| Northeast-Midwest Institute Weekly Update |
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NEMW Congressional Coalition Appoints Legislative Director
| The Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition and Northeast-Midwest Institute welcome Kate Ostrander as the Coalition's new Legislative Director. Ms. Ostrander has six years of Capital Hill experience in NEMW delegation offices. Formerly chief legislative advisor for Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH, and Co-Chair of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition) and liaison to his Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee assignment, Ms. Ostrander is making the job move for the love of regional policy. "I am very excited to work in this capacity on behalf of a region where I grew up," Ms. Ostrander said. Ms. Ostrander received a master's degree in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a bachelor's degree (summa cum laude) in Political Science from Kenyon College.
For more information, contact Allegra Cangelosi, President of the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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NEMWI Co-Authors "The Next Farm Bill" Report
| The Northeast-Midwest Institute and The Horinko Group have completed the first phase of what could potentially evolve into a multiphase effort to develop a sustainable, mutual working relationship among agricultural and conservation stakeholders--two groups that have not traditionally collaborated on Farm Bill-related issues. The NEMWI and Horinko Group launched a scoping project this spring to: (1) forge a better understanding among representatives of the environmental and farming communities with respect to their Farm Bill interests; (2) understand and help improve the level of trust among those parties; and (3) develop a consensus centered upon common 2012 Farm Bill interests (which could then productively inform the legislative Farm Bill debate). The preliminary scoping phase of the project and its outcomes are described in a report that was released last week, entitled "The Next Farm Bill: New Opportunities for Environmental and Agricultural Sustainability."
For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Green Capitals Program Seeking Pilot Cities
| The Office of Sustainable Communities in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Office of Policy is seeking letters of interest from state capital cities that want to develop in ways that reflect the principles of smart growth, green building, and the Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Greening America's Capitals provides state capitals with an opportunity to implement this partnership effort on the ground. EPA will provide design assistance to successful applicants; letters of interest are due on June 20, 2011. More information is available here. In 2010, two cities within the NEMW region were selected: Boston, MA and Hartford, CT.
For more information, contact Chris Forinash, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011
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On May 24, Northeast-Midwest Coalition Member Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
introduced the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011 to the Senate. It seeks to "promote the design of streets that are safe for all who use them - including motorists, bus riders, pedestrians, bicyclists, and people with disabilities." Harkin's bill is similar to that which was introduced to the House earlier this year by NEMW Coalition Co-Chair Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA). Current co-sponsors for the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011 include Sens. Carper (DE), Lautenberg (NJ), Cardin (MD), Begich (AK), Leahy (VT), Levin (MI), Whitehouse (RI), Sanders (VT), Franken (MN), Merkley (OR), and Klobuchar (MN).
The introduction of this bill coincides with the release of Transportation for America's updated pedestrian safety report, which looks back on the 47,000 people that were killed and 688,000 injured while walking our nation's streets in the ten years from 2000-2009. Dangerous by Design 2011 examines the problem of, and several solutions for, the epidemic of preventable deaths on our nation's streets. The report is accompanied by fact sheets for all 50 states and an interactive map of pedestrian fatalities from 2001 to 2009.
For more information, contact Fritz Ohrenschall, Research Associate at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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