The Ferguson Group Blog

Climate Leaders, Take Some Credit!

The  September 13, 2013 deadline for the EPA’s 2013 Climate Leadership Awards gives you plenty of lead time to pull together a solid application and make sure that your organization and organizational leadership get some recognition for your good work. Last year’s awardees included several municipalities and public agencies -_  Boulder County, Colorado;the City of Austin, Texas; and the Port of San Diego.

Particularly notable was the award received by the Sonoma County Water Agency  (SCWA) which is a member of the North Bay water Reuse Authority, a TFG client. The EPA recognized SCWA for “leading a county-wide local government electric vehicle effort; initiating Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program financing for clean energy projects; and  developing a Community Choice Aggregation program as a means to facilitate distribution and development of renewable energy county-wide.”  Nationally, SCWA also  initiated, helped establish, and supports Applied Solutions—a non-profit network of counties and cities that identify and share innovative clean energy projects, programs, and financial mechanisms.

To learn more about the application process, eligibility, and evaluation criteria for the 2014 award categories, please go to EPA’s Climate Leadership Awards webpage.

Calling Local Climate Preparedness Leaders: The White House Wants YOU!

Last month, when the President released his “Climate Action Plan,” he did so with a good deal of recognition for the local impact of climate change and the potential for local influence in policy development and implementation. His announcement included the creation a local government task force will help the government identify challenges and opportunities related to federal efforts to address climate impacts.

The White House Council on Environmental Quality let us know that they welcome suggestions on currently sitting State, Local, or Tribal elected officials who bring experience in building climate preparedness and resilience in their communities, and a strong commitment to strengthening the Nation in the face of climate change. Local officials should send recommendations – including title, organization, contact information and reason for nominating – to [email protected] by July 26, 2013. The White House will formally announce Task Force members once appointments are made.

And If you’re following this issue, you may be interested coverage of one of the most significant impacts of climate change on coastal communities, rising sea levels, which was captured in a Washington Post article this week entitled “Vulnerable Maryland Weighs Threat of Sea-Level Rise. ” 

It’s all in the numbers…

The bidding war for Nate Silver,  the statistician who made his mark with highly accurate 2008 and 2012 election predictions, is over and he’ll be moving from the New York Times to ESPN.  Before the 2008 campaign, Silver was a baseball statistician, but has gained a major following since then for his work in the political arena. Rest assured that Silver will still offer political analysis for ABC News which, like ESPN, is owned by Disney. 

With so many news outlets vying for Silver, it is clear that predictive analysis is BIG business. Every day we hear from clients that are using data to project staffing needs, catch criminals, create safer roads, and catch those “bad apples” that are gaming the system and exploiting government resources.  How do you use data to improve quality of life and efficiency in your community?

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.

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.

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?

Infrastructure Bank Bills Compete

Will this be the year that Congress moves an infrastructure bank bill forward? At a time when available federal dollars are not meeting the needs of the nation’s infrastructure projects, the concept of a federal infrastructure bank may finally be gaining much-needed momentum. Last week two separate Democratic House members promoted competing infrastructure bills.  Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) reintroduced her infrastructure bank bill, the “National Infrastructure Development Bank Act,” – a proposal she has steadfastly reintroduced annually for the past decade!  And, freshman congressman John Delaney (D-Md.) circulated a letter in support of his infrastructure bank bill, “The Partnership to Build America” (H.R. 2084).  Delaney’s bill proposes to leverage private dollars to fund large infrastructure projects. Unlike most federal infrastructure bank proposals, however, DeLaney’s bill is not initially capitalized with appropriated funds.  Instead, Delaney’s bill proposes to use tax earnings repatriated from overseas, which is a unique and controversial approach.  DeLauro’s bill proposes to capitalize the bank with $25 billion in appropriations, and then projects the bank to become self-sustaining through revenues from financed projects.  Despite support from the President and Senate Democrats, the infrastructure bank idea has yet to catch fire.  With two competing bills this year, expectations are heightened that one could gain enough momentum to finally take off. 

“Blank Slate” Tax Reform Threatens Muni Bond Tax Exemption: Contact Your Senators!

Late last week, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch circulated  a letter to fellow Senators on their proposed “blank slate” plan, essentially a tax reform proposal that would start over with a "blank slate" by eliminating all tax breaks and lowering tax rates for both individuals and corporations alike. In doing so, so the draft “blank slate” proposal would eliminate the exclusion for municipal bond interest.

Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Hatch have asked Senators to submit proposals to them on what provisions they would like to see added to this draft tax code, so Senators would have to convince Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Hatch to add the municipal bond exclusion (or any other exclusion or deduction) back. If this or any other proposal to eliminate the exemption for municipal bonds is enacted,  it would significantly drive up state and local borrowing costs for infrastructure projects.  A recent report shows that if this exemption had been fully eliminated, in the past decade it would have cost local governments $495 billion and stalled essential infrastructure projects.

Take a few minutes to reach out to your Senators and  encourage them to urge the retention of the current law for exclusion of municipal bond interest.