TACOMA, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), joined by Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland and other state and local leaders, celebrated the opening of Oak Trace Apartments in Tacoma.
Cantwell touted the 63-unit complex as a local example of how the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) leverages private investment to develop affordable housing and create jobs in communities across Washington and the United States.
“Tacoma, like many parts of the country, is facing an affordable housing crisis. According to the State Department of Commerce, there are only 12 affordable and available units of housing for every 100 extremely low-income families in Tacoma,” said Cantwell. “In the Senate, I have introduced legislation with my colleague Senator Orrin Hatch from Utah to expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit by 50 percent, which would be help build more than 2,500 affordable homes right here in Tacoma.”
“Trillium Housing Services and MacDonald Development are thrilled to welcome a champion for affordable housing, Senator Maria Cantwell, to Oak Trace, an affordable housing community that exemplifies the private-public partnership created by the Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program,” said Sue Baker, President of Cambridge Management, Inc. “There is an incredible unmet need for affordable housing in Pierce County and we look forward to supporting Senator Cantwell’s efforts to expand the LIHTC program so that more communities like Oak Trace can be developed to address the housing crisis in the county and in this country.”
The U.S. is in the midst of an unprecedented affordable housing crisis. This is particularly evident in Tacoma and Pierce County, where there are only 10 affordable, available units for every 100 extremely low-income families. The shortage leaves more than 16,000 extremely low-income renters in the county without access to affordable housing.
Recognizing the need to confront the housing crisis head-on, Senator Cantwell has introduced legislation to expand LIHTC by 50%. Her Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act would help create or preserve some 1.3 million affordable homes nation-wide over a 10-year period. In Tacoma, the expanded LIHTC proposed in the Cantwell bill would help build or preserve more than 2,500 affordable units. Annually, 90% of new affordable housing units in the U.S. are built with the tax credit. The bill is cosponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and 18 other senators.
“The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is our best tool for fighting the housing crisis in Washington state,” said Karen Miller, chair of the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. “Statewide it has created and/or preserved more than 81,000 affordable apartments, more than 6,800 of them in Pierce County. It creates safe, affordable housing that enhances communities of all sizes, for all kinds of people from working families to the homeless to seniors.”
Last year, Cantwell, along with the ACTION Campaign – a coalition of 1,300 affordable housing organizations across the country – began a national campaign in Seattle to increase federal resources for affordable housing and build support for expanding the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. The senator has held events across the country, including in Tacoma, Spokane, Walla Walla, Portland, and New York City. In 2015, Cantwell championed the Housing Credit and secured a critical fix to the program by permanently extending the credit rates to 9 percent of eligible costs on new construction. This ended an era when variable rates made financing of affordable housing less predictable.
Since its creation 30 years ago, LIHTC has financed nearly 2.9 million homes across the United States, leveraging more than $100 billion in private investment. Between 1986 and 2013, more than 13.3 million people have lived in homes that have been financed by the Housing Credit.
BACK TO SCHOOL...2017
From The UN NEWS CENTERSchool meal funding crisis puts 1.5 million West, Central African children at risk, UN agency warns
(link source)
18 September 2017 – As the 2017-2018 school year starts, more than 1.5 million children across West and Central Africa risk going to school hungry or dropping out altogether, due to lack of financing for nourishing school meals, the United Nations food relief agency said today.
“By failing to fully fund school meals, we are collectively short-changing the next generation and Africa's future,” said Abdou Dieng, West and Central Africa Regional Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in a news release.
“School meals are one of the best investments the international community can make to ensure a head start for young children in some of the world's poorest countries.”
In many areas of the region, WFP is the sole or main provider of school meals. Over the years, however, WFP has shrunk its coverage for lack of funds.
In Burkina Faso, WFP's school meals programme for nearly 83,000 children is 0 per cent financed, while the programme in Senegal is only five per cent funded.
In conflict-torn Central African Republic, the programme for more than 200,000 youngsters is half funded, and in Niger, the programme for more than a quarter of a million pupils is 19 per cent financed.
Other particularly at-risk countries include Liberia, Mali and Mauritania, but the funding dearth stretches across the region.
Altogether, WFP's regional programme faces an $76 million funding gap, the agency warned, as experts were meeting in Montreal, Canada, for an annual forum on child nutrition, co-sponsored and hosted by WFP's Centre of Excellence against Hunger.
The news release noted that repercussions are dramatic, since the hearty and nutritious WFP-provided lunches and snacks are the only meal many youngsters eat all day. More broadly, the funding crunch puts at risk a whole generation, with broader spill-over effects on national economies and development.
“This is a crisis for education, but also a crisis for nutrition and food security which are the fundamental pillars of development,” said Mr. Dieng,
Studies show the meals help improve attendance and performance rates. They are also a key incentive for parents to send their children – particularly girls – to school and to keep them there.
USDA Assists Florida Children Affected by Irma
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 16/ 17 (link source)
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2017 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced today it is making it easier for Florida schools affected by Hurricane Irma to feed students during this time of great need. The measures will potentially impact over 1,800 schools and 1.4 million children.
All students in affected disaster areas in Florida will now be able to enjoy free school meals provided by USDA’s National School Lunch Program through Oct. 20.
To further streamline program administration, schools and facilities in these areas can temporarily serve meals that do not meet the menu planning or meal pattern requirements through Oct. 20. USDA is also providing flexibility regarding when kids can be fed, given the preparation challenges caused by the natural disaster.
“In times of disaster, it’s paramount that USDA makes it as easy as possible for our programs to be administered, so no one affected by this disaster goes hungry,” said USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. “Florida is currently reporting shortages of certain food products, so these sensible and timely flexibilities will ensure children receive the assistance needed.”
USDA has also granted schools the option to operate the Summer Meals Programs during the year for unanticipated school closures.
Other flexibilities for affected areas of Florida include:
Schools that are not directly impacted by the hurricane may use their commodity foods to provide plated meals to shelters or other school food service operations.
The normal eligibility requirements for summer meal sites will be waived to make it simpler for sites to provide meals to children.
Administrative and operational reporting requirements will be extended.
For more information on FNS assistance during times of disaster, visit www.fns.usda.gov/disaster.
USDA's Food and Nutrition Service administers 15 nutrition assistance programs, including the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Summer Food Service Program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which together comprise America's nutrition safety net.
Congressional Watch
Sens. Murray, Cantwell, Colleagues Urge Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to Uphold Protections for Sexual Assault Survivors, Invest in Civil Rights Office
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 15/ 17 (link source)
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate health committee, Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, and 27 U.S. Senators sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos advising her not to create chaos and uncertainty by rescinding guidance that directs schools on how to handle investigations of campus sexual assault. The Senators urged her to abandon her efforts to undermine survivors of sexual assault, and instead focus on her Department’s ability to support schools, students and parents, and to fully investigate complaints.
“The current guidance is critical to ensuring that schools understand and take seriously their responsibilities under the law, and we urge you to leave the current guidance in place,” wrote the Senators. “Rescinding the guidance would be a step in the wrong direction in addressing the national epidemic of campus sexual assault.”
Last week Secretary DeVos indicated she planned to issue regulations for schools, and that she would rescind the guidance before that process was complete, leaving schools uncertain on how to handle claims of sexual violence in the interim. Secretary DeVos has made a number of troubling decisions surrounding student safety and civil rights, including appointing Candice Jackson as Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights and advising the Office for Civil Rights to scale back systematic investigations that help combat the epidemic of campus sexual assault.
US DEPT. OF EDUCATION BLOG: ED to Celebrate Constitution Day
Blog posted on 9/ 14/ 17 (link source)
excerpt: In remembrance of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, and in recognition of the Americans who strive to uphold the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, including Federal employees, the Congress enacted a law on December 8, 2004, that requires educational institutions receiving Federal funding to hold an educational program for their students pertaining to the United States Constitution on September 17 of each year, except when it falls on a weekend. Congress also designated September 17 as “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,” commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution. Additionally, Federal agencies are required to provide information about the Constitution to their employees to commemorate that day.
ED will commemorate the day this year with a special program at headquarters in Washington, DC, on September 18. All employees are invited, and the program will be streamed on EDStream. This year’s Constitution Day program will feature historians who will discuss issues related to the First Amendment during World War I. Our speakers are: Edward Lengel, Historian for The White House Historical Association, and Tony Williams, a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Bill of Rights Institute. Julie Silverbrook, Executive Director of The Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource) will serve as moderator. Phil Rosenfelt, Deputy General Counsel for Program Services at ED, will introduce the speakers and provide observations on the relationship of constitutional issues in World War I and their relevance to the constitutional issues of today. (see link source for full article)
NEWS FROM NASA: NASA Awards Contract for Architectural, Engineering Support Services
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 15/ 17 (link source)
NASA selected AECOM Technical Services, Inc. of San Francisco to provide architectural and engineering services to the Facilities Engineering branch at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
This is a hybrid contract that includes a firm fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity portion and a cost plus fixed fee element. The period of performance begins Sept. 15 and ends Sept. 14, 2022. The value of this contract is approximately $93 million.
AECOM will provide: onsite engineering support services for the preparation of designs relating to facility modifications, repairs, and maintenance; environmental compliance and remediation studies, plans, and designs; energy life cycle cost analysis; facilities planning; master planning studies and facility usage investigations; information technology-based configuration management; re-certification of pressure vessels and systems; and energy and power reliability studies. Services under this contract also will include cost estimating; preparing drawings and specifications for construction bid packages; review of submittals and construction materials.
NASA Awards Contract for Ground Processing of Spaceflight Cargo
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 15/ 17 (link source)
NASA has awarded a contract to Leidos Innovations Corporation in Houston to provide pressurized cargo packing and unpacking for the International Space Station Program.
The Cargo Mission Contract (CMC) 3 contract is a cost-plus-award-fee contract with an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity element. The contract’s phase-in period begins Jan. 2, 2018, followed by a two-year base period, one two-year option, one 18-month option, and one one-year option, all which may be exercised at NASA's discretion. The maximum potential value of the contract, including all options, is $159 million.
Work under CMC3 includes sustaining engineering for flight crew equipment, pressurized cargo packing and transport hardware, non-integrated ancillary system hardware, simple payload facilities, and payload support items for deliveries to and from the space station.
The contract scope also includes determining the most efficient way to pack manifested cargo, verifying the adequacy of the cargo carriers, physically packing pressurized cargo into sub-carriers, shipping cargo to the Next Level Integrators and returning the cargo to the providers upon return. Additionally, the contract provides NASA the means to build, modify, or re-certify hardware, as needed, to support cargo transport, flight crew equipment, ancillary system hardware, simple payload facility hardware and simple payload support items requirements.
NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Ends Its Historic Exploration of Saturn
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED 9/ 15/ 17 (link source)
A thrilling epoch in the exploration of our solar system came to a close today, as NASA's Cassini spacecraft made a fateful plunge into the atmosphere of Saturn, ending its 13-year tour of the ringed planet.
"This is the final chapter of an amazing mission, but it’s also a new beginning,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Cassini’s discovery of ocean worlds at Titan and Enceladus changed everything, shaking our views to the core about surprising places to search for potential life beyond Earth."
Telemetry received during the plunge indicates that, as expected, Cassini entered Saturn's atmosphere with its thrusters firing to maintain stability, as it sent back a unique final set of science observations. Loss of contact with the Cassini spacecraft occurred at 7:55 a.m. EDT (4:55 a.m. PDT), with the signal received by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna complex in Canberra, Australia.
WORLD AND NATIONAL NEWS BRIEFS
From the UN NEWS CENTER
UN General Assembly’s annual debate to ‘focus on people,’ ensuring decent life for all
18 September 2017 – Global leaders gathering at United Nations Headquarters in New York this week for the annual round of top-level diplomatic talks known as the General Debate will shine a spotlight on the needs of the world’s people, with discussions on vital issues such as sustainable development and climate change, and set the stage for what the President of the UN General Assembly has dubbed a “year of firsts,” which will see the negotiation of the first intergovernmental compact on migration and the signing of the first agreement on the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Over 40 million people caught in modern slavery, 152 million in child labour – UN
19 September 2017 – More than 40 million people around the world were victims of modern slavery – forced labour and forced marriage – in 2016, a United Nations study has found, revealing the true scale of such practices that disproportionately affect women and girls.
‘Window of opportunity’ closing on non-communicable diseases, warns UN health agency
18 September 2017 – Millions around the globe are dying prematurely from diseases such as cancer or heart disease, the United Nations health agency warned, urging governments to step up efforts to control non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
NATIONAL
REU: Defamation lawsuit vs Rolling Stone over rape article is revived
A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived part of a lawsuit by three University of Virginia graduates who accused Rolling Stone magazine, its publisher Wenner Media and a journalist of defamation over a now-retracted article describing a gang rape.
AP: Rhode Island to pay immigrants' DACA renewal costs
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo says more than $170,000 has been secured to cover the renewal fees for local recipients of a program that shields immigrants brought to the country illegally when they were children from deportation.
USA TODAY: Magnitude 3.6 earthquake hits Los Angeles
A magnitude-3.6 earthquake hit Los Angeles late Monday. Experts said it was unlikely to cause any serious damage.
Daily Bible Verse: Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
Ephesians 4:29 NKJV
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