ITEM IV B SIMON AND COMPANY INCORPORATED Washington Friday Report

Volume XIV, Issue 2 January 13, 2012 For more, including a link to the recent White House report I NSIDE T HIS W EEK titled Investing in America: Building an Economy That Lasts, click on Insourcing American Jobs. 1 White House, Insourcing, Transportation, Debt Transportation Update and Strategy 2 Drug Court, Choice Neighborhood, Ex-Offenders On Wednesday, we had the chance to participate in a strategy 2 Freight, Protest, Disaster, Oceans, Civic session with key members of the staff of the Rails to Trails Conservancy. Topics of discussion included: transportation enhancements funding in the upcoming transportation Lots of activity this week as summarized below. Next week, reauthorization vote in Congress which may happen, most we’ll be at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting here likely, in February or March; a draft resolution to circulate in Washington – a big chunk of the Cabinet and lots of among City officials in support of transportation Congressional leaders will be there and we look forward to enhancements, recreational trails, and safe routes to school; reporting back to you on what we learn. possible amendments to preserve trail funding in MAP-21, the Senate’s version of the reauthorization; and next steps in the White House Staff Changes and Consolidation effort to protect and expand funding for bike paths and pedestrian walkways. We will continue to work with our As you likely know, current White House Chief of Staff partners on initiatives to secure additional funds for more William Daley, the son and brother of former Chicago Mayors, livable communities and will update you on any new has resigned and replacing him next month will be Jack Lew, developments. For more, click on Rails-to-Trails. Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Lew has worked on local government-related budgetary issues during his FTA FY12 Apportionments stints as Director both presently and during the Clinton administration, and even all the way back to his role as Policy FTA has published its Fiscal Year 2012 Apportionments, Director for House Speaker Tip O’Neill. Over in the White Allocations, and Program Information in the Federal Register. House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, where we work The current authorization of FTA’s programs (PL 112-30, Div. extensively with Deputy Director David Agnew, President C) provides contract authority for the period October 1, 2011 Obama has elevated the office’s current Director, Cecilia Muñoz, through March 31, 2012. Since less than a full year of funds is to become Director of the Domestic Policy Council going into the available for FY12, the FTA will publish another “partial 2012 elections. Ms. Muñoz replaces Melody Barnes, who left at apportionment notice” later in the year when additional the end of last year. For more from the White House on these appropriations are secured via the Congress. However, the high-level changes click on either Jack Lew or Cecilia Muñoz. Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, You can also click to view Bill Daley’s Resignation Letter. Also, 2012 (PL 112-55), provides a full fiscal year of funding for just as we were finishing the Friday Report, we learned about the FTA’s programs funded from the Treasury’s General Fund, President’s proposal to merge six major trade and commerce which include Administrative Expenses, and the New Starts agencies that have overlapping programs. For more, click on and Research programs. For more, click on FTA FY12 Merging Agencies. Apportionments.

President Obama Encourages “Insourcing” Threat of Public Pension Debt

President Obama this week highlighted “insourcing,” where Senator Orrin Hatch (UT), Ranking Member of the Senate companies are bringing jobs back to the U.S. One of the most Finance Committee, has released a report outlining the telling facts highlighted by the Administration is that the financial and economic risks of the nation’s $4.4 trillion public manufacturing sector is recovering faster than the rest of the pension debt. State and Local Government Defined Benefit economy. Through the course of the past two years, the economy Pension Plans: The Pension Debt Crisis that Threatens has added 334,000 manufacturing jobs, the strongest two-year America, provides an in-depth analysis of how the unfunded period of manufacturing growth since the 1990s. The White pension liabilities of state and local governments jeopardize the House has also highlighted their SelectUSA program, created in fiscal solvency of states and municipalities as well as the June 2011 as the first federal effort to promote investment in nation’s long-term fiscal health, including the U.S. credit partnership with states as a way to encourage more insourcing. rating. To date, 11 states are projected to have exhausted all of

Washington Friday Report 1 www.simoncompany.com 1660 L Street, N.W.  Suite 501  Washington, D.C. 20036  (202) 659-2229  Fax (202) 659-5234  [email protected] ITEM IV B their pension assets by 2020. The Hatch report recommends that reduce delays to increase the system’s reliability. For more, federal pension reform achieve goals: 1) affordability and cost click on FREIGHT Bill. certainnty for taxpayers; 2) retirement income security for public employees; and 3) prevent federal bailout of states. For more, Cities Prepare for Mass Protests click on Hatch Reportr . Citiies are adjusting their laws to better manage protests DOJ, Choice Neighborhood, and Ex-Offender Grants without restricting free speech. Additional lessons on how to best achieve this balance came from how large cities had to Three new grants of interest: handle the Occupy protests of 2011. For example, Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., and Tampa, Florida are working towards this (1) The first comes from the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice objective in planning to effectively control the large crowds Assistance through the Adult Drug Court Discretionary Grant anticipated for the NATO/G8 summits, Democratic National Program. These grants have an award ceiling of $350,000 and the Convention, and Republican National Convention. Techniques application deadline is March 8, 2012. The money should be includde: limiting the hours of public demonstrations and public used by states and local governments to fund or establish drug parks, increasing rrestrictions on parade permits, banning court services, coordination, offender management, and recovery proteesters from possessing 18 categories of items such as support services. weapons and armor, and in a different tactic in Tampa, allowing event permits to be obtained just several hours before (2) The second federal grant availability comes through HUD’s an event, down from a previous 60-day rule. For the article, Choice Neighborhoods Initiative Grant Program. HUD expects click on Mass Protest Laws. to award approximately $115,000,000 in total funding through two types of grants: Implementation Grants and Planning Grants. EDA Weebinar – Post-Disaster Recovery The application deadline is April 10, 2012. The purpose of the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is to support those communities EDA will hold a webinar on January 26 at 2:00PM EST to that have undergone a comprehensive local planning process and showcase successful projects focused on post-disaster are reeady to implement their Transformation Plan to redevelop the economic recovery. In the coming months, EDA is expected to neighborhood. announce a new federal funding opportunity to support long- term economic recovery efforts from disasters. For more and to (3) The third grant comes from the Labor Department, via the register, click on EDA Webinar. Reintegration of Ex-Offenders (RExO) Adult Generation 5 program. Approximately 17 grants of up to $1,212,000 each for Strengthening Civic Education 27-months are expected to be awarded to serve adult ex-offenders returning to their communities. Any non-profit organization with The Education Department has released a report titled Civic 501(c)(3) status may apply for these grants to provide pre-release Learning and Engagement in Democracy: A Road Map and and post-release services to ex-offenders returning to high- Call to Action, whose premise is that civic knowledge and poverty, high-crime communities, including job training and democratic participation in the U.S. is far from exceptional. mentoring. The application deadline is March 13, 2012. The report highlights nine steps the Education will take to

advance civic learniing and democratic engagement. Secretary For more on these grants, click on DOJ Grant, Choice Arne Duncan said, “Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, Neighborhoods, or Ex-Offenders. and giving them a strong foundation in civic values is critical

to the vitality of America’s democracy and economy in the 21st Environmental Crisis Scientist Group century.” Click on Statement or Full Report for more.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced the creation of a National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan specialized scientific group that will develop future scenarios and provide rapid, interdisciplinary scientific assessments during The Administration has released a draft National Ocean environmental crises or disasters affecting America’s natural Policycy whose purpoose is to ensure that the Federal government resources. For more, click on Crisis Group. targetts its resources for greater predictability for ocean users

and better access to the latest science and information on ocean Sen. Cantwell’s FREIGHT Bill health. Comments due by February 27. Click on Ocean Policy

Plan for more. Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) has called for Senate action on her “Focusing Resources, Economic Investment, and Guidance to A special MMaartin Luther Help Transportation (FREIGHT) Act”. She sent a letter on King, Jr. Day observance Monday to Majority Leader Harryr Reid (NV) urging him to this year – the first one since bring up and encourage passage of these key provisions before the MLK Memorial has March 31, when the current surface transportation reauthorization opened! expires. The bill’s provisions would create a freight infrastructure competitive grant to invest in the most economically beneficial Please contact Len Simon, freight mobility projects and establish the nation’s first national Brandon Key, Jennifer freight transportation policy to identify freight bottlenecks and Covino and Stephanie Carter McIntosh with any questions.

Washington Friday Report 2 www.simoncompany.com 1660 L Street, N.W.  Suite 501  Washington, D.C. 20036  (202) 659-2229  Fax (202) 659-5234  [email protected]