Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Congress OKs deadline extension for rail safety system, averts shutdown - Chicago Tribune

 

Metra riders can breathe a sigh of relief with the Congressional action Wednesday to extend a safety system deadline and avert a threatened Jan. 1 railroad shutdown.

The Senate approved a House-passed measure that gives railroads an additional three years, to Dec. 31, 2018, to install the safety system known as Positive Train Control. The measure, part of a larger transportation funding bill, now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature.

"Today's action will ultimately enable us to avoid a shutdown of Metra commuter rail service on January 1, 2016," Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno said in a statement.

"This news can finally put the minds of our customers and employees at ease, knowing that Metra's trains will continue operating in January. As always, Metra remains committed to implementing PTC as quickly and safely as we can."

If Congress had not acted, Metra and other commuter and freight railroads across the country said they would have to shut down by Dec. 31 because they have not had enough time to install the complex system that uses GPS, radios and other equipment to slow or stop speeding trains and override human error.

The Association of American Railroads, which represents the railroad industry, also hailed the action.

"Members of the House and Senate are to be commended for taking the responsible action to extend the PTC deadline. This provides the certainty American industries and businesses need to serve the millions of Americans who rely on rail every day," said AAR president and CEO Edward Hamberger.

As safety deadline looms, railroads look to Congress to avert shutdown

"The extension means freight and passenger railroads can continue moving forward with the ongoing development, installation, real-world testing and validation of this complex technology," he said.

Congress OKs deadline extension for rail safety system, averts shutdown - Chicago Tribune

NIU students plan rally around Rauner visit Thursday | DeKalb County Online

 

On Thursday, October 29, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is scheduled to appear at the Holmes Student Center on NIU’s DeKalb campus. Rauner will be the keynote speaker at the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation’s annual dinner and State of the County program, scheduled from 5 to 8:30 p.m. in the Duke Ellington Ballroom, inside the student center. Tickets are required for admission to the event.

According to the NIU Alumni Newsletter, NIU students, led by the NIU Student Association, plan to rally in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commons, the public area directly outside the Holmes Student Center, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The Student Association has invited students from other colleges and universities in the region, including Northeastern, DePaul, and Kishwaukee, to join them. The rally is scheduled to include a voter registration drive and petition drive, and state legislators have been invited to attend and meet with those attending the rally.

The NIU Alumni Association invites alumni to attend the rally as well in a show of support for NIU.

Student Rally
Thursday, Oct. 29, 4:30 p.m.
Martin Luther King Jr. Commons, NIU

Rally Topics

  • The impact of MAP funding on NIU and on individual students
  • The effect of the budget impasse on DeKalb County
  • The effect of the budget impasse on local social services
  • How the budget impasse has affected construction on NIU’s Stevens Annex
  • How other schools have been affected by the state budget
  • Response from state legislators

NIU Fast Facts

  • NIU has seven degree-granting colleges, 56 undergraduate majors, and 80 graduate programs.
  • NIU enrolls more than 20,000 students, including 1,211 international students representing nearly 80 nations.
  • NIU has more than 230,000 alumni living worldwide, including nearly 150,000 in the Chicagoland region alone.

NIU students plan rally around Rauner visit Thursday | DeKalb County Online

House passes budget deal, Senate expected to act soon - The Washington Post

 

Congress on Wednesday moved a step closer to clearing a bipartisan budget deal that would boost spending for domestic and defense programs over two years while suspending the debt limit into 2017.

The House passed the bill on a 266 to 167 vote late Wednesday and Senate leaders have promised to quickly move it through the upper chamber.

The agreement would essentially end the often contentious budget battles between congressional Republicans and President Obama by pushing the next round of fiscal decision making past the 2016 election when there will be a new Congress and White House occupant.

House Republican leaders unveiled the proposal earlier this week and immediately faced challenges from conservatives upset over both the secretive negotiations that led to the agreement as well as the policies contained in the bill.

Some of this discontent was dealt with after a change was made to the bill late Tuesday night to ensure that the full cost of the $80 billion in new discretionary spending was offset by an equal amount of mandatory spending cuts and increased revenue.

Some Republicans raised concerns  earlier Tuesday that the bill fell about $4 billion short of this goal, but the Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday reported that the changes to the legislation had closed this gap.

Senior Republicans came forward ahead of the vote to support the legislation and encourage others to join them. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said the bill would benefit the military and prevent the threat of another shutdown.

“It stops the cuts in defense, it increases the money going to our troops and it prevents them from being used as a bargaining chip in the future,” Thornberry said. “I think that is the sort of stability and predictability they need and that they deserve.”

Still, many House Republicans remained opposed to the deal and only 79 voted in favor of the deal while 187  Democrats supported the bill on the floor.

The agreement would lift the so-called sequester spending caps to increase discretionary spending by about $80 billion over two years, an amount that would be split equally among defense and domestic programs. To offset this cost, negotiators tapped a number of sources, including by making changes to Medicare and Social Security, auctioning off spectrum controlled by the government, selling crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and tightening tax rules for business partnerships.

In addition, the legislation would limit a historic premium increase for Medicare Part B beneficiaries set to go into effect next year for services like hospital care and doctor visits. The agreement also would prevent a potential 20 percent across-the-board cut to Social Security Disability Insurance benefits that is also set to take place next year, by transferring some funding from the main Social Security fund and making changes to the program. These cost-saving changes include allowing some recipients who can still work to receive partial payments while earning outside income and expanding a program requiring a second medical expert to weigh in on whether an applicant is truly disabled.

Senate leaders want to move the bill quickly — the Treasury Department estimates the deadline for raising the debt ceiling is Nov. 3 — and a tax bill that already passed the House is being used as the vehicle for the agreement in order to speed up the procedural process in the upper chamber.

Presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he plans to filibuster the bill, but his chances of slowing down passage are limited.

The agreement will have to clear one procedural hurdle with at least 60 votes before it can be approved by a simple majority. At most Paul could briefly delay the final vote by refusing to allow leaders to cut off debate before the maximum 30 hours allowed under Senate rules have expired.

The final Senate vote could come as early as this week.

Attempts to do away with two of the thorniest problems facing the House GOP — setting spending levels and raising the debt ceiling — come as Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) to replace John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is resigning from Congress this week, as speaker of the House.

House passes budget deal, Senate expected to act soon - The Washington Post

FACEBOOK: Cathy Ward’s comments on the ZBA’s decision to approve a change in the wind tower ordinance

 

Cathy Ward

18 hrs ·

BOONE COUNTY AND WIND FARMS - Zoning Board of Appeals here voted unanimously a few minutes ago to approve a much longer set back - 8 football fields away from a property line - that will essentially eliminate all wind towers in the county. It is possible that someone could give a waiver, but never heard of any. Expect the county PZB will do the same next week and the county board is likely to vote the same way. No surprise, just so disappointing for the thousands of people in our county who believe in green energy and don't believe wind farms have horrible health and safety effects. Expect a lawsuit soon. The company who wants to bring wind towers and then millions of dollars to our county consider this a ban, which they say is unconstitutional. Supporters of wind energy here believe all boards have been stacked with opponents of wind farms. Looks that way. So sad for so many for lots of reasons.

Paul Ryan adds corporate lobbyist to his new team | MSNBC

 

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been so cozy with corporate lobbyists in recent years, they’ve effectively had a seat at the table for every major policy dispute. When Congress worked on Wall Street reform, Boehner huddled with financial-industry lobbyists. When Congress worked on health care reform, he huddled with insurance lobbyists. When Congress worked on climate change, Boehner huddled with energy lobbyists.

We’ll learn soon enough whether his successor will pursue a similar course, but the Washington Post reported over the weekend on Paul Ryan’s new chief of staff.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has selected David Hoppe, a former adviser to Republican congressional leaders and a longtime Washington lobbyist, to serve as his chief of staff, should Ryan be elected House speaker this week, as is widely expected.

The hiring was finalized after Hoppe and Ryan, both Wisconsin natives and proteges of the late New York congressman Jack Kemp, had conversations about Ryan’s desire to staff the speaker’s office with seasoned aides who are also deeply familiar with conservatism, according to people briefed on the talks.

In a written statement, the incoming Speaker said of Hoppe, “Dave has been a foot soldier in the conservative movement, and he is a good friend. His decades of experience fighting for the cause and his passionate commitment to conservative principles are just what I’m looking for to create a new kind of speakership.”

For those who are concerned about corporate lobbyists already having outsized influence over Capitol Hill policymaking, Paul Ryan’s first big hire probably isn’t encouraging news. And to be sure, Hoppe has had success on K Street, coming to the incoming Speaker’s office from Squire Patton Boggs, a powerhouse D.C. firm, after having worked at Quinn Gillespie & Associates, as well as his own Hoppe Strategies.

His client list includes some very familiar, very lucrative names: Delta, AT&T, Ford, Cayman Finance, and Amazon, among others.

But Hoppe is also a former vice president at the Heritage Foundation, and a long-time congressional staffer for a variety of prominent Republicans.

Lee Drutman made the case late yesterday that one of the more important takeaways from this story is the fact that “the most experienced and qualified people” up for congressional jobs are often found in the private sector, because that’s where insiders “make the real money in Washington.”

“If we don’t like the idea of individuals jumping between the public and private sector, we need to take the idea of investing in government more seriously, so that somebody like Hoppe might make a career as a public servant and not get mixed up with corporate clients to send his kids to college and pay his mortgage,” Drutman added. “Instead, after decades of stagnating congressional staffing levels, it’s no wonder that Ryan, like many other congressional leaders, turned to the private sector. That’s where the majority of experienced policy and political talent works. And that’s the real problem.”

As for the incoming Republican leader’s priorities, I also found it interesting that Ryan stressed ideological credentials. The Wisconsin congressman wanted someone “familiar with conservatism,” a “foot soldier in the conservative movement,” someone with “experience fighting for the cause,” and a “passionate commitment to conservative principles.”

Note, Ryan made no reference to policymaking or governing, emphasizing Hoppe’s ideology – and nothing else.

Paul Ryan adds corporate lobbyist to his new team | MSNBC

Belvidere, Boone County officials engaged in 'full-court press' to keep Evac North America - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

Posted Oct. 27, 2015 at 5:59 PM

BELVIDERE — A local wastewater collection and treatment company that employs more than 40 people in Boone County is considering moving to Beloit, Wisconsin, to expand its operations. City and county leaders have engaged in what Growth Dimensions Executive Director Jarid Funderburg called a "full-court press" to entice the company to stay put.
According to city leaders, Evac North America Inc., located between Belvidere and Cherry Valley in the Huntwood Business Park, is being courted by economic development leaders in Beloit. The company wants to expand at its current location and add as many as 10 employees, Funderburg said, but electrical issues with ComEd, and the fact that Evac would miss out on certain tax incentives since its building is not currently included in the Belvidere-Boone County enterprise zone, caused company leaders to start looking at other options.
The Huntwood Business Park is located south of U.S. 20 and east of Wheeler Road off Huntwood Drive.
In response, city and county leaders introduced ordinances that would amend the current enterprise zone to include the Huntwood Business Park and began meeting with Evac and ComEd representatives to set up a more efficient electrical configuration.
A representative from Evac was not immediately available for comment.
"They are looking to expand and they're going to go to Beloit (otherwise)," Funderburg said. "We want to give them every opportunity to stay here with their 40-plus jobs and the new creation of property tax revenue for the county."
Parcels of land northwest of Huntwood recently purchased by Ceroni Piping near the intersection of U.S. 20 and Interstate 90 for a planned expansion and business park would also be included if the enterprise zone is amended.
Businesses located within enterprise zones can qualify for several expansion incentives from state and local governments. From the state, businesses can obtain tax credits for buying building materials, hiring local workers and for various equipment purchases. Locally, businesses in the zone can qualify for property tax abatement and reduced permit fees.

The two locations to be included in the enterprise zone if the ordinances are passed by Belvidere City Council and Boone County Board are outside Belvidere and Cherry Valley city limits

"What it does do is allow a local business to stay in the area and it indirectly benefits the city both through people driving through town, plus, let's face it, if the county loses out on real-estate tax dollars, that's services that all our residents can't get as well."
Since the Belvidere-Boone County enterprise zone was formed through an intergovernmental agreement with the city and the county, both governments must amend ordinances to expand its borders.
"We looked at this as our challenge," said Belvidere Mayor Mike Chamberlain. "Somehow, these areas got left out of the enterprise zone some time ago. We're resolving that as fast as we can."
Ben Stanley: 815-987-1369; bstanley@rrstar.com; @ben_j_stanley

Belvidere, Boone County officials engaged in 'full-court press' to keep Evac North America - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Letter: I support Michelle Courier - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

As a State Rep. serving multiple counties, I meet numerous state’s attorneys. Michelle Courier is one of the most effective state’s attorneys and Boone County residents benefit. Michelle is hard working, innovative and dedicated to improving public safety. She is a native of the county with an understanding of the needs, expectations and values of its citizens. Michelle has a record of fair treatment and a goal for making the county a better place in which to live and work; she already has the knowledge and experience needed in the office. Join me supporting the re-election of Michelle Courier as Boone County state’s attorney.
Bob Pritchard, State Rep., R-70th District

Letter: I support Michelle Courier - Opinion - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL