Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s transit plan, which will be on the November ballot, will inevitably lead to property tax increases.
Last month, O’Connell officially announced that his long-awaited transit plan will be on the November 5 ballot, however, he did not release any information regarding what the plan entails.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would require annual reporting on federal funds spent in China.
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Republican Rep. Bob Good of Virginia introduced a bill on Friday that would prevent the use of federal funds on two of President Joe Biden’s top climate programs, according to a copy of the bill obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The No American Climate Corps Act would prohibit the Biden administration from deploying federal funds to bankroll the American Climate Corps program and the Justice40 Initiative; both programs are signature elements of Biden’s sweeping climate agenda. The American Climate Corps is a green jobs training program, while the Justice40 Initiative fuses principles of social justice into the administration’s massive green spending, establishing an administration-wide goal to have 40% of the overall benefits of climate spending flow to “disadvantaged communities.”
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Tennessee received $23.7 million to upgrade or replace 42 railroad bridges across the state.
The bridges are part of 10 different short-line railroads in 12 different counties. The funds are part of $1.4 billion in federal tax dollars going to projects in 35 different states as part of the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Law.
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Amid declining ridership rates, Pittsburgh’s public transit system has become more dependent on federal funds to remain afloat.
The Port Authority of Allegheny County, which serves Pittsburgh’s 300,000 residents, budgeted $95 million in federal emergency funding to prevent the system from going into debt in fiscal year 2023, according to budget documents. The transit agency received $502.5 million in federal stimulus funding.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) re-introduced legislation this week that would prohibit schools that violate their state’s laws regarding materials deemed harmful to children from receiving federal funds.
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As part of the “Internet for All” initiative, Virginia is set to receive $1.4 billion in federal funds, while Maryland is poised to receive $267 million to expand broadband access across both states.
The program aims to level economic and educational playing fields by providing reliable internet access to “unserved and underserved locations.”
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Connecticut is pumping more federal funds into its fuel assistance program to provide the state’s low income energy consumers with more relief this winter.
The Connecticut Energy Assistance Program says it will be increasing fuel assistance payments to qualifying residents by another $430 this season, to help with home heating costs and unpaid utility bills through the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
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Connecticut is focusing on a workforce investment designed to place state residents from underserved communities into high-demand jobs.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday the state was awarded $23.9 million through the American Rescue Plan’s Good Jobs Challenge through the U.S. Department of Commerce. The funds will be invested into the Office of Workforce Strategy programs designed to place more than 2,000 residents into the workforce.
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Jason Lary, the former Mayor of the City of Stonecrest, was sentenced to spend close to five years in federal prison for his scheme that stole thousands of COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government.
According to a release from the Department of Justice, the former government official took more than $100,000 from the citizens of his city.
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While U.S. intelligence has been unable in two years to determine for sure if COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese lab, Congress has decided it no longer wants to take the risk of funding medical research at labs controlled by Beijing or other American adversaries.
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The federal government is sending more than $9.1 million for a pair of rehabilitation projects on Georgia-owned Class III railroads.
The Federal Railroad Administration will provide nearly $6.2 million to the Heart of Georgia and roughly $2.9 million to the Georgia Southwestern Railroad. The Georgia Department of Transportation owns both lines, and the state will provide a 50% match for the projects.
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Pennsylvania and other states will split about $11 billion to fund Acid Mine Land reclamation, and a proposed congressional bill would allow that money to fund treatment projects for Acid Mine Drainage, which affects rivers and waterways.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, introduced the STREAM Act which expands how states can use AML funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act. States would be able to approve projects to treat drainage that contaminates waterways and has long-term impacts, in addition to reclaiming formerly mined land.
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An analysis from the Minnesota Management and Budget office detailed that the state’s budget surplus has increased to $9.253 billion.
The new number is an increase from a previous estimate published in December.
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Lawmakers in the Wisconsin State Senate on Tuesday approved a measure that would alter the state’s constitution to award the legislature more power when distributing federal funds awarded to the state.
Under current provisions, the governor of the state has the authority to disperse the funds without legislative approval.
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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is leading a coalition of Republicans in Congress to sponsor legislation that would ban federal funding to states or localities that allow foreigners to vote in U.S. elections.
The new legislation, dubbed the Protecting Our Democracy by Preventing Foreign Citizens from Voting Act, was introduced after many liberal municipalities from San Francisco to New York have moved in 2021 to allow non-citizens to cast ballots in local elections
“It’s ridiculous that states are allowing foreign citizens to vote,” Rubio said. “However, if states and localities do let those who are not U.S. citizens to vote in elections, they shouldn’t get U.S. citizen taxpayer money.”
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive Tuesday, which will direct federal funds from the recently signed infrastructure package to fix the state’s roads and bridges.
“Right now, we have an [sic] historic opportunity to put Michiganders first and use the billions in funding we are expected to receive under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to ensure every community has safe, smooth roads and bridges,” Whitmer said in a statement. “With this executive directive, we are getting ready to build up local roads and bridges across Michigan, create thousands of good-paying jobs for Michiganders, and ensure small businesses, downtowns, and neighborhoods have high-quality, reliable infrastructure to rely on as we usher in a new era of prosperity for our state. I look forward to working with the legislature to invest these dollars and get the job done.”
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Some Virginia universities intend to prohibit marijuana on campus grounds after it becomes legal for recreational use for adults age 21 and older in the state.
Although the commonwealth will allow legal possession beginning in two weeks, the plant still is illegal at the federal level and a schedule I drug under the controlled substance act. If a university allows marijuana on campus, some universities worry it could threaten their federal funding.
A spokesperson from James Madison University told The Center Square the Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices will continue to address incidents of marijuana on campus because use and possession are illegal under federal law.
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The state Controlling Board voted to split $90 million of federal taxpayer money aimed to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic between the Ohio Health Department – which will receive $8.5 million – and rural transportation departments across the state, which will receive the balance of $81.5 million to “aid for rural transportation systems,” according to a statement released by Democrats Monday.
“We need to ensure health care workers and officials on the ground have the tools they need to detect, track and contain this virus before we begin to reopen our state. This funding is a step in the right direction to get us where we need to be, but we’re not there yet,” said Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes (D-Akron).
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