Tag: Federal Funds

Inflation Ticks Up Despite Slowdown in Jobs Market

Daily Caller News Foundation
Inflation

Inflation rose slightly in October despite a massive slowdown in job growth in the same month, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report released Wednesday.

The consumer price index (CPI), a measure of the price of everyday goods, increased 0.2% on an annual basis in October and rose 2.6% month-over-month, compared to 2.4% in September, and in line with expectations, according to the BLS. Core CPI rose 3.3% year-over-year in October, the same rate as in September.

Read the full story

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s ‘Greendoggle’ Transit Plan Will Lead to Increased Property Taxes, Watchdog Predicts

Kaitlin Housler
Freddie O'Connell

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.

Read the full story

Virginia Rep. Introduces Bill That Prevents Federal Funds from Going to Biden’s Top Climate Programs

Admin

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.”

Read the full story

Pittsburgh Mass Transit Budget Still Treading Water

The Center Square

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.

Read the full story

Connecticut Diverts More Federal Funds for Fuel Assistance

The Center Square

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.

Read the full story

Connecticut Will Use Federal Funds to Get People Back to Work

The Center Square

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.

Read the full story

Georgia to Receive $9.1 Million in Federal Funds for State-Owned Railroads

The Center Square

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.

Read the full story

Federal Funds to Bolster Acid Mine Drainage Cleanup in Pennsylvania

The Center Square

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.

Read the full story

Wisconsin Senate Approves Constitutional Amendment to Grant Legislature Power over Dispersement of Federal Funds

Cooper Moran

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.

Read the full story

Republicans Move to Ban Federal Funds to States, Cities That Allow Non-Citizens to Vote

Admin

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.”

Read the full story

Gov. Whitmer Directive Prepares Michigan to Fix Infrastructure with Federal Dollars

The Center Square

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.”

Read the full story

Some Virginia Colleges Will Continue to Prohibit Marijuana on Campus to Protect Federal Funds

The Center Square
Virginia Commonwealth University

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.

Read the full story

Ohio State Controlling Board Splits $90 Million in Federal Funds: 10 Percent to Ohio Department of Health and 90 Percent to ‘Rural Transportation’

Samantha Witwer

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).

Read the full story