Hayworth promotes cost-saving bill
U.S. Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-19th District, held a joint press conference Oct. 18 with several state and municipal government officials to promote a bill introduced in Congress that would make it easier for homeowners and communities to finance energy-efficient and renewable energy projects.
The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program is a financing structure that allows local governments to raise money for energy-efficient projects ”“ such as upgrades to streetlights, sewer systems or underground utility lines ”“ through the issuance of bonds or other sources of capital, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
The bonds are then repaid by the property owners who benefit from the improvements through property assessments, with the ultimate benefit being that communities can upgrade infrastructure without having to pay a large amount of cash upfront.
However, as of 2010 when the Federal Housing Finance Administration took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, homeowners with mortgages backed by the two agencies were prohibited from participating in PACE, effectively meaning 90 percent of the nation”™s mortgage-holders would be denied.
The PACE Protection Act of 2011, introduced by a Democrat and a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, aims to remove the barriers.
MoveOn protests outside Lowey”™s office
More than 60 protesters gathered outside of the office of U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-18th District, on Mamaroneck Avenue in White Plains Oct. 13 to call for the passage of a jobs bill.
The protest was organized by MoveOn.org as a show of solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Chanting “Jobs not cuts” and “We are the 99,” many of the protesters read their personal stories aloud, expressing deep dissatisfaction with the Obama administration and with Congress.
Vanessa Taback, a former school psychologist with the Yonkers public school system who lost her job, said unemployment benefits are not cutting it. “Unemployment doesn”™t cover the mortgage and maintenance. It doesn”™t even begin to cover student loan debt.”
Lowey, who was in Washington at the time, released a statement: “It is time for the House Republican majority to stop the political games and focus on what matters to the American people ”“ creating good-paying jobs.”
Cuomo announces appointments
Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week announced a plan to restructure aspects of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, including the recommendation of Patrick J. Foye to serve as executive director.
Foye currently is the governor”™s deputy secretary of economic development. The recommendation is subject to the approval of the Port Authority board
Cuomo also nominated James Rubin and Rossana Rosado to the Port Authority board and called on the board to approve the placing of the Moynihan Station Development Corp. and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. under the Port Authority”™s jurisdiction.
In other news, Cuomo has appointed H. Carl McCall as chairman of the State University of New York”™s board of trustees.
McCall, who has been on the board since 2007 and chairs the SUNY Finance and Administration Committee and the State University Construction Fund, will lead the 18-member board that is responsible for overseeing the state”™s 24 SUNY campuses and nearly 500,000 students.
