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CNMI To Launch Public Bus Service In Saipan
Submitted by admin on Thu, 04/14/2016 – 00:00
Pacific Islands Development Program, East-West Center With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai‘i

US Department of Interior funds public transportation effort

By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa

SAIPAN, CNMI (Marianas Variety, April 14, 2016) – The Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority will soon launch a public, medium-size bus that will ply the Garapan-Middle Road-NMC-Koblerville-Beach Road route.

Funding for the bus amounts to $344,293 and will come from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Diego B. Songsong, COTA’s community planner and Title VI coordinator, said they are now conducting a bidding process for the bus which will also cater to persons with disabilities.

In addition, he said they will designate bus stop signs and drop-off and pick-up areas for passengers.

Songsong said things are still at the planning stage, including how much they will charge those who use the bus.

Funding for the bus stops will come from a different agency, he said, adding that they are working with the Department of Public Works to identify possible sources.

Special Assistant for Public Transportation Alfreda P. Camacho said the pilot project is supported by Gov. Ralph Torres and Lt. Gov. Victor Hocog.

"Fixed-route transit is an essential service," she said. "It fulfills many community needs and helps our island meet a number of important public-policy objectives. In addition to these community benefits, spending federal funds on transit contributes to economic activity."

Camacho added, "This is just the beginning of a bigger picture for public transportation in the CNMI. We are happy that it is to be realized soon because we want our community to embrace this project and from there we will be able to assess and implement rules on how this service will work for the community. Basically this is good news for the community as we want more accessibility. More students will be able to go to school and more parents will be able to go to work if we have this public transportation. I am passionate about this project because I know this will help our community and improve the quality of life of the people."

She said COTA submitted its funding request to the CNMI Office of Grants Management on Feb. 17, 2016 and they received the good news in March.

Camacho expressed appreciation for the support of the governor and the Office of Grants Management.

COTA’s funding was just one of several grants with a total amount of $1.4 million approved by Interior for the CNMI.

Administrator for Grants Management Epi Cabrera said $1.4 million is a "remarkable amount."

"We are very fortunate to receive these grants and now the CNMI can begin moving forward on much needed projects. Our office is now looking forward to submitting Empowering Insular Communities (EIC) grants before the end of the month and continuing to push for grants that will benefit our community," he said in a statement.

Other Interior grants for the CNMI included $150,000 for the Department of Fire and Emergency Management Services to purchase an ambulance; and $255,578 for the Department of Commerce "to establish an online portal to streamline government services for residents in the territory. The online portal will facilitate the provision of social services, tax e-filing, business license and tax filing, and driver’s license issuance and renewal. The portal will serve as a virtual one-stop help center for the CNMI government."

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Here are the plot summaries for all the ‘Star Wars’ movies

GERSH KUNTZMAN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Monday, December 19, 2016, 12:44 PM

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In “Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace,” Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor play Jedis trying to end a trade dispute — and more! (KEITH HAMSHERE/AP)
Even if you can make the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs, you’ll still likely need this handy primer on the basic chronology of the "Star Wars" saga now that "Rogue One" is about to hit theaters.

‘Episode 1: The Phantom Menace’

The seeds for the eventual rise of the evil Empire are sown in a seemingly routine place: a trade dispute between the Republic and the Trade Federation. Two Jedi, the keepers of peace and justice, are dispatched to negotiate the dispute, but (wait for it) it’s a trap! They end up barely escaping with their lives, though they do meet R2-D2, who saves their lives. They end up on remote Tatooine, where they meet slave boy Anakin Skywalker and his protocol droid C3PO. Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn senses the Force in Anakin – and believes he’s the "Chosen One" who will bring balance to the Force. There’s a podrace and Anakin is freed. Qui-Gon wants to train Anakin, but the Jedi Council knows something is up with this boy and rejects it. But he helps the Republic win a battle against the Trade Federation so the Council lets Obi-Wan Kenobi take him as his apprentice.

‘Episode 2: Attack of the Clones’


In “Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones,” Hayden Christensen plays Anakin Skywalker, who falls in love and war with Natalie Portman’s Sen. Padme Amidala. (INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC/AP)
Anakin is older now, but just as bad an actor. The weird trade dispute has grown to a full-scale revolt against the Republic. Anakin is assigned to protect Republic loyalist Sen. Padme Amidala, and they fall in love. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan discovers that a Jedi master has ordered the creation of an army of clones based on a single bounty hunter, Jango Fett, whom Obi-Wan determines is the assassin trying to kill Padme – though he does not know why. He also has no idea why the Jedi have ordered up a clone army. Meanwhile, Anakin’s mom is murdered and he freaks out, channeling the dark side that everyone knows he has in him. The full-scale revolt against the Republic is being led by Count Dooku, a former Jedi, who has built his own droid army. Under pressure, the Galactic Senate votes the Chancellor emergency powers, which (wait for it!) is also a trap! The two armies battle and the Jedi and the Clones barely win. The movie ends with the revelation that Dooku, the revolt, the clones and the droids are all being controlled by an evil Sith Lord – who is actually the Chancellor!

EXCLUSIVE: STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS DIRECTOR J.J. ABRAMS PLAYED UP INSPIRATIONS TO HIT FOR KYLO REN’S LIGHTSABER

‘Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith’


In “"Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith,” Hayden Christensen turns into Darth Vader. (AP)
The Chancellor has been captured by a revolt leader General Grievous, but Obi-Wan and Anakin rescue him heroically. The Chancellor, seeking to draw out Anakin’s dark side, demands that Anakin assassinate Dooku, which he does. Anakin is dealing with his demons, including visions of Padme dying in childbirth. The Council declines to elevate him to Master status, so the Chancellor puts him on the Jedi Council as his representative (spy). He also brags to Anakin that he knows how to harness the dark side to cheat death — though you can’t learn that from any (dismissively) Jedi. But (wait for it!), it’s a trap. Anakin eventually figures out that the Chancellor is a Sith Lord, but when the Jedi try to arrest him, Anakin comes to his aid because he still wants to save Padme from the visions of death. The Chancellor makes Anakin his apprentice and dubs him Darth Vader. He also orders him to kill everyone, including younglings, though a few Jedi, including Yoda, escape. Obi-Wan tries to stop him with an epic lightsaber battle on the molten planet Mustafar, leaving Anakin next to a lava river as little more than a burnt up torso. The Chancellor saves him, puts him in Darth Vader’s famous black suit and they start the Death Star. Padme dies in childbirth and her twins, Luke and Leia are separated and hidden from the now-Empire, with Leia going to Alderaan and Luke ending up on Tatooine, with Obi-Wan going into exile there to watch over the boy.

Rogue One

Disney wants us to call it a "standalone" film, but it is not — it is by all definitions, a prequel. That Death Star from Episode III is basically done, but needs one more last push. So the Empire tracks down its missing weapons expert, Galen Erso, and forces him to finish it. But he embeds a secret flaw inside the planet-killing machine. His daughter Jyn doesn’t know what it is, but she and a band of rebels steal the plans and get them to other rebels under the command of the now Princess Leia. The movie ends with Vader trying to steal back the plans in hopes of preventing everything happens in the following episode. Standalone my foot! This is a prequel. Call it "Episode 3.5: Rogue One."

‘Episode 4: A New Hope’


“Star Wars IV: A New Hope” is the original movie, featuring heroes (from left) Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford. (©LUCASFILM LTD./COURTESY EVERET)
Now older, Luke is just a moisture farmer’s boy with no idea of his backstory. But Leia is a major figure in a new rebellion against the Empire. Her ship is attacked by Vader, who makes no mention of the fact that he’s her dad. She sneaks the stolen plans for the Death Star into R2-D2, who ends up escaping to Tatooine with C3PO, who is as shrill as ever. The droids end up in service to Luke and his family, but R2 escapes to find Obi-Wan. Few have seen such loyalty in a droid! Obi-Wan tells Luke about his father – but leaves out all the part about him turning evil. They hook up with roguish Han Solo for a flight on the Millennium Falcon so they can get to Alderaan and join the rebellion. First, Solo shoots first and kills Greedo. Then they take off. En route, the Death Star proves that it’s the ultimate power in the universe by destroying Alderaan in one shot. The Falcon comes out of hyperspace into the rubble and (wait for it!) it’s a trap! The ship is captured by the Empire. Obi-Wan sneaks around and shuts down the forcefield so the Falcon and passengers can escape, but he’s struck down by Vader as he flees. The rebels still have the plans for the Death Star and plot a suicide mission that involves dropping a laser bomb into a tiny vent shaft. Solo declines to participate because, hey, he has to pay off Jabba the Hutt anyway. Luke is disappointed, but Solo shows up just in time to save his life and allow him to finish his mission, using the Force and his experience bulls-eyeing womp rats in his T-16. Much celebrations ensue.

EXCLUSIVE: STAR WARS HEROINE CARRIE FISHER ON PRINCESS LEIA’S SLAVE COSTUME

‘Episode 5: Empire Strikes Back’


In “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back,” Han (Harrison Ford) and Luke (Mark Hamill) are rebels on the ice planet Hoth. (LUCASFILM LTD & TM./ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
Vader pursues the rebels to a new hideout on the ice planet of Hoth. Luke is visited by the spirit of Obi-Wan and told to go to Dagobah to study the ways of the Force with Yoda. Han and Leia barely escape and head to the Cloud City run by Han’s scoundrel friend Lando Calrissian. But (wait for it!) it’s a trap as the Falcon was tracked by Boba Fett – Jango’s revenge-seeking son – who alerts Vader what’s going on. He shows up and captures Leia and freezes Han in carbonite so Boba Fett can take him to Jabba. Vader has little interest in Solo because he doesn’t have the Force. Lando helps Leia escape, but then Luke bails on his training and shows up (it’s another trap!), where Vader reveals that he’s Luke’s father ("Noooooooooooo!"). Luke barely escapes. Lando and Chewbacca head to Tatooine to free Han and Luke and Leia wait for the next movie.

Episode 6: Return of the Jedi


In “Star Wars VI: The Return of the Jedi,” Leia (Carrie Fisher) wears Jabba the Hutt’s iconic bikini. (LUCASFILM LTD & TM./ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
Luke and Leia head to Tatooine to save Han, but Leia is taken as a slave and given a super-hot metal bikini that changed every teenage boy’s life. Using super-Jedi powers, Luke infiltrates Jabba’s palace and gives Jabba one last warning. The crime boss ignores it and captures Luke. He takes him, Lando, Chewy and Han to a Sarlacc pit intending to drop them in to be digested over many years, but they turn the tables on him, which reminds us all why it’s important to heed a Jedi’s warning. Luke goes for more training and Yoda reveals that Darth Vader really is his father. Meanwhile, Han and Leia try to stop the completion of a second Death Star by knocking out an energy field that is protecting the construction site. But (wait for it!) it’s a trap. Vader brings Luke to the Death Star to meet the Emperor, who tempts Luke to give into his dark side. At one point, the Emperor even asks Luke to kill Vader to take his place, but Luke won’t do it – he’s a Jedi, he says, "like my father!" That redeems Vader, who kills the Emperor, but dies in the process – but not before revealing to Luke that he still has good in him. The forcefield down, the rebels destroy the second Death Star and there is much rejoicing. Leia tells Han she loves him – and he knows!

‘Episode 7: The Force Awakens’


In Episode VII, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the bad guy has a really cool light saber. (LUCASFILM)
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OK, so 30 years have passed. Luke has disappeared. Han and Leia have split up. He’s reverted to his old ways and gone to seed as a freighter captain still holding a grudge, mourning his failed marriage and, most important, missing his first love, the Millennium Falcon. Leia remains a big wig with the rebels — who are now called The Resistence (though it is not clear what they are actually resisting). Meanwhile, there’s a new evil group in the galaxy far far away called The First Order. It’s leader, Kylo Ren, is a Darth Vader fanboy (right down to the Force and the melted Vader helmet he carries around like a trophy) bent on destroying what’s left of the Republic. Oh, and (spoiler alert) he’s Leia and Han’s son. This wouldn’t be a "Star Wars" film without a hero emerging from a desert planet so remote that even the bad guys don’t know about it. This time, the hero is a woman, Rey, who slowly begins to feel the Force inside her and uses it to help locate the missing Skywalker, who (spoiler alert) handled Han and Leia’s son’s Jedi training so badly that he became Kylo Ren. Han helps the Resistence destroy The First Order’s planet-munching machine (isn’t there always one of those in a "Star Wars" movie?), but (spoiler alert) dies in the effort. It’s all very sad. But it sets up a great few sequels.

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Demography of the United States

Population 324,420,000 (3rd)
Density 84.54 people/sq mi (180th)
32.54 people/km2
Growth rate  0.77% (143rd)
Birth rate 13.42 births/1,000 population (147th)
Death rate 8.15/1,000 population (100th)
Life expectancy 79.56 years (36th)
• male 77.11 years
• female 81.94 years
Fertility rate 1.84 children/woman (123rd)
Infant mortality rate 6.17 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate 2.45 migrants/1,000 population
0–14 years 19.4%
15–64 years 66.2%
65 and over 14.4%
Nationality American
Official None at the federal level
Spoken English 80%, Spanish 12.4%, other Indo-European 3.7%, Asian and Pacific island languages 3%, other languages 0.9%
As of January 23, 2017, the United States has a total resident population of 324,420,000, making it the third most populous country in the world.[1] It is very urbanized, with 81% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2014 (the worldwide urban rate is 54%).[2] California and Texas are the most populous states,[3] as the mean center of U.S. population has consistently shifted westward and southward.[4] New York City is the most populous city in the United States.[5]

The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2015 is 1.84 children per woman,[6][7] which is below the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.1. Compared to other Western countries, in 2012, U.S. fertility rate was lower than that of France (2.01),[8] Australia (1.93) and the United Kingdom (1.92).[9] However, U.S. population growth is among the highest in industrialized countries,[10] because the differences in fertility rates are less than the differences in immigration levels, which are higher in the U.S.[11][12] The United States Census Bureau shows a population increase of 0.75% for the twelve-month period ending in July 2012. Though high by industrialized country standards, this is below the world average annual rate of 1.1%.[10]

There were about 125.9 million adult women in the United States in 2014. The number of men was 119.4 million. At age 85 and older, there were almost twice as many women as men (4 million vs. 2.1 million). People under 21 years of age made up over a quarter of the U.S. population (27.1%), and people age 65 and over made up one-seventh (14.5%).[13] The national median age was 37.8 years in 2015.[14]

The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who reported "White" or wrote in entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish."[15] Whites constitute the majority of the U.S. population, with a total of about 245,532,000 or 77.7% of the population as of 2013. Non-Hispanic whites make up 62.6% of the country’s population. Despite major changes due to immigration since the 1960s, and the higher birth-rates of nonwhites, the overall current majority of American citizens are still white, and English-speaking, though regional differences exist.

The American population almost quadrupled during the 20th century—at a growth rate of about 1.3% a year—from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. It reached the 200 million mark in 1968, and the 300 million mark on October 17, 2006.[16][17] Population growth is fastest among minorities as a whole, and according to the Census Bureau’s estimation for 2012, 50.4% of American children under the age of 1 belonged to minority groups.[18]

Hispanic and Latino Americans accounted for 48% of the national population growth of 2.9 million between July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006.[19] Immigrants and their U.S.-born descendants are expected to provide most of the U.S. population gains in the decades ahead.[20]

The Census Bureau projects a U.S. population of 417 million in 2060, which is a 38% increase from 2007 (301.3 million).[21] However, the United Nations projects a U.S. population of 402 million in 2050, an increase of 32% from 2007.[22] In an official census report, it was reported that 54.4% (2,150,926 out of 3,953,593) of births in 2010 were non-Hispanic white. This represents an increase of 0.34% compared to the previous year, which was 54.06%.[23]

Census Pop. %±
1790 3,929,214 —
1800 5,236,631 33.3%
1810 7,239,881 38.3%
1820 9,638,453 33.1%
1830 12,866,020 33.5%
1840 17,069,453 32.7%
1850 23,191,876 35.9%
1860 31,443,321 35.6%
1870 38,558,371 22.6%
1880 49,371,340 28.0%
1890 62,979,766 27.6%
1900 76,212,168 21.0%
1910 92,228,531 21.0%
1920 106,021,568 15.0%
1930 123,202,660 16.2%
1940 132,165,129 7.3%
1950 151,325,798 14.5%
1960 179,323,175 18.5%
1970 203,211,926 13.3%
1980 226,545,805 11.5%
1990 248,709,873 9.8%
2000 281,421,906 13.2%
2010 308,745,538 9.7%
Est. 2017 324,420,000 5.1%
Sources: United States Census Bureau[24][25][26]
History

Vital statistics

Population density

Cities

Race and ethnicity

Religion

Marriage

Income

Economic class

Health

Generational cohorts

Demographic statistics

See also

Notes

External links

Last edited 56 minutes ago by Flyer22 Reborn


Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted.
Terms of UsePrivacyDesktop

 AGRICULTURE
$26 Billion — up 6% (from 2009)

The Agriculture Department budget calls for initiatives that President Obama talked about during his campaign, including increasing aid to rural areas and reining in federal funding for corporate farmers and large crop insurance companies.The budget calls for spending $1.3billion in loans and grants to increase broadband capacity in rural communities and would put $70 million toward competitive research grants that would, among other things, fund professional development for teachers in rural areas.
The budget would also phase out direct payments to farmers with gross annual sales of more than $500,000. It would limit the amount of federal money that commodity farmers receive when, for example, prices fall below expected market rates. Obama also addressed his campaign pledge to help end childhood hunger by 2015 by adding $1 billion to food and nutrition programs.
 DEFENSE
$664 Billion — up 1%
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he would have to “make some hard choices” as a result of the proposed Pentagon budget, and he reiterated that the spigot of defense spending that opened after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is closing.
Still, Gates said that given the economic crisis, he had expected the budget to grow only at the pace of inflation and that instead, “we’ve ^ We’ve done somewhat better than that.”
Gates said the “constrained economic environment” led to the request for a 2.9 percent pay increase for troops, compared with the 3.5 percent boost requested last year.
The estimated war budget is $130 billion, lower than the $144 billion requested for 2009. The new war supplemental would shift some routine defense expenditures — such as the cost of growing the Army and the Marine Corps, care for the wounded, and technology to defeat roadside bombs — into the Pentagon base budget.
 HOMELAND SECURITY
$43 Billion — up 6%
The Department of Homeland Security’s budget includes few new initiatives and would barely increase under Obama’s proposal, though some big-ticket items were funded by the recently passed stimulus package.
DHS is the only Cabinet department whose discretionary funds are forecast to drop annually after this year through 2014. The loss is supposed to be offset by phasing in a per-ticket airline passenger security fee after 2012, a proposal that Congress has repeatedly killed.
Obama included $368 million to sustain the Border Patrol at a planned 20,000 agents and carve out more money, $1.4 billion, for Immigration and Customs Enforcement programs to deport illegal immigrants who commit crimes.
 HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
$48 Billion — up 18%
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s budget would set aside $4.5billion for a 35-year-old block grant program designed to help rehabilitate housing and invest in the economic development of primarily low-income neighborhoods.
Obama also requested $1 billion for a housing trust fund that aims to help the poor buy and rent homes.
A voucher program that enables 2 million families a year to rent in neighborhoods of their choice would receive more funding, as would the owners of 1.3 million affordable rental units who need money to maintain their buildings.
The proposal also would fund efforts to combat mortgage fraud, enforce fair-housing rules, encourage energy efficiency, and redevelop public and assisted housing.
 LABOR
$13 billion — up 5%
The Labor Department would update unemployment insurance, toughen workplace safety and wage enforcement, create new retirement incentives for low-wage workers and step up job training under the budget submitted by the Obama administration.
Some of the new money would fund changes in unemployment insurance that would make extended benefits available more quickly to workers who have been out of a job for longer than six months. The spending plan also envisions a stronger effort to police overpayment of unemployment benefits, a problem that the administration said cost $3.9billion last year. The budget increase also would enhance job training programs aimed at helping low-wage workers and ex-offenders acquire marketable skills.
The administration wants employers to automatically enroll workers in direct-deposit individual retirement accounts in an effort to reduce the number — estimated to be half the workforce — who lack retirement plans to supplement Social Security. The proposal also would provide a 50 percent match for the first $1,000 of retirement savings set aside by families earning less than $65,000 a year.
 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
$77 Billion — down 2%
Obama is attempting to use his budget to begin restructuring the U.S. health-care system. The blueprint would create a 10-year, $634 billion reserve fund to expand health insurance, improve the quality of care and modernize the system.
About half the money would come through health spending reductions and changes that would affect drugmakers, hospitals and managed-care providers.
Most of the Health and Human Services budget comprises two mandatory programs: Medicare, at $453 billion next year, and Medicaid, at $290 billion.
In addition, the economic stimulus act pumps $22.4 billion into federal health programs over the next two years.
For the first time, the budget would dedicate money — $211 million — to autism research. It also would allocate about $5 million a year to family planning efforts through Medicaid.
Obama is proposing a major policy change through the Food and Drug Administration: allowing Americans to buy prescription drugs from other countries.
 ENERGY
$26 Billion — down less than 1%
The Obama administration plans to abandon a controversial and long-deadlocked plan to bury nuclear waste in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.
In its budget outline, the administration also tipped its hand on a cap-and-trade proposal for limiting greenhouse gas emissions, forecasting $78.7 billion in revenue beginning in fiscal 2012 and $645.7 billion over the next 10 years.
Of that revenue, $15 billion a year would be set aside for “clean energy technologies,” and the rest would be devoted to expanding the earned-income tax credit for low- and middle-income workers under a program called Making Work Pay.
The budget plan underlines the surge in Energy Department spending in the stimulus package. The stimulus act pumps $38.7 billion for renewable energy into the department, nearly 11/2 times the department’s entire previous annual budget. In addition, the department has an unused $7.5 billion appropriation to give out $25billion in loans to companies devising advanced vehicle technologies.
But the budget outline envisions the surge in Energy Department spending as a one-time event. The request for non-stimulus spending by the department would drop to previous levels in fiscal 2010 and 2011.
 EDUCATION
$47 Billion — up 1%
Obama is seeking to expand federal funding for preschool, create new performance pay programs in public schools and dramatically revamp financial aid for college students.
The plan reflects his ambition for the United States to claim the world’s largest share of college graduates by 2020. It would support the creation of Promise Neighborhoods, in which schools and community organizations would collaborate to provide broad support to families and children in high-poverty areas. It would also set aside $2.5 billion for new grants to help low-income students complete college.
The budget would end the federally guaranteed student loan program, which provides subsidies to private lenders. Instead, the loans would be issued directly by the government, a change the administration estimates would save about $4 billion a year. The budget would increase Pell grants for the neediest college students to a maximum of $5,550 and seek to establish a secure funding stream for the program, linking the top award to inflation.
In public schools, the plan would fund efforts to improve teacher training, design better tests and improve struggling schools.
 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
11 Billion — up 35%
The nearly $3 billion boost proposed for the Environmental Protection Agency highlights the revitalized role the agency will play under a Democratic president.
The budget — the largest in the EPA’s nearly 40-year history — includes a $19million increase for the government’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory and other activities that produce data to guide a climate-change bill, something Obama has identified as one of his top legislative priorities.
The budget also allocates $3.9 billion for 1,000 clean-water and 700 drinking-water projects. And it proposes reinstating the Superfund excise taxes that expired more than a decade ago, a move that would generate more than $1 billion a year to help clean up some of the country’s most toxic sites.
 STATE
$52 billion up 10%
Putting dollars behind Obama’s commitment to promote diplomacy and development overseas, the budget proposes a 40 percent increase in funding for the State Department and foreign aid programs, going from $36.7 billion in the 2009 fiscal year to $51.7 billion in 2010. Funding would almost double over five years, reaching $69.3 billion in 2014.
State was usually one of the few agencies to see an increase in funding during the Bush years, largely because of a dramatic expansion in foreign aid, but Obama proposes to go even further. The budget document says the plan will put the United States on a path to double foreign assistance. The Obama administration in particular will further expand the funding to thwart AIDS and malaria that Bush initiated, and will boost non-military assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Beyond foreign aid, the budget also will launch a multi-year effort to increase the number of foreign service officers at the State Department and also will seek to bolster staffing at the Agency for International Development, which was cut during the Bush years.
Reflecting Obama’s personal interest in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, the budget also will expand funding for nonproliferation and counterproliferation programs.
 VETERANS AFFAIRS
$56 Billion — up 11%
Obama proposed an 11 percent increase in the Department of Veterans Affairs budget, following through on a campaign pledge to expand veterans’ access to health care.
The proposed budget would expand eligibility for VA health care to non-disabled veterans earning modest incomes. The plan is estimated to bring more than 500,000 underserved veterans into the system by 2013, although veterans advocates say about 1.8 million veterans currently lack health insurance.
The budget would provide additional funding for programs that help returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Other extra funding would help upgrade the VA information technology system to enhance electronic medical records and more quickly process disability claims; expand services to homeless veterans; and better implement the new GI bill.
The administration budgeted about $1 billion more to VA than even veterans advocacy groups wanted.
 INTERIOR
$12 Billion — up 6%
The Interior Department budget would direct more money to renewable energy and parks.
The plan includes more than $50million to promote renewable energy projects on federal land and water. It also would provide more than $130million in additional funding to address the impact of climate change.
The budget includes $100million for the National Park Service, along with $25million to leverage private donations for park projects. Interior’s budget is notable for how it envisions the raising of about $31.5billion over 10 years — by cutting federal subsidies to oil and gas companies and by imposing an excise tax to compensate for oil revenue the government did not collect in the 1990s.
 TRANSPORTATION
$73 Billion — up 3%
The Transportation Department budget includes new money for high-speed rail and air traffic control systems, reflecting Obama’s emphasis on alternatives to highways.
The proposal includes the first installment in a five-year, $5 billion program of grants to states for construction of high-speed rail networks. The money would come on top of $8 billion in the economic stimulus package that is also dedicated to high-speed and intercity rail projects, which have gained little traction in the United States.
The administration says the money “marks a new federal commitment to give the traveling public a practical and environmentally sustainable alternative to flying or driving.”
The budget also includes $800 million for improvements to the nation’s antiquated air traffic control system, including upgrading from ground-based radar to satellites, and an additional $55 million for subsidies maintaining air service to rural communities.
The administration said it would explore options such as “road pricing,” which allows cities to levy fees to limit traffic at peak times.
 TREASURY
A $600 million increase in the Treasury Department’s budget would beef up management of the financial rescue package, efforts to collect delinquent taxes and help for underserved neighborhoods.
The budget proposal also accounts for the cost of a request for more rescue funds for the financial system.
The administration plans for a $250 billion loss on such an initiative, calling it a “contingent reserve” that would be spent only if the administration asks for more aid for the financial system.
“As events warrant, the administration will work with the Congress to determine the appropriate size and shape of such efforts, and as more information becomes available the administration will define an estimate of potential costs,” the budget plan said.
The Treasury would use its additional funds to hire professional financiers to help with the agency’s financial stability plan and to increase oversight of the program. It also will boost enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service to collect unpaid taxes, which are estimated at about $300 billion every year.
Finally, the Treasury plans to double funding for its Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which helps lenders in local communities provide loans to small businesses and consumers in underserved neighborhoods.
 JUSTICE
$27 Billion — up 4%
The budget represents the first glimpse at how the Obama administration will seek to reorient the Justice Department, whose resources and attention have been devoted for years to counterterrorism, sometimes at the expense of street-level law enforcement.
National security remains the president’s “highest priority,” and his budget would allot $8 billion for the FBI and $88 million for the Justice Department’s National Security Division^ national security division, which prosecutes alleged terrorists and collects intelligence to defuse threats.
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has emphasized a renewed commitment to civil rights and battling business fraud, and the budget would give prosecutors $145 million to strengthen the enforcement of laws barring racial, religious and gender discrimination.
Officials also would have $6 billion for the Bureau of Prisons and $109 million to create programs to help inmates transition out of prison and into jobs and drug-free lifestyles.
The budget would provide a separate pool of money to begin to hire 50,000 more police officers nationwide.
 COMMERCE
$13.8 Billion — 48%
Almost all of the new money — $4 billion — in the Commerce Department budget would go toward completing the 2010 Census.
The administration expects the widespread data-collection effort to require the hiring of half a million people. The proposal is on top of $1billion allocated under the stimulus package.
Obama is requesting $1.3billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to improve weather prediction and monitoring, as well as sustainable management of ocean resources and marine fisheries.
The Economic Development Administration would receive $100million for regional planning and matching grants and for a new network of incubators to encourage entrepreneurship in economically distressed areas.
 NASA
$19 Billion — up 5%
NASA would maintain its back-to-the-moon trajectory with a little extra funding in its tank under its proposed budget.
The new money would keep intact the plan, proposed by President George W. Bush and authorized by Congress, to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. The budget also calls for a robust program of unmanned space exploration, and a “global climate change research and monitoring system.”
But the money would not be nearly enough to close a looming gap in NASA’s ability to put astronauts in orbit. The agency plans to shut down the space shuttle program at the end of 2010, and President Obama’s budget sticks to that schedule. The constellation program, with its new rockets and new capsule for taking astronauts into orbit and to the moon, will not be ready until about 2015. In the meantime, the United States will depend on Russia for rides to the international space station.
Producers: Ethan Klapper, Sarah Lovenheim, John Amick, Emily Kotecki; Editor: Paul Volpe; Designer: Sarah Sampsel / washingtonpost.com
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Federal News Radio conducted an exclusive data center survey to assess how agencies are storing data. Download the results.

A note on comparisons: Unless otherwise noted, funding levels for fiscal 2014 are compared to the amount that Congress appropriated in 2013 before sequestration took effect, also known as “enacted levels.”
.
2014 funding
Comparison

Highlights/details

$20.9 billion

&#9650

$350 million above FY 2013 enacted levels

The Food Safety and Inspection Service will get more than $1 billion, a slight boost from sequestration levels, but less than what was allotted for the agency last year before the cuts took effect. The Farm Service Agency is slated to receive $1.5 billion, which equates to what the agency was appropriated last year before sequestration.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$3.7 billion
&#9660

$195 million below FY 2013 enacted level

CMS’ budget is set to remain about where it is now, post-sequestration. The bill provides $305 million to process and pay out benefits but prohibits additional funding from being used on Affordable Care Act spending.
Commerce Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$8.2 billion
&#9650

$113 million above FY 2013 enacted level

The bill includes $3 billion for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a $91 million increase. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is funded at $850 million, which is an increase of $41 million above last year’s pre-sequestration levels. The bill provides about $5.3 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — $310 million above last year’s base levels.
Defense Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$572 billion
&#9660

$32.7 billion below FY 2013 enacted level

The bill provides $486.9 billion in base funding and an additional $85.2 billion for overseas war spending. The base budget level is virtually identical to the department’s current operating level and aligns with spending caps put in place by the 2011 Budget Control Act and supported by the Ryan-Murray budget agreement. The bill provides $160 billion for operations and maintenance, about $13.6 billion below fiscal 2013 levels and $92.9 billion for equipment procurement and upgrades.
Education Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$70.6 billion
&#9660

$739 million below FY 2013 enacted level

Despite a year-to-year cut, the bill provides an increase over last year’s post-sequestration levels. The bill provides a funding boost for federal education grant spending.
Energy Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$25.6 billion
&#9650

$1.1 billion above FY 2013 enacted level

The bill provides $11.2 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, an increase of $268 million above last year’s enacted level and a hefty $874 million above the sequestration level. Science research is funded at $5.1 billion, a slight increase above last year’s enacted level and $1.9 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
Environmental Protection Agency

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$8.2 billion
&#9660

$143 million below FY 2013 enacted level

While EPA’s budget clocks in below 2013 enacted levels, the bill provides an $86 million boost above last year’s post-sequestration level, which the Senate summary of the bill said will be used to stave off furloughs in 2014.
General Services Administration

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$9.4 billion
&#9650

$1.3 billion above FY 2013 enacted level

The bill authorizes GSA to spend $9.4 billion from the Federal Buildings Fund, which is made up of rent payments other agencies pay to GSA for the use of federal facilities. Of that, about $1.65 is slated for the construction and repair of federal buildings and courthouses.
Homeland Security Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$39.3 billion
&#9660

$336 million below FY 2013 enacted level

The bill provides $10.6 billion for the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a modest increase from last year’s pre-sequestration level and allowing for an increase of 2,000 additional CBP officers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is slated for $5.3 billion, a slight decrease from last year’s enacted levels. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is will see a decline of $225 million below last year’s pre-sequestration levels. The bill caps TSA’s federal screener workforce at 46,000.
Housing and Urban Development

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$32.8 billion
&#9660

$687 million below FY 2013 enacted level

The bill specifically blocks funding for for new “sustainable” or “green” community development programs.
Internal Revenue Service

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$11.3 billion
&#9660

$526 million below FY 2013 enacted level

Funding for the IRS remains at about where it was after sequestration cuts went into effect, which is about on par with fiscal 2009 appropriation levels. The bill slates $92 million to help address identity theft, refund fraud and improving taxpayer services. The bill also provides the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which oversees the IRS, with $156.4 million.
Justice Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$27.4 billion
&#9650

$338 million above FY 2013 enacted level

The bill provides the FBI with $8.3 billion in funding, the Drug Enforcement Agency with $2.4 billion, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) at $1.18 billion and the Federal Prison System at $2.7 billion. All of those are increase over last year’s pre-sequestration levels. The U.S. Marshals Service received $2.7 billion in the bill, a $72 million reduction.
Labor Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$12 billion
&#9660

$449 million below FY 2013 enacted level

The bill decreases funding for both the Employment Training Administration and the Office of Job Corps but boost funding for the Veterans Employment and Training Services.
NASA

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$17.6 billion
&#9650

$120 million above FY 2013 enacted level

The bill provides a $781 million boost from last year’s sequestration levels and provides $4.1 billion for the Exploration mission.
National Institutes of Health

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$29.9 billion
&#9660

$714 million below FY 2013 enacted level

Funding for the NIH will fall below last year’s enacted level of about $30.6 billion, according to House Democrats. However, the funding level is about $1 billion above the agency’s post-sequestration budget top-line.
National Science Foundation

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$7.2 billion
&#9660

$82 million below FY 2013 enacted level

While the NSF’s funding is a decrease from last year’s enacted levels, the bill restores $288 million in funding that sequestration had lopped off. The increase provides for more grant funding for teachers and scientists.
Social Security Administration

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$11.7 billion
&#9650

$265 million above FY 2013 enacted level

About $1.2 billion of the SSA’s budget is devoted to stopping improper payments. The increase will also allow the agency to restore staffing lost to budget cuts.
State Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$49 billion
&#9660

$4.3 billion below FY 2013 enacted level

The bill provides a total of $15.7 billion in base and contingency funding for operational State Department costs. That’s a total decrease of $2.4 million below fiscal 2013 pre-sequestration levels. Embassy security is funded at $5.4 billion, $25 million more than requested by the Obama administration. The bill provides the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with $1.3 billion in funding, a $215 million cut from fiscal 2013 enacted levels.
Transportation Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$17.8 billion
&#9660

$164 million below FY 2013 enacted level

In addition to the discretionary appropriations, the bill also provides about $53.5 billion in nondiscretionary “obligation limitation” funding for the department.
Veterans Affairs Department

2014 funding

Comparison

Highlights/details

$63.2 billion
&#9650

$2.3 billion above the FY 2013 enacted level

The bill includes a total of $147.9 billion in total funding, including both discretionary and mandatory spending. The bill includes $323 million to bolster VA’s joint project with DoD on electronic health records. The bill also includes $318 million to help the agency reduce a longstanding backlog of disability claims. The extra funding includes $140 million in technology upgrades and $90 million to pay for claims processors’ overtime.
(Source: House Appropriations Committee, Senate Appropriations Committee)

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The fateful explosion that shut down America’s only permanent nuclear-waste storage site happened on Valentine’s Day 2014. The facility, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or WIPP, is a series of salt caverns 2,000 feet below the New Mexican desert. Radioactive waste from U.S.’s nuclear weapons comes to WIPP, drum by drum, to be entombed underground.

One such drum ruptured on that February evening. Radioactive material spewed through the caverns, some of it leaking aboveground as well. The original cause turned out to be downright comical: Contractors packing the drum at Los Alamos National Laboratory used the wrong type of cat litter—wheat-based rather than clay—to soak up the liquid radioactive waste, which then reacted with other chemicals inside the drum to explode. Yes, cat litter.

WIPP has been closed for cleanup since the accident, and it’s since blown past one deadline to reopen. The Department of Energy, which operates the plant, is now working to ready WIPP by December 2016.

the following only rbb

On Feb 11, 2017 8:25 PM, wrote: