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     WEEKLY UPDATE February 3, 2015 

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President's Budget Request FY2016: Top-Line Items for the NEMW Region     


Yesterday, President Obama submitted his request for funding the federal government in FY2016. The annual budget provides a roadmap for the President's proposal for federal spending, down to agency and program level. Congress, the holder of the purse strings, reviews the President's requests and determines actual federal spending through the appropriations process.

The NEMWI did a rapid assessment of top-line budget numbers for regionally-relevant programs that have seen NEMW Coalition Congressional action in the past. NEMWI will follow this rapid assessment, "President's Budget Request FY2016: Top-Line Items for the NEMW Region," with a more in-depth review of the regional implications of the President's proposed budget in the coming weeks, focusing on priority programs in the following general areas: economic and community development; energy; Great Waters restoration; and transportation and water management systems. In the in-depth report, the NEMWI reports requested funding levels for over 60 priority programs for the region, and compares these requested funding levels with current and previous spending. As they are updated, full numbers for all programs tracked by the NEMWI will be available here.


For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.  

   

NEMW Coalition Co-Chair Mike Kelly Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Conserve Open Spaces     

 

NEMW Coalition Co-Chair Congressman Mike Kelly yesterday introduced new bipartisan legislation, HR 641, the Conservation Easement Act of 2015, to conserve farmland and other open spaces. The Conservation Easement Incentive Act would make permanent the conservation easement incentive, which to date has helped to save hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and open space, in the federal tax code. 

The bill would make permanent an enhanced deduction for contributions of capital gain real property for conservation purposes for individuals, farmers, and ranchers. A qualified conservation contribution is a contribution of a real property interest to a qualified organization (usually a land trust organization), exclusively for conservation purposes. A previous tax incentive expired at the end of 2014. NEMW Senate Coalition member Stabenow is expected to introduce a bipartisan companion bill in the Senate. Land conservation will help assure future food production, while allowing hunting, fishing, and hiking in intact woodlands.  

 

Other NEMW Congressional Coalition members co-sponsoring this bill include Reps. Charlie Dent, David Joyce, Marcy Kaptur, Ron Kind, Jim McGovern (NEMW Coalition Co-chair), Richard Neal, Niki Tsongas, and Chris Collins. The Ways and Means Committee is expected to mark up the bill this week.

 

For more information, please contact Sam Breene, Legislative Director of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition. 

 

Plan on it!

"Reception for the Northeast-Midwest Region 2015"


Today, Tuesday, February 3, 2015, the NEMWI will host its annual regional reception in the Capitol Visitor Center - North Capitol Room from 5:00-7:00 pm. NEMW Coalition leadership will speak to regional legislative priorities, and NEMWI Board members will introduce NEMWI's new President, Michael Goff, Ph.D. For over 37 years, the NEMWI, working closely with regional stakeholders, has actively, creatively, and effectively generated regional information and analysis for the NEMW Congressional and Senate Coalitions and states to support their significant joint efforts to improve federal, state, and local policy responses to the region's needs. The NEMWI is especially skilled in the areas of economic development in the context of resource conservation and restoration. Areas of focus include water resource restoration and protection, energy efficiency, community redevelopment, advanced manufacturing, transportation improvement, public health protection, and workforce development. Please join us to celebrate the remarkable NEMW region and the bipartisan NEMW Coalitions and state offices that work to improve it. We will have fine regional libations and tasty appetizers!

 

For more information, contact Hope Ratner, Administrative Manager at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.   

 

Two Sets of Revitalization-Related Grants for Communities Awarded: NEMW Region Winners      

 

The Secretaries of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), respectively, recently announced the recipients of grants and technical assistance for a range of community revitalization-related purposes. The table below provides more detail:

  

Program
Purpose
NEMW Awards out of Total
Recipient NEMW States
HUD Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grants

Grants to help distressed neighborhoods confront interconnected challenges of housing, education, health, safety, and employment
Two out of Seven: City of Flint/Flint Housing Commission ($500,000 to target South Saginaw neighborhood); City of Gary/Legacy Foundation and the City of Gary Economic Development Corporation ($500,000 to target University Park East neighborhood)
Michigan, Indiana
EPA Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Program

Technical assistance to help localities expand economic opportunity, create jobs, prepare for the effects of climate change, and improve quality of life
Ten out of 22: Cincinnati, OH; Damariscotta, ME; Danville, IL; New Paltz, NY; Newburyport, MA; Passaic County, NJ; Polk County, IA; Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, WI; Scituate, MA; and Terre Haute, IN
Ohio, Maine, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Indiana

  

For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.     

 

U.S. Department of Labor Expands Work-Sharing in 8 NEMW States    


The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced last week the recipients of nearly $38 million (total) to develop or enhance Short-Time Compensation programs, also known as "work sharing." According to the DOL, work sharing allows employers facing economic difficulty to reduce work hours for a group of employees as an alternative to layoffs. Programs allow workers with reduced hours to supplement their lowered wages with a percentage of the weekly unemployment compensation that would have been available to them had they been laid off entirely. Work sharing lets employees keep their jobs--and benefits, such as employer-based retirement and health insurance--and helps employers keep skilled workers and avoid the costs of hiring and training new workers when business recovers. The program also eases the strain on local economies, which acutely suffer when layoffs occur. Of the 13 states receiving funds, eight are located in the NEMW region: Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin.

 

Since the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 authorized the grants, a total of $50.5 million (including this round of funding) has been awarded to 17 states. Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington State were previously funded.

 

For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.  

   

Federal Agencies Open Manufacturing Community Investment Competition 

 

Last week, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce announced the opening of the round two designation competition of the  Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP). The competition is an Administration-wide initiative coordinated by the U.S. Commerce Department that rewards communities that demonstrate best practices in attracting and expanding manufacturing by bringing together key local stakeholders and using long-term planning that integrates targeted public and private investments. The initiative is designed to accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing in communities nationwide. The IMCP designation elevates communities in consideration for $1.3 billion in federal dollars and assistance from 10 federal departments and agencies. In addition, each designated community will receive a federal liaison and branding and promotion as a designated Manufacturing Community to help attract additional private investment and partnerships. The Secretary of Commerce announced the  first 12 communities to receive a designation under IMCP in May 2014; half of them are located in the NEMW region. The deadline for receipt of the latest round of applications is April 1, 2015. More information is available in the federal register here.

 

For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.  

   

Three Water-Related Hearings Among the Week's Congressional   

Committee Activities 

 

With the conclusion of January's Congressional committee organizational activities, some water-relevant meetings and hearings have started to appear on committee calendars, including three hearings this week. On Wednesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee-House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a joint hearing on the "Impacts of the Proposed Waters of the United States Rule on State and Local Governments," at 10:00 AM, in room 210 HVC. Witnesses will include EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy; Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy; Oklahoma State Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt; Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam; El Paso County, Colorado, District 3 County Commissioner Sallie Clark; Clear Creek, Colorado, District 1 County Commissioner Timothy Mauck; and Lemuel Srolovic, chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau in the New York State attorney general's office.    

 

Also on Wednesday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will convene the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, at 2:30 p.m. for a hearing entitled, "The Impacts of Vessel Discharge Regulations on our Shipping and Fishing Industry." The hearing will focus on existing regulations governing ballast water discharge and other discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels. At present, state and federal vessel discharge regulations are inconsistent, and in some cases scientifically and technologically impossible to meet.  Subject matter experts will testify about the effects of regulations on workers and job creators and how nationally uniform and environmentally sound standards could simplify the complicated patchwork of state and federal regulations that currently govern the management of discharges.  

 

On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy will hold a hearing on H.R. 212, the "Drinking Water Protection Act," "to provide for the assessment and management of the risk of cyanotoxins in drinking water." The bill is intended to increase federal agency and drinking water utility ability to deal with algal-based toxins, and will be held at 10:00 AM, in room 2123 of the Russell House Office Building.

 

For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst, Northeast-Midwest Institute.

 

 

NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation