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NEMWI Joins With AMCC and CREC on Webinar This Thursday: How the Endless Frontier Act Can Spark an American Century
This Thursday, June 11 at 2:00 p.m., a timely webinar will address "How the Endless Frontier Act Can Spark an American Century." The webinar is being co-hosted by the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative (AMCC), the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC), and the Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI). Registration for the webinar is through the link below.
You are invited to a very timely webinar
How the
Endless Frontier Act
Can Spark an American Century
When:
Thursday, June 11, 2:00 to 3:00 P.M. ET
What:
Presentations and Q & A on the Endless Frontier Act, just introduced in the U.S. Congress, which proposes authorization of a major expansion and increase in funding for the National Science Foundation, expanding its mission to include scientific development and high tech innovation and implementation, funded with $110 billion in new federal investment. The potential of this legislation for advancing science and technology will be highlighted by airing an inspiring trailer from the 1999 docudrama "October Sky".
Who:
The agenda of speakers includes:
- Matt Bogoshian, Executive Director, American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative.
- Jon Cardinal, Director of Economic Development, Office of Senate Minority Leader Senator Charles Schumer.
- Mark Muro, Senior Fellow and Policy Director, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution.
- Ron Williams, Coppin State University, College of Business.
- AMCC Manufacturing Communities representatives from across the nation.
Why:
The Endless Frontier Act represents a sea change in progress by funding scientific development and technological innovation that is even beyond the historic post-Sputnik investment of the 1950's and 1960's, opening a whole new window of opportunity for scientific and technological advances and sustainable economic development in manufacturing with training and job opportunities open to all Americans.
The webinar is sponsored by the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative (AMCC), a collaboration of manufacturing communities nation-wide working to achieve sustainable economic development in the manufacturing sector, its partners The Century Foundation and the Northeast-Midwest Institute, and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC), an independent organization founded to provide policy-makers with information they need to formulate and execute innovative, regional, job-creating economic strategies.
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NEWSDAY Op-Ed Asserts Need for Regional Conference of Northeastern States
NEMWI Senior Fellow and Markle Foundation Board Chair Present Case for Convening
Northeast-Midwest Institute Senior Fellow Thomas H. Cochran, joined by Lewis Kaden, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Markle Foundation and former Vice Chairman of CitiGroup, Inc., have proposed the convening of a new northeastern regional conference to create an updated northeastern regional agenda for action in an
op-ed published today in NEWSDAY.
The op-ed asserts that the region faces many economic, social, and intergovernmental fiscal issues which have emerged since the ground-breaking Saratoga, NY conclave of Governors, corporate, labor, and academic leaders founded the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) and hammered out the original
Regional Agenda for Action
in the pivotal presidential election year 1976.
Cochran and Kaden make the case for developing a renewed regional action agenda by pointing to the continued projected loss of representation for northeastern states in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the devastating impact of the pandemic exacerbating the fundamental structural economic, social, and governance problems still challenging the region. They assert that federal action to replace state and local revenue shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as the central federal fiscal policy issue facing the nation which has far-reaching implications for the future trajectory of "frostbelt" states, in particular as they seek to recover from the pandemic's severe impacts.
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House Committee Unveils Massive Transportation Bill
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure released its Surface Transportation reauthorization bill last week that would re-up the nation's highways, transit, and rail programs. The "Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act", would authorize $494 billion over five years for modernizing the country's aging network of roads and bridges. The last surface transportation act, the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, is set to expire at the end of the September. More specifically, the bill would include $319 billion for the federal highway program, $105 billion for mass transit, and $60 billion for rail. The bill also includes additional provisions to address climate change and resiliency issues that include:
Climate
- Establishes a new greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions performance measure from DOT.
- Creates a new $8.35 billion program (for FY22-FY25) to support carbon pollution reduction that includes giving states broad eligibility to invest in highway, transit, and rail projects
Resilience
- Creates a new $6.25 billion program (for FY22-FY25) to fund resilience and emergency evacuation needs. Requires states and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to develop an infrastructure vulnerability assessment to guide investments under the program. Makes resilience a core part of the Federal-aid highway program, with expanded eligibilities in other apportioned programs and Emergency Relief (ER).
While no markup has been formally scheduled for the bill, it's likely that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will consider the bill as early as next week. NEMWI will continue to provide analysis and monitor the bill as it continues through the legislative process.
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NEMWI Provides Update on Federal Legislative Priorities
The Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMIW) provided the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus (GLLC) an update on federal legislative priorities via webinar last week. The GLLC serves as a non-partisan, bi-national organization open to all state and provincial legislators serving in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region, and is aimed at supporting state polices that protect and restore the Great Lakes. NEMWI's update included information on legislation introduced in the Senate to improve America's water infrastructure, the House legislative agenda, and measures Congress has approved to address the COVID19 pandemic.
More information can be found at the GLLC's website, and a copy of NEMWI's presentation can be found here.
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U.S. Army Corps Predicts Record High Water Levels in the Great Lakes
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is predicting that water levels in the Great Lakes could approach record highs. According to its six-month forecast that were released last week, USACE predicts that water levels on lakes Michigan and Huron will reach levels two to five inches higher than they were a year ago, which could break records set in 1986. USACE is also predicting that Lake Erie water levels could be less than one inch above record high levels set last June and that Lake Ontario is forecast to be below record high levels but above long-term average levels.
The six-month forecast can be viewed
here.
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This Week in Washington
In the House:
In the Senate:
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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