Tag: Congress

Several local leaders support bipartisan infrastructure bill

Several local leaders have supported the bipartisan infrastructure bill in Congress, which could allocate $3.5 trillion nationally..

Here’s what some of the local leaders have said about the proposed bill, which is estimated to bring about $3.8 billion to Kansas and create 2 million jobs nationwide.

“Our community and state would benefit significantly from improvements provided under the existing federal infrastructure bill, allowing us to undertake much needed repairs to roads, bridges, and other critical public works projects that improve the overall quality of life for our residents. Coupled with expanding internet access and improving public transit that helps workers get to their jobs, among other things, the infrastructure bill will help stimulate and grow the local economy – benefitting every part of our community,” said Mayor David Alvey of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County-Kansas City, Kansas.

“From clean drinking water to safe roads to high-speed internet, infrastructure is an undeniably important part of our everyday lives and our local economy. The bipartisan infrastructure bill would ensure that our communities in Kansas have access to opportunity here at home and would set the foundation for future growth. We call on Congress to pass this important bill,” said Joab Ortiz, chairman of the board of the Kansas City, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The U.S. Senate has acted, and now it’s time for the House of Representatives to do the same: pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill. A strong regional transportation system is one of the KC Chamber’s strategic priorities. We believe the legislation is bold and comprehensive and will benefit the Kansas City region and its roads, highways, water and energy infrastructure, and access to broadband services. All are vital to our region and the country’s ability to stay competitive and connected across state lines and around the globe. The KC Chamber believes this bipartisan infrastructure bill will provide a critical boost to our bistate region and keep America thriving and globally competitive for years to come,” said Joe Reardon, president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

“The historic bipartisan infrastructure deal will make life better for millions of Kansas residents beyond just bringing long-overdue repairs to our infrastructure. Aging cast iron and ductile iron water mains are leaking at an alarming rate. Water mains are deteriorating away from corrosion caused by the environment they are buried in. With 21% of our customers living below poverty, it is already difficult to control the costs for our customer base in a community like Wyandotte County. I urge the U.S. House to pass this legislation, and I thank Rep. Davids for her work to bring these investments to our community,” said William A. Johnson, general manager of the Kansas City, Kansas, Board of Public Utilities.

“Passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill is vital to the Kansas City region and the economy of the entire Midwest. Reinvesting in our long-neglected inland waterways provides much needed capacity expansion for multimodal commerce. Together with needed rail and highway improvements, we can assure efficient and stable access to the global marketplace. Passage of this bill will help entities like Port KC invest in modern, sustainable transportation infrastructure which will ensure the region’s competitiveness, reduce transportation bottlenecks and allow us to reinvest in long-neglected areas,” said Jon Stephens, president and CEO of PortKC.

“Modern, well-maintained transportation, water, broadband and power systems are all critical to the safety, health and shared prosperity of the Kansas City region. MARC strongly supports timely passage of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which will provide historic federal investment in these essential priorities,” said David A. Warm, executive director of the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC).

“In my entire working career, I have never seen a bill that has something for all parties concerned. It will decrease the unemployment across the United States and bring back higher paying jobs at one of the lowest times in history due to the Covid virus. It brings back hope for the working-class people. We all need a shot in the arm to boost our level of confidence back to a normal life. This bill will provide more jobs across the board—blue-collar and white-collar jobs.

“We have been on hold to get all the infrastructure fixed. Our bridges and our roads are in the worse shape ever. Just in LiUNA, it will provide 30% more workers alone. Now is the time to put party affiliations aside and provide Americans an opportunity to get back to work and provide for their families. Please support the bill.” said Mike Kane, public affairs director of Laborers’ Local 1290.

“This bipartisan infrastructure bill positions our state and the United States for the 21st century, by improving our airports ($109 million for Kansas), access to reliable high-speed internet (15% of Kansas households do not have an internet subscription), improvements in healthy transportation options (that people of color disproportionately depend on), and finally, addresses a climate and manufacturing crisis that could be turned around. The Kansas AFL-CIO urges support as the U.S. House considers the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” said Andy Sanchez, executive secretary-treasurer of the Kansas AFL-CIO.

“The bipartisan infrastructure bill will put millions of Americans to work each year while investing much-needed dollars into our transportation systems, many of which converge in the Kansas City area. And with comprehensive Buy America provisions, not only will the people working on these infrastructure projects benefit, but the businesses and workers who make the materials will as well. We are glad to see Rep. Sharice Davids support this bill to bring jobs home to our area and we urge its passage,” said Ralph Stubbs, president of Teamsters 41 – Kansas City.

“Kansas students will be safer on their ride to school, healthier at home and at school, and will have better access to learning because of Representative Sharice Davids’ leadership in Congress. The Senate’s recently passed infrastructure bill promises to put tax-payer dollars where they’re needed most and where they will do the most good, in our communities.

“Every teacher knows that there are some basic necessities kids need in order to learn every day. Kids learn best when they can get to school on safe, clean-energy buses that run on improved roadways. Kids learn best when their drinking water and the air they breathe at recess and in their community are clean. Kids learn best when they have equal access to resources like broadband internet. This legislation helps to provide needed funding for many of the basic necessities of learning and strengthens many others.

“No matter their zip code, Kansas families will benefit from placing dollars back into our neighborhoods and towns and promises to make life better for Kansas citizens. With so many working Kansans struggling to overcome the myriad impacts of a global pandemic, we’re fortunate to have a Congresswoman who is willing to fight for what is needed and support this bipartisan bill so that every Kansas student can learn and grow,” said Sherri Schwanz, Kansas NEA president.

U.S. House Dems propose $28.6B in disaster aid for recovery from hurricanes, wildfires, floods

by Laura Olson, Kansas Reflector

Washington — Congressional Democrats unveiled a short-term spending measure on Tuesday that would keep the federal government operating through Dec. 3 and provide $28.6 billion for costs related to recent natural disasters.

That disaster relief money is slightly more than the $24 billion that the Biden administration asked Congress to approve for extreme weather events during the last 18 months, including hurricanes, floods and wildfires.

A summary of the new legislation specifies that it would include aid to states related to Hurricanes Ida, Delta, Zeta, and Laura, wildfires, severe droughts and winter storms and other natural and major disasters declared in 2021 and prior years.

“The relief is provided to virtually all corners of the nation, because all corners of the nation have been suffering,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said during a Rules Committee meeting Tuesday morning.

“It helps to rebuild in the wake of these disasters, and provides a lifeline to families struggling to get back on their feet.”

The spending bill also would lift the limit on federal borrowing through the end of 2022, which would prevent a default on the federal debt that otherwise will occur in the coming weeks.

The U.S. House is expected to move quickly on the bill, with plans to begin debate later on Tuesday. The short-term funding measure is needed because Congress is unlikely to finish its work passing full-year spending bills before the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30.

But the measure’s fate is complicated by the multiple urgent components packaged into one piece of legislation. Republicans have said they will not support raising the debt ceiling, even though not doing so risks significant fiscal consequences.

Democrats had sought to push past that opposition by including the money needed to avoid a government shutdown, as well as billions in disaster relief that would help a number of states with Republican legislators in Congress.

The disaster relief money would be allocated through a broad range of agencies. It includes:

• $10 billion for crop losses due to devastating storms in 2020 and 2021;
• $2.6 billion to reimburse states for repairs to roads and bridges;
• $1.2 billion in low-interest loans to businesses, homes and renters; and
• $5 billion for Community Development Block Grants for restoration of housing and infrastructure, or economic revitalization.

It also includes funding for drought and disaster response related to Western wildfires, including fire remediation and a waiver on the annual pay cap for emergency wildland fire suppression workers at the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service.

Other money in the bill is intended to reduce the effects of future extreme weather events, through research on forecasting hurricanes and detecting wildfires, and the construction of flood and storm damage-reduction projects.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2021/09/21/u-s-house-dems-propose-28-6b-in-disaster-aid-for-recovery-from-hurricanes-wildfires-floods/

Immigration reform blocked from reconciliation bill in Congress, but Democrats vow to try again

by Ariana Figueroa, Kansas Reflector

Washington — The U.S. Senate parliamentarian has turned down a plan to include a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented people in the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package, a blow for Democrats and immigration advocacy groups when the decision was disclosed late Sunday.

“We are deeply disappointed in this decision but the fight to provide lawful status for immigrants in budget reconciliation continues,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. “Senate Democrats have prepared alternate proposals and will be holding additional meetings with the Senate parliamentarian in the coming days.”

The opinion by Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s nonpartisan parliamentarian, was a setback for the Biden administration and Democrats who would have to reach 60 votes in the Senate for any immigration reform, rather than a simple majority through reconciliation, a process reserved for matters that affect spending, revenues, the deficit or the debt limit. The Senate is evenly split between the parties.

Schumer said that his party will “continue fighting to pursue the best path forward to grant them the ability to obtain lawful status.”

If accepted by the parliamentarian, the Senate’s proposal would have provided the Senate Judiciary Committee with $107 billion for “lawful permanent status for qualified immigrants.”

The House’s proposal is more specific and would have provided a pathway to citizenship for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, often referred to as Dreamers; farmworkers; those who hold a Temporary Protected Status, meaning they are unable to return to their countries; and essential workers.

There are more than 11 million undocumented people in the U.S., according to the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that studies migration. The proposal would have affected dozens of states with high immigrant populations such as Florida, California, Texas, Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

Immigration grassroots advocacy groups like Living United for Change in Arizona, or LUCHA, and We Are CASA, expressed their disappointment.

“The thing that I want to say to you at this moment is that we are still in this game, and we are not going to back down,” CASA Executive Director Gustavo Torres said in a statement. “The Dems have the power to deliver, and they have committed to doing that. This is a movement moment and we must be committed to holding the line.”

The co-executive directors for LUCHA, Alex Gomez and Tomas Robles, said that the Biden administration and congressional Democrats should find other avenues to provide a pathway for citizenship.

They also called upon U.S. Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona, both Democrats, to take up the fight as well.

“Tonight’s decision by an unelected Senate staffer is unacceptable, but it’s not the end, they said. “It’s been 35 years since the last time major reform was passed. We are in a once-in-a-generation opportunity to once and for all provide citizenship this year for millions of immigrants who continue living in the shadows while providing essential services to our communities and the economy.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2021/09/20/immigration-reform-blocked-from-reconciliation-bill-in-congress-but-democrats-vow-to-try-again/