date of January 4, agencies have little time to object or adapt to EPA’s interpretation.

Under SDWA’s Section 1417, no person may use pipes or other fixtures containing lead in the installation or repair of any public water system providing water for human consumption.  The 2011 law amended Section 1417 to exempt pipes and fittings where water is not anticipated to be for human consumption. EPA decided against exempting fire hydrants because hydrants are known to be used in emergency situations as sources of potable water. 

Opponents of EPA’s position argue the law was never intended to cover fire hydrants, model state laws specifically exempt fire hydrants, and the public health benefit is miniscule while the cost of the decision could be quite large. Several associations are urging key legislators, including Senator Barbara Boxer as author of the legislation, to persuade EPA to change course before January and specifically add fire hydrants to the list of infrastructure exempt under the Act.

The text of P.L. 111-380 is located here:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ380/pdf/PLAW-111publ380.pdf

EPA’s Frequently Asked Questions document from October 2013 – including the relevant Question 5 – is located here:

http://water.epa.gov/drink/info/lead/upload/epa815s13001.pdf

U.S. Postal Services to Make Sunday Deliveries for Amazon

Just in time for the holidays, Amazon and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) struck a deal to deliver packages at regular rates on Sundays.  The service begins immediately in Los Angeles and New York City and is planned to expand next year to Dallas, Houston, New Orleans and Phoenix.

This is the first time the Postal Service will deliver packages at regular rates on Sundays. By launching Sunday deliveries, the Postal Service has moved to where its longtime delivery competitors aren't. There are relatively few delivery carriers that offer Sunday services, and those that do, charge additional fees.

The partnership is expected to help the financially embattled Postal Service, which lost nearly $16 billion last year. The USPS has seen its volume of letters drop over the past decade as Americans chose to communicate online and by mobile devices. However, package delivery remains a profitable part of the Postal Service's business, spurred at least in part by the rise in online shopping. In 2012, the number of packages USPS delivered rose to $3.5 billion, from $3.3 billion in 2011 and $3.1 billion in 2010.

The Postal Service said it will use its part-time employees for the Sunday operations. If the volume of packages is projected to be large for a certain Sunday, the agency said it will increase its staffing.

As online shopping continues to increase, the USPS is positioned well to secure additional Sunday delivery agreements with other e-commerce retailers.

 

Has Resiliency Become the New Name of the Game?

First it was sustainability and now we are seeing a tilt toward “resiliency” linked to much of future federal infrastructure dollars.  In the wake of the first anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced that it intends to make grant funding available for infrastructure projects that will reduce the risk of damage from extreme weather events.

The new grant program will be modeled after DOT's popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program, which as we know has become a highly competitive grant program that awards communities with often significant federal dollars to help fund infrastructure projects of regional and/or national significance. The goal of the new program is to ensure transportation systems continue to provide reliable service even when they are struck by severe weather events. 

Stay tuned for further details as they become available.