President's FY 2011 Budget Released Today
Today, February 1, 2010, the Office and Management and Budget released the President's fiscal year 2011 budget request. Each year the Northeast-Midwest Institute prepares a same-day analysis of the President's request and circulates a detailed report to dues paying members of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional and Senate Coalitions. The Institute has prepared a summary table of select federal programs (available now) and the full budget analysis will be made available to the general public (via www.nemw.org) on Wednesday, February 3.
Throughout the budget and appropriations process the Institute tracks a number of federal programs important to the region. Click here to view the tracking of federal funds webpage.
For more information, contact Diane DeVaul, 202-464-4009. Director of Policy at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. |
New Grant Program Beneficial to Older Industrial Cities Proposed in President's Budget
The Administration's FY 2011 budget request slates $150 million for a new competitive grant program that could send valuable dollars to economically struggling cities and towns. The new program, called the Catalytic Investments Competition Grants Program, would provide gap financing to help fund innovative and targeted economic investment in distressed communities. The grant funds are to be used for, but not limited to:
1. Implementing projects designed to reclaim vacant property
2. Removing or ameliorating property-related obstacles to economic recovery
3. Supporting economic development activities related to transit oriented development
Local governments, non-profits, or a consortium of an eligible public entity and a designated lead applicant (may consist of states, local governments, community development corporations, and for- and non-profits entities) could be eligible to apply for the new grant program.
For more information contact Greg Lewis, 202-464-4005, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Article published on "Overcoming Impediments to Public Agency Acquisition of Brownfield Sites" An article addressing the issue of how local governments can "Overcoming Impediments to Public Agency acquisition of Brownfield Sites" has been published in Environmental Practice, volume 11, issue 04, pp. 311-319, Cambridge University Press on-line. Evans Paull, Senior Policy Analyst at the Institute, authored the article. The article reviews liability, eminent domain, and site access issues, highlighting state reform measures and calling attention to the need for federal reforms to ease local government liability concerns.
For more information, contact: Evans Paull, 202-329-4282, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Upper Mississippi River Basin Association Meeting Dates Set
The Upper Mississippi River Basin Association (UMRBA) has announced its quarterly suite of meetings to be held from February 23-25, in St. Louis, Missouri. The three days of meetings will include UMRBA, EMP (Environmental Management Program) Coordinating Committee, and NECC (Navigation Environmental Coordinating Committee) meetings. Meeting details can be found here: http://www.umrba.org/meetings.htm.
UMRBA is a regional interstate organization formed by the Governors of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin to coordinate those states' river-related programs, policies and work with federal agencies having river responsibilities.
For more information contact Mark Gorman, 202-464-4015, at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. |
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Institute Releases Issue Brief on Department of Energy Loan Guarantee The U.S. Department of Energy currently operates a loan guarantee program designed to aid the developers of renewable energy technologies by making the financing of new projects more affordable. Last week the Institute completed and posted an Issue Brief that discusses potential beneficial modifications that could be made to the program that would enhance its availability to the older industrial communities of the region. These green development possibilities are contingent on the program's statutory mandate being broadened to include energy efficiency projects as well as several other changes that would make the program more conducive to use for small and midsized projects. The upcoming consideration of a major jobs bill by the Senate presents the opportunity to make these changes. As modified, the program would stimulate many new jobs in some of the nation's most distressed communities as well as displace fossil-fuel generated energy and thus reduce carbon emissions. Click here to view the brief. |
Briefing on Recovery Act Funding and State Energy Success Stories
Wednesday, February 3 from 3:00 - 4:30 pm at 2261 Rayburn House Office Building.
At the briefing state officials will discuss how ARRA dollars have helped them create local jobs and reduce energy bills for all Americans through the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), the State Energy Program (SEP) and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG). In addition, speakers will give their perspectives on state energy provisions - including WAP, SEP, EECBG and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) - in the administration's FY2011 budget request.
Speakers for this event include:
� Phil Giudice,Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources
� Roya Stanley,Director, Iowa Office of Energy Independence
� Mark Wolfe,Executive Director, National Energy Assistance Directors Association
� Janet Streff, Manager, State Energy Office, Minnesota Department of Commerce (invited)
This briefing is free and open to the public. No RSVP required. For more information, please contact Laura Parsons at lparsons@eesi.org or (202) 662-1884..
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