Category: Spring 2004
Maine Community Colleges Fearful Funding Cuts Will Halt Program Improvements
By Jenna Wolf
WASHINGTON -Despite President Bush’s pledge to provide additional federal funds for the nation’s community colleges, his budget proposes to cut a major federal program for those colleges by an estimated 25 percent.
Maine ‘s community colleges stand to lose millions of dollars under the President’s plan at a time when the state is experiencing a substantial increase in community college enrollment.
In addition to cutting the funds for the Carl D. Perkins grant program from about $1.3 billion to $1 billion, Bush’s proposed budget also calls for revamping the way Washington distributes the money for the program, which provides financial support for local vocational-technical education programs and services.
Currently, the funds go to the states under a fixed formula; under the proposal, the Perkins grants would be replaced by a new program called the Secondary Technical Excellence Education Act (Sech Tech) and the money would be distributed on a competitive basis.
Over the past three years, 14,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Maine , and the state’s community colleges are trying to provide programs to train students for careers in new economic sectors, particularly technology.
“It’s a frustrating place to be in when you see jobs lost, particularly in industries, that students want,” said Alicia Kirkpatrick, a spokeswoman for the Maine Community College System. “This year we might get slammed on both sides–from the state and federal government–which is a big concern for us because there are growing industries and we just need the capacity to allow more students in and develop more programs in areas that don’t exist.”
Maine ‘s seven community colleges have expanded rapidly in recent years. Last fall, almost 12,000 credit-seeking students enrolled, an increase of 15 percent over the previous fall and 57 percent since 1993.
In 2003, Maine community colleges received $2.5 million in basic Carl D. Perkins grants. They also received $500,000 for their Tech Prep program, , which is intended to improve technical education in more than 300 industry programs offered by the colleges.
Rep. Tom Allen (D-M.E.), said the proposed cuts will “hit students personally.”
“Here is an example of the administration saying one thing and doing another,” Allen said in an interview. “It’s absolutely amazing to me that this administration continues to claim that they’re enhancing education while they reduce funding. We need to first stop the harm and then increase the funding for education in general.”
Bush, in his State of the Union speech, proposed more federal money for community colleges “so they can train workers for industries that are creating the most new jobs.” However, Betty Krump, executive director of the American Technical Education Association, said the President’s proposed budget would put “technical education behind about 15 years.
“If we want a workforce prepared for a widely diverse job market, career and technical education must begin early to create easy transition into the post-secondary level for the most detailed, and most expensive technical preparation,” she said. “It is most common that employers hire workers who have technical skills over those who do not.”
Chad Kolton, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, said the President has “dedicated significant parts of his budget proposal to improving community college education” and feels it “plays a critical role in training workers for industries across the country and certainly in places like Maine .” But, he said, the administration has no details on its proposals to help community colleges.
The state has experienced dislocation in its manufacturing sector, and the community college system “often leads to good-paying jobs and helps to ensure we have a skilled workforce,” Sen. Susan Collins (R.-Me.) said in a statement. Collins said she did not support the administration’s proposal to eliminate the Carl D. Perkins grants and shift the money to competitive grants. Kirkpatrick said, however, that “it just takes money to create these programs and get them into regions where they don’t already exist.”
Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Me.), said in a statement that he “fully supports” Bush’s Jobs for the 21 st Century initiative, a proposal to help secondary and post-secondary schools train workers for new types of jobs. But, he said, “the President is proposing a 24 percent cut to vocational education. There is a real mismatch here between the rhetoric and what is actually being delivered.”
The administration’s Kolton said the money Bush is proposing would give grants to the “most effective” community college programs around the country and provide “resources to those programs that produce the best results” in training students to enter the workforce.
While most community college students are fresh out of high school, more than 760 Maine students last spring were dislocated workers, representing one in 10 across the state.
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), meeting in Washington last week, said it hopes to receive $1.4 billion under the Perkins basic state grant program. This is a key source of funds for workforce development programs at the community colleges.
The Maine Quality Centers Program, an economic development initiative, has helped 182 companies expand their operations in Maine , creating a projected 9,141 new jobs for Maine residents. So far, more than 8,000 residents have been hired through the program, at an average wage of $10.60 per hour, with full benefits.
“Under the new program we want to try and take the best practices and make them the norm rather than the exception,” said Hans Meeder, deputy assistant director of vocational education for the U.S. Education Department. “It’s a way to get rid of all of the duplication programs to make funding more effective.”
Perkins funds are distributed through the Maine Department of Education. Over the past five years, the department divided the funds evenly between secondary and post-secondary technical education. But some community college officials worry that the Bush proposal would put up for grabs all federal money that goes to community colleges and high school technology programs.
Kirkpatrick said Perkins funds have been “fairly predictable in the past” and pointed out that while Bush proposed cutting these same funds in his budget last year, Congress overrode the proposal and Maine received the money it needed to improve its technology programs. She added that the health care training programs in particular have a “huge impact” on Maine , with one-third of the graduates of registered nursing programs in the state each year having earned their degrees at community colleges.
“We’re working very hard to develop programs in expanding fields like health care,” Kirkpatrick said. “If funding comes in terms of a competitive grant process, Maine could be a loser because we’re a small state.”
Maine was one of only three states that did not increase tuition at community colleges this year. But, like most other states, it is under increasing fiscal pressure to raise tuition.
“We want to make sure that the schools that are the neediest get very fair opportunities to get money,” Meeder said. “We don’t want only the wealthiest schools getting all the money. It needs to be equitable.”
Bush Bid to Cut Arts Spending Draws Criticism
WASHINGTON - President Bush's proposal to abolish federal Arts in Education grants has prompted Connecticut school administrators and arts educators to question the administration's commitment to education.
"It's hard to imagine that an administration promoting the No Child Left Behind Act would cut arts education," said Ken Kahn, executive director of the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
"Studies overwhelmingly show that the arts help kids with learning - with literacy and other skills," he said. "It looks to be cutting education in general when you cut $35 million from the Arts in Education budget."
Bush's proposed budget for the year that begins Oct. 1 would cut the government's entire $35 million contribution to Arts in Education, a program that gives states money to distribute to local school districts based on need.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, administration officials decided to do away with Arts in Education-just one of 38 education programs it wants to wipe out-because they didn't think the grants were effective enough.
"Arts in Education is proposed for elimination consistent with the administration's policy to do away with small-term categorical programs with limited impact in order to fund higher priorities," spokesman Jim Bradshaw said.
"There are only so many ways to cut the budget pie," Bradshaw said. "This program certainly provides benefits, but there are higher priorities that we are proposing to fund."
Bradshaw said, for instance, that the administration had proposed to increase funding for special education by $1 billion and adding another $1 billion for schools in low-income neighborhoods as part of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. That law, the hallmark of Bush's education policy, mandates that schools routinely test students, starting in the third grade. It funnels extra money to schools deemed to be "failing," but then penalizes them if they don't improve.
Bush has proposed eliminating the Arts in Education program before. Congress disagreed, and for this year, in fact, increased funds for the program by $1.3 billion.
The No Child Left Behind Act carries its own controversy, notably because it calls for $7.2 billion more for fiscal 2005 than Bush is proposing. A study last month by the Center on Education Policy, which monitors national programs, also reported that the majority of states have found the act's requirements to be overly stringent, with its demands straining their already limited funds.
"When dollars become tight, school districts have to make decisions around what to cut, and non-mandated programs are the first to go," said spokesman Tom Murphy, of the Connecticut Department of Education. "A nd those include art and music and extracurricular activities, and talented and gifted programs."
The Bush administration contends the proposed budget cut will not have a discernible impact on arts programs, since the amount of money that actually ends up in classrooms is small.
"The federal government only provides 10 to 15 percent of all the education funding around the country," with the rest coming from state and local sources, Bradshaw said.
Local arts councils, faced with their own monetary constraints, say they aren't up to the task of replacing the loss of federal funds.
" If schools want more arts in the education, it will have to come from the taxpayers," the Greater Hartford Arts Council's Kahn said. "Passing on the burden of localities seems to be a favorite ploy of local government at the moment, and has been for a while."
The council "can't just compensate for that out of our budget at the moment," Kahn said. "It will be much more stressful for the local levels. It's a big problem."
Lori Robishaw, spokeswoman for the national organization Americans for the Arts, said, "If these particular funds aren't there, it makes it that much more challenging for arts organizations concerned with arts education, and sets us further back."
"It's definitely going to affect the schools," agreed Robert Carroll, assistant executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools.
That is especially true for schools in the Hartford and Bridgeport districts, said Scott Shuler, an arts education specialist for the Connecticut Department of Education.
" Hartford , for several years, has [had] a grant to support professional development for its music teachers," Shuler said. "There is a significant financial impact on the state of Connecticut if that budget line were to be eliminated. It's particularly critical because there is a shortage nationwide, particularly in Connecticut , in music teachers. This funding has helped bring young teachers along and keep them in their school districts.
"It would have a very negative impact on Connecticut if that money were eliminated from the budget."
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Johnson, Larson Add to Campaign Accounts
WASHINGTON- Political action committee contributions to Nancy Johnson (R-5) totaled more than $600,000 last year, putting her behind only Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Il) and Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) as the House member with the most PAC contributions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Johnson, chairwoman of the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, received most of her campaign money from health insurance companies and private physicians, according to Federal Election Commission reports.
Because of her committee post, "it's not surprising she is attracting a lot of PAC money,"
said Sheila Krumholz, research director at the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that monitors campaign finances.
Reports released last month show Johnson raised just over $1 million in her campaign fund in 2003, including $200,000 in the last quarter of the year. As the new year began, she had: cash on hand of $897,432.
Johnson's $1,012,614 in contributions to date, Krumholz said, was "a standout figure," especially with eight months remaining to raise money before the November election.
Johnson is running for re-election for the 12 th time. She won in 2002 with 54 percent of the vote, running against Democratic congressman James Maloney in the re-districted Fifth District.
"She's had tough races before and is a fairly popular representative, so it's not surprising" that she might want to build up her campaign war chest "to ward off serious challengers," Krumholz said.
Johnson faces two Democratic challengers this time: Paul Vance Jr., president of the Waterbury Board of Aldermen, and Robert L. Marconi, the Connecticut assistant attorney general. Both said they have not yet raised the $5,000 necessary before filing an FEC report. Marconi said he will formally announce his intent to run next month. In the meantime, he plans to meet with Connecticut Democratic town committees to get his name on the political radar.
"It's incredibly difficult to start raising money if nobody knows who you are," Marconi said.
Republicans running for re-election this year have raised on average of $469,741, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Of Johnson's total contributions, 64 percent came from PACs, and 94.5 percent of the PAC donations came from businesses, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Krumholz said of Johnson's PAC money, "It's more than the average candidate has raised in any kind of contributions. That's definitely a hefty figure at this point in the cycle."
Brian Schubert, Johnson's press secretary, called the PAC donors a "broad coalition." They gave to Johnson because they support her agenda, Schubert said.
Rep. John Larson (D-1) raised $37,491 in the latest filing period, bringing his total receipts to $151,860. As 2004 began, he had $128,955 in cash on hand. A variety of donors contributed, including attorneys and manufacturing companies. The American Postal Workers Union gave $5,000. Larson is running for his 4 th term after winning 67 percent of the vote in 2002.
Through Dec. 31, 55 percent of Larson's contributions came from individuals and 43 percent came from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics
John Halstead of Wethersfield recently announced his candidacy against Larson, but so far has reported no activity to the FEC.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, (D-Conn.) contributed $1,000 to Larson in 2002 through his Responsibility/Opportunity/Community PAC, but so far no contributions from that PAC have been reported for the 2004 election.
Economy Better, But Needs Work, says Greenspan
By Morgan Kelly
WASHINGTON -Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told the House Financial Services Committee Wednesday that the economy is recovering, though the comeback is being held back by a lack of job growth and an increasing federal budget deficit.
Mr. Greenspan met with the panel to discuss the state of the economy and to urge Congress to prolong the economy's recent upturn by reducing the deficit and promoting free trade. Committee Democrats warned him that the Fed's policies would meet political resistance if American jobs and contracts continued to move overseas.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the committee's senior Democrat, said jobs are being lost because of globalization that sends jobs and contracts overseas, generating profits for U.S. companies while leaving American workers without jobs and benefits.
"There is a growing perception in the country that the benefits of recovery are being unequally shared," Rep. Frank said. "Our part is to contain excessive inequality."
He commended Mr. Greenspan for keeping interest rates at appropriate levels, but said that if "excessive inequality" persists as a result of lost jobs, Mr. Greenspan can expect "political resistance" to his policies.
Rep. Frank supports holding U.S. trading partners to environmental and labor standards equal to America's and providing health benefits to American workers who lose jobs because of trade.
"Overall, the economy has made impressive gains in output and real incomes," Mr. Greenspan said, adding that the economy has seen an increase in productivity, wages and household income despite only a slight increase in employment.
Three million jobs have been lost since 2001, and only 300,000 new jobs have been created in the last year. The unemployment rate continues to hover between five and six percent, nearly twice as high as it was in the late 1990s.
Mr. Greenspan said that the loss of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest , the South and New England is the result of the country's shift from a labor-based economy to one dependent on the information and technology sectors.
Mr. Greenspan was most concerned about the federal budget deficit, saying that if not addressed now, it will be nearly impossible to control when the baby-boom generation retires and the ratio of workers to retirees will "fall substantially."
He criticized Congress for being more concerned about partisan advantage than reducing the deficit.
"The debate over budget priorities appears to be between those advocating additional tax cuts and those advocating increased spending," Mr. Greenspan said. "To date, no effective constituency has offered programs to balance the budget."
Democrats say the projected 2004 federal deficit of $521 billion will increase dramatically if Congress approves President Bush's fiscal 2005 budget proposal.
Committee members divided along party lines in comments on the economy and the president's economic policies.
Committee Chairman Michael Oxley (R-Ohio) was optimistic that 2.6 million jobs will be created this year, as the president and Republicans are projecting. He said that the economy is doing well considering the Sept. 11, 2001 , terrorist attacks, the Iraq war and corporate scandals, such as Enron.
Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) lambasted Mr. Greenspan for supporting policies that have accelerated the movement of U.S. jobs to foreign countries and for presiding over an economy in which the rich have grown richer and the poor poorer.
"I am always amazed by how your forecasts are so far removed from the reality that I see everyday in my state for middle-class people and what I see all over the country," Rep. Sanders said, citing a litany of problems from underpaid Wal-Mart employees to seniors fearing for their pensions.
Mr. Greenspan said the despair Rep. Sanders described is not due to the Fed's economic policies but to a lack of new jobs.
"My view is that the pattern is about to change," he said, adding, "I don't know when it's going to change."
Shays Faults Colleges for Federal Grants’ Ineffectiveness
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON— Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4) Wednesday defended President Bush’s decision not to increase the size offederal grants for college students, saying that boosting federal aid would only spur universities to raise tuition and reduce other scholarships and loans.
“I am interested in grants for students—I have a daughter that’s going to be applying to school soon—but isn’t it a fact that just as we increase the Pell Grants and other grants, the administrations just raise their tuitions?” Shays said at a House Budget Committee hearing. “So who is getting these grants, the students or the university?”
Bush has proposed holding the line on Pell Grants, the federal government’s scholarship program for students primarily from low-income families. The president’s budget proposal for fiscal 2005, which could be changed by Congress, would maintain the current maximum of $4,050 per grant, but increase the number of grants issued by as many as 400,000.
Under Bush’s proposal, Pell Grants would be awarded to about 5.3 million undergraduates in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Unlike student loans, Pell Grants do not have to be repaid.
Following Shays’ comments, university officials and their representatives sought to demonstrate they have not raised tuition in response to increased federal support for students.
“The facts would show that Mr. Shays is completely wrong,” said Terry Hartle, the senior vice president of the American Council on Education, an organization that represents universities nationwide. “The Department of Education has investigated the relationship between federal student aid and college tuition increases and found no relationship whatsoever.
“Indeed, the only factor they could associate with college tuition increases is state support,” Hartle said in an interview. “In other words, as state support goes down—tuition goes up. Ironically, periods of increasing Pell Grant support areassociated, on the face of things, with a slower increase of tuition. Mr. Shays would like to posit just the opposite.”
But Education Secretary Roderick Paige agreed with Shays that increasing federal aid would help universities rather than students.
“Our role at the U.S. Department of Education is to supplement state and local efforts, not to supplant them,” Paige said.
Despite his criticism of universities, Shays, the Budget Committee’s vice chairman, said he believes Pell Grants are an important asset to students who receive them.
"Pell Grants help students help themselves,” Shays said in a statement issued following the hearing. “They allow millions of American students to pursue an undergraduate degree they otherwise would not be able to afford. Pell Grants have a proven record of success, and I support the president's commitment to this program."
Paige said at the hearing that Bush had proposed increasing spending on the Pell Grant program by $856 million, for a total of $12.9 billion in fiscal 2005.He said the increase would mean more than 1 million additional students would receive Pell Grants next year than when the president took office.
Paige said the proposed increase included $33 million for a program called Enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars, which provides $1,000 each for low-income freshmen who took challenging courses in high school.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, countered that the proposed spending increase was simply “rhetoric” because the administration had failed to compensate for inflation and tuition increases.
“The Bush administration has thrown around rhetoric that they have increased funding in this program by billions. It’s just that—rhetoric,” Miller said. He said the grant is worth $500 less than the maximum grant in 1975-76 when adjusted for inflation.
Bush’s proposal, Miller said, “fails to make college more affordable because if fails to address rising college costs, the declining buying power of college grants or the rising debt carried by college students.”
Miller’s spokesman, Tom Kiley, said Pell Grants originally were intended to cover three-fourths the cost of tuition but now cover less than half.
“The idea that taking away the Pell Grant would not be detrimental to the students who depend on it is, frankly, a ridiculous one,” Kiley said.
Yearly tuition for state residents averages $4,694 a year at four-year public colleges and universities and $19,710 at four-year private institutions, according to the College Board, a not-for-profit organization that provides students with information on postsecondary schools and creates standardized tests.
Annual tuition for the University of Connecticut is $4,730 for state residents and $14,425 for out-of-state students.
The Latest Numbers Are In — And Incumbents Are Raking In The Money
WASHINGTON -Republican Brian Hamel announced last month that he will challenge Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Me., in the Pine Tree State 's second district this November. He will go up against an incumbent who, nine months before the election, already has raised more than $500,000, according to a recent report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Hamel is president and chief executive officer of the Loring Development Authority, a state authority that works to recreate jobs lost when Loring Air Force Base closed in 1994.
Hamel is just starting to raise money, while Michaud, a former state Senate president running for his second term in Congress, has more than $300,000 cash on hand, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that monitors campaign finances.
The vast majority -- 65 percent -- of Michaud's contributions came from political action committees, or PACs, the center reported. Labor PACs alone donated $123,000, business PACS contributed $86,000 and groups that target single issues gave Michaud $56,000, the center reported.
Michaud, who for 28 years was a mill worker at the Great Northern Paper Co., received the largest chunk of money from transportation unions, which gave him $43,500, according to the center. Michaud is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure, Small Business and Veterans' Affairs Committees.
Industrial unions contributed $28,000; public-sector unions, $22,250; and building trade unions, $19,000.
"Clearly, this is a candidate relying on a lot of labor support," said Sheila Krumholz, research director at the center.
In Michaud's first congressional race in 2002, labor contributed $300,000 to his campaign.
Hamel meanwhile has begun to create a fundraising network, meeting with state House and Senate members, attending caucuses and calling people to raise money, he said in a phone interview. He is campaigning to improve the economy so that people in the second district can "continue to live where they love to live."
Rep. Thomas H. Allen, D-Me, so far is unopposed in his reelection bid. Allen, who first was elected in 1996, raised more than $278,000 in 2003, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Between October and December, Allen received $54,000 in contributions and spent $61,000 to manage his campaign, the FEC reported.
Nearly 66 percent of Allen's contributions came from individuals and 32 percent from political action committees, the center said. Labor is his biggest PAC supporter, having contributed $38,500; business PACs gave Allen more than $34,500.
Allen is a member of only one committee, Energy and Commerce, which Krumholz described as "a good money maker."
"A lot of money is coming from labor, followed by lawyers and lobbyists, the traditional key supporters of Democratic candidates," she said.
Allen received $15,000 from industrial unions, $9,500 from public-sector unions, $6,500 from transportation unions and $5,000 from building trade unions. He also received $18,500 from lawyers and law firms and $13,800 from retired people, according to the center.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Me., is not up for reelection to her third term until 2006. But like all members of Congress, Snowe must start raising money early. She received more than $134,500 in 2003 and has $386,000 in the bank, according to FEC reports.
Snowe chairs the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and is a member of the Finance, Select Intelligence, and Commerce, Science and Transportation Committees. In the past, she has received significant contributions from financial and insurance companies, as well as from the Wish List, which backs Republicans who support abortion rights.
"Her numbers will be even greater for year end," Krumholz said. "Snowe's Finance Committee is going to be a huge draw."
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., was elected to her second, six-year term in 2002. She has raised $58,755 for a 2008 race and has more than $200,000 in her campaign account, the FEC reported. In 2003, political action committees gave her nearly $28,000, according to the FEC.
Collins chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee and is a member of the Armed Services, Special Aging and Joint Economic Committees.
New Bedford Development Fund Stays the Same: That’s the Problem
By Morgan Kelly
WASHINGTON- Although President Bush has proposed that the federal government spend the same amount of money on urban development projects next year as in 2004, New Bedford and other cities are being forced to pare back programs because of a rising tide of poverty, according to a city housing official.
The president proposed spending $4.3 billion for Community Development Block Grants, which help revitalize neighborhoods, expand affordable housing, create jobs and improve community services in cities with more than 50,000 people and high poverty rates. It is the same amount Congress appropriated for fiscal 2004, which began Oct. 1.
In the current fiscal year, New Bedford is slated to receive $3.5 million. Brian Sullivan, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which issues the grants, said New Bedford should expect the same amount in 2005.
But $3.5 million isn't what it used to be, said Patrick Sullivan, New Bedford's director of housing and community development. The city needs more money than it did before, he said.
According to the 2000 census, there were 18,500 people living below the poverty level in New Bedford, almost 13 percent more than in 1990. Sixty percent of New Bedford's homes were built before 1940, which is one qualification for receiving HUD grants. The homeless rate is rising, as are rents and home prices, making it harder to find affordable housing, New Bedford's Patrick Sullivan said.
New Bedford's grant dropped from nearly $3.6 million in 2003 to $3.5 million this year, Patrick Sullivan said. He said he expects it to drop further as more cities become eligible for the grants.
"The significant at-risk population is growing in this city and the money to help them is not growing," he said.
New Bedford traditionally has used its grants for economic development and to improve housing, sidewalks and parks. It has subsidized more than 40 nonprofit organizations and city projects.
Patrick Sullivan said the city receives requests for $5 million a year, but has only $3.5 million to disburse. Requests have increased significantly this year, largely because of escalating housing costs, he said.
The money doesn't go as far as it used to because of inflation, said Margy Waller, an economic expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington . The recent economic downturn forced state and local governments to rely more on federal grants, she said, making it crucial that those grants increase.
"Unless you adjust for inflation from year to year, it means a cut," Ms. Waller said.
The answer to New Bedford 's problems lies with Congress, which can add money to the president's proposed budget.
"Many of us will be pushing for it, but I'm not sure we'll be successful," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). There are four cities that receive grants in Frank's district, including New Bedford and Fall River .
Congress will be under increased pressure to hold down spending during an election year in which the federal deficit is projected to reach $521 billion. HUD's Brian Sullivan said that keeping the block grant money at its current level is a priority.
"Keeping funding stable is preferable to funding reductions," Brian Sullivan said. "Tell [New Bedford] to relax. We got them covered."
Patrick Sullivan hopes so.
"If this money ever gets cut further there's going to be some deep impacts in the community," he said without elaboration. The city, he said, requires "significant upkeep."
Unemployment Benefits Amended, Extended
WASHINGTON - The House passed an amendment to the Community Services Block Grant Bill Wednesday night that if passed in the Senate and signed into law by the President, will extend unemployment benefits by six months to those whose benefits have expired.
The amendment, sponsored by George Miller (D- Calif.), was passed 227 to 179 with 27 members abstaining from voting. In arguing for support of the amendment Miller said, "This Congress stands by as 375,000 people lost their benefits in the month of January. We knew it was going to happen. We went home for Christmas. What kind of Christmas did these people have when they knew that their benefits were going to run out? What kind of Christmas did these hard working families have?"
"Most of them have worked their whole lives, played by the rules, tried to do it the right way, tried to raise their families; and now all of that is at risk and we sit with $17 billion in the trust fund, and they say go to the states." A lot of the states, he said, are out of money.
On the other side of the debate, Rep. Boehner (R- Ohio ) replied, ".at the 11 th hour we get this cynical attempt to talk about extending unemployment benefits. It has no business on this bill. As I said before, this is an authorization. There is no money attached to it; and for goodness sakes, no unemployed worker in America ought to count on anything happening out of this bill because it will never be funded."
Rep. Tierney (D - Salem ) said he didn't think the Republicans had a good argument against the amendment. "Many of the Republicans that voted against it tried to make the point that they thought this was not the proper procedure to go about it," he said. "We were forced to go this route because of their inability or unwillingness to help regular people that are unemployed.who want to work and just have not been able to but need those resources to survive."
He also said that an added benefit of extending unemployment benefits is that America would gain 1.73 dollars in economic balance for every dollar that was put into unemployment.
"I think it's a serious statement that finally we've got some members on the Republican majority side to recognize the economic situation. We're just not creating jobs."
He said that they voted for this amendment because they're recognizing that the people who are making money in this country are people who own stocks and are CEOs of companies. "That doesn't necessarily translate down to regular Americans. Regular Americans are the ones who haven't gotten their jobs back," he said.
BRAC Meeting Leaves Governor Feeling Optimistic About Bases in Natick and Bedford
WASHINGTON - Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney said he felt "encouraged" after attending a meeting here Thursday with members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation and a Pentagon official to discuss the defense department's plans for the closure of military bases around the country.
Romney and other state officials are most concerned about the fate of Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford and Natick Labs (officially, the Army Soldier Systems Center) in Natick under the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan for 2005.
Rep. Edward Markey of Malden helped to arrange the meeting with Romney and other Democratic members of the Massachusetts delegation including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Reps. Martin Meehan of Lawrence, John Tierney of Salem , James McGovern of Worcester and John Olver of Amherst . Also attending was Ray DuBois, Defense undersecretary for installations and environment, who discussed the criteria for the closing of military bases.
Following the meeting, Kennedy called Hanscom a unique and "indispensable facility" for national security. He said Hanscom has demonstrated through the coordination of targeting and weaponry and dramatic improvement in technology and firepower that it can help save American lives.
Romney said he came away feeling "much more encouraged" because he now had greater insight into the process for deciding which bases will be closed. "We had a very good meeting with Secretary DuBois and the members of the delegation," he said.
Meehan also said he felt it was a good meeting and the Massachusetts representatives were able to make their case. "The secretary listened and was responsive and we are going to continue this.We want to make sure the evaluation process includes the unique technical asset that Hanscom is," Meehan said.
Markey said the message the delegation sent to the Department of Defense was that "our military should work smarter, not harder" and that the brain power in Massachusetts makes the country much more secure when it is used by the American military. He said the delegation would be making the case that closing the bases would undermine American security.
Romney added, "Our concern has been in evaluating bases the criteria would not encompass the intellectual assets which are surrounding these bases." As a result of the meeting, Romney said he believes the process will include an evaluation of those kinds of capabilities. He said that though DuBois did not make any commitments about Hanscom or Natick , he was very encouraged about the reviews they will face.
Tierney said that DuBois indicated during the meeting that he "really understood the points that we were making."
Tierney also pointed out that the people who will be doing the first round of evaluations of the facilities are experts in the areas of technology and communications, which are specialties of Hanscom and Natick Labs.
The military base closing procedure requires that the Pentagon submit a list to Congress, which must either accept or reject the entire list.
Is Organized Crime an Indian Gaming Problem
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON --Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4) is sponsoring legislation that calls for an investigation into the influence of non-Native American investors and organized crime on Indian gaming.
He introduced the bill last week, one day before the federal government formally recognized the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, a move that could clear the way for the Connecticut-based tribe to open a casino in the state.
"With so much at stake, casino development interests are often willing to spend huge sums of money on the chance that they can influence the process," Shays said in a statement Wednesday. "To make sure the federal recognition process is accountable and transparent, it is important to know all the interests in play, including who is financing the petitioners and any possible connections to organized crime."
Chief Richard Velky of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation would not disclose where his tribe gets its financial backing.
Fred DeLuca, the founder and chief executive officer of Subway Restaurants, financed the Schaghticokes for an undisclosed period of time, according to his spokespeople. They said the investment was personal and not related to the restaurant.
DeLuca invested in the Tribal Nation under an agreement that he would be repaid with a profit, a source close to the Indian gaming industry said. DeLuca also wished to help develop the Bridgeport area, which is where he founded Subway Restaurants, and thought bringing Indian gaming to the area would provide an economic boom, the source said.
DeLuca did not return several calls requesting comment.
Other key financial backers of the Schaghticokes include John C. Ellis, formerly a catcher for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, and former state Rep. Dean P. Markham of Markham Associates. The two established the Native American Gaming Fund to raise money for a Schaghticoke casino, according to the Hartford Courant. In a telephone interview Thursday, Ellis confirmed his membership in the fund, but referred further questions to the fund's attorney, Stephen A. Zrenda. He declined comment.
Velky said his tribe solicits funds only from potential backers who have the best interests of the tribe in mind. He said non-Native American investors do not exert undue influence over the Schaghticokes. "The only pressure on the tribe was relieved last week once the Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized us," Velky said. "We would never ask any person who would use financial pressure to help us out." Following last year's murder of prominent Middletown businessman Joseph Mazotta, whose father had ties to the Genovese crime family, local police began investigating the Mazotta family's investments in the Schaghticoke Indian tribe, the Hartford Courant reported. The Middletown police department declined comment.
"They are not my investors," Velky said of the Mazzota family. He said the tribe had to steer clear of any potentially troublesome backers in order to gain federal recognition.
"You think it's tough to get federal recognition? Velky asked. "Well, the [National Indian Gaming] Commission has a tougher screening process for financial backers. If an Indian tribe ever tried anything like [working with organized crime], I don't think they'd cut the mustard for the federal authorities." Traditionally, the gambling industry has attracted criminal interests because it involves many undocumented financial transactions, said Philip N. Hogen, the commission's chairman. "The good news for tribal gaming is the whole industry of gaming has evolved since its beginnings, when mobs and organized crime influences were the rule and not the exception," Hogen said. "These days firms on Wall Street can and do invest in gaming."
Guy Michael Brown, the former head of Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard , Conn. , and former consultant to the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, said organized crime factions did attempt to do business with that casino.
"There were two or three attempts to do business with us," Brown said. "The Connecticut state police and the FBI took care of it, though-one was a credit card scheme that resulted in many arrests."
But Velky said the Schaghticokes are looking forward not to casinos but to improved health care and a new 10-unit housing facility for their elders -- just a few of the perks, he said, that will flow from federal recognition.
"We have always felt the social programs are more important than any financial ones," Velky said.
