On Wednesday night at 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time, President Obama will deliver a major address to spell out his vision for health insurance reform to a special joint session of Congress. As we head into the next phase of the debate, the President’s address will be an important moment in our campaign for change.
The President’s speech will be carried live on most major television networks, and you can watch online at BarackObama.com.
Find a watch party near you:
Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien today announced an unprecedented $80 million for distribution to cities, counties and schools to offset impacts from energy development, strengthen local economies and improve the livability of Colorado communities.
Some 509 cities, counties and school districts will receive a record $80.4 million from the Local Government Severance Tax Fund and Federal Mineral Lease Fund.
“These funds come at a critical time and will help local agencies and schools maintain quality services,” Lt. Gov. O’Brien said. “These direct distribution awards will allow local officials to decide how best to invest these funds and make the biggest difference in their communities.”
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs oversees the distribution of funds derived from energy and mineral extraction. Senate Bill 08-218 and House Bill 08-1083 authorized a new method and formula to determine the direct distribution of energy impact dollars. These new factors, coupled with an increase in revenue generated by the industry, resulted in a record-high distribution amount.
“With families, businesses, communities and schools struggling in this tough economy, I am proud that we were able to protect these direct distribution funds even when closing a $1.8 billion budget shortfall over the past few months,” Gov. Ritter said. “These funds will help lead Colorado forward by strengthening our economy, assisting schools, saving and creating jobs and improving the quality of life in our communities.”
Prior to the passage of SB08-218 and HB08-1083, direct distribution was based on the number of employees in the energy impacted communities in which they resided. Under these new laws, other factors are also considered, including: drilling permits, production, employee residence, as well as, for sub-county distribution, population and highway user miles. Last year’s distribution amounted to $24.7 million from the Severance Tax Fund and $8 million from the Federal Mineral Lease Fund.
“I am thrilled to see local communities receive this funding today,” said Sen. Gail Schwartz, co-sponsor of SB08-218. “These communities have all been impacted by oil and gas activity and have been responsible for generating these funds. Thanks to Senate Bill 218, a significant, extensive, bipartisan effort, this funding will go a long way in helping communities.”
With the new formula and increased production levels, the Severance Tax Fund provided $44.5 million and the Federal Mineral Lease Fund generated $35.9 million.
“One of the aims of this bi-partisan bill was to support impacted communities when extraction activity was down,” said Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, a former House member and co-sponsor of SB 218. “Clearly, these dollars couldn’t have come at a better time.”
For a report listing distributions by local government recipients go to:
Gov. Bill Ritter today announced the launch of the Transparency Online Project (TOP) System, which gives citizens easy Internet access to information and records about state expenditures and revenues.
“TOP sets a new standard for accountability, responsibility and transparency in state government,” Gov. Ritter said. “Taxpayers now have a convenient and modern tool to see exactly where their money is going and how it’s being spent. This project makes government work smarter, better and more efficiently for the people of Colorado. This is especially important in this economic climate as we keep the budget balanced and lead Colorado toward a strong recovery.”
The TOP System was established pursuant to an executive order issued by Gov. Ritter earlier this year. The order calls for expenditure information to be available online by today and revenue information by Jan. 1, 2010. Today’s launch provides the revenue data four months early.
The executive order works collectively with House Bill 09-1288. The TOP System website (http://tops.state.co.us) goes beyond the requirements of the executive order by allowing users to view the state’s payments for expenditures, revenue reimbursements, and balance sheet accounts, providing the user with a checkbook approach.
US Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO) will be holding Office Hours in the Perrin Room of the Englewood Public Library on Monday, August 31, 2009 from 2 PM to 3 PM.
Please attend with any question or concerns you may have on pending issues before the US Congress and or with any issues you may be having with federal government agencies.
What: US Rep. DeGette Englewood Office Hours
When: Monday, August 31, 2009, 2 PM
Where: Perrin Room, Englewood Public Library, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood
For more information: http://degette.house.gov
Denver, Colorado – Pat Waak, Colorado Democratic Party Chair, today released the following statement on the news of the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy.
“Today I, with so many other Americans, mourn the passing of the Ted Kennedy, a great champion for each of us over decades of service in the U.S. Senate.
Senator Kennedy was passionate about making sure every person had a voice on issues related to civil rights, education, health care, and many other areas of our lives. He often was that voice for all of us. A man of privilege, he fought for the most basic of privilege for those who might not otherwise be blessed.
I sat on the front row of the Democratic National Convention a year ago and listened to him “pass the torch to a new generation.” He said “the dream is still alive.” It is now up to us to make that dream come true.
It would be the most fitting of tributes to Senator Kennedy for the U.S. Congress to now pass legislation for major healthcare reform. And for us, our tribute should be a renewed commitment to the kind of public service Senator Kennedy personified.”
The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has been actively working to improve Colorado’s transportation system and put people back to work through construction projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Since May, Colorado has seen a significant increase in the number of jobs created or sustained on highway-related construction projects.
“Saving jobs and creating jobs are key elements of the Recovery Act – and we’re starting to see measurable benefits of that in Colorado with dozens of transportation construction projects now underway across the state,” Gov. Ritter said. “Millions of dollars have been paid to hard-working Coloradans statewide, and that amount is increasing every day.”
As of July 31, CDOT and local agencies have:
* 51 projects put out to bid for contractors (worth $225 million)
* 34 projects under contract (worth $174 million)
* 31 projects under construction or starting soon (worth $171 million)
This summer, Colorado has experienced a huge spike in job preservation and creation with Recovery Act transportation funds:
Job Data (as of July 31)
1,685 jobs created or sustained
86,332 payroll hours
$2.14 million in payroll expenses
For more information about the Recovery Act in Colorado, visit www.colorado.gov/recovery
In the last fiscal year, even in the midst of the recession, State Treasurer Cary Kennedy has not just protected Colorado’s public funds, but achieved a 3% gain, $177 million.
“How did we do it? We turned down risky investment schemes proposed by Wall Street bankers and adopted policies that protected public funds. We made state finances more open and accountable than ever by posting state investments, balance sheets, credit reports, and a summary of the state’s comprehensive annual report–all on the Treasury website–to show you where your money goes.”
In addition, Cary Kennedy has helped repair and replace aging schools in Colorado through the B.E.S.T program, making schools safer, creating jobs, and stimulating local economies throughout the state.
Watch a video about schools in the San Luis Valley and “Commit to Cary” by signing up to help:
http://www.kennedyfortreasurer.com/CommitToCary/
Tomorrow, Saturday, President Obama will host a meeting on health care reform in Grand Junction.
Join Organizing for America to show your support for healthcare reform:
Where:
Across the street from Central High School
500 Warrior Way
Grand Junction, 81504
Date:
Saturday, August 15th
Time:
Arrival Time: 2:00 p.m.
To RSVP:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpfclc
To download a healthcare reform flyer, click here
Bruce Whitehead, a civil engineer who worked for 25 years for the Colorado Division of Water Resources, was chosen by the SD 6 vacancy committee to succeed Senator Jim Isgar. Sen. Isgar joined the Obama administration as the USDA Colorado State Director for Rural Development. Whitehead currently works as the Executive Director of the Southwest and Animas-LaPlata water districts.
Senate President Brandon Shaffer (D-Longmont) welcomed the new Senator for SD-6. “We are happy to have Bruce Whitehead as one of our newest Senators,” said President Shaffer. “Senator Isgar has some big shoes to fill, but with Whitehead’s extensive knowledge of water and and ag issues, I’m confident he is up to the challenge.”
Governor Bill Ritter sent the following letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu concerning a proposal to store mercury near Grand Junction.
July 30, 2009
The Honorable Steven Chu
Secretary
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20585Dear Secretary Chu:
Several days ago, I announced that I will oppose the designation of the Grand Junction Disposal Site, at which uranium mill tailings and related materials are disposed, as a long-term storage and disposal site for elemental mercury. I am writing today to reiterate my opposition and to explain the reasons for my decision.
I believe it is important at the outset to recognize that for planning purposes, we must assume at this juncture that any site designated for the long-term storage of a highly toxic material will actually become the disposal site for this material. There is no reason to believe, or assume, that in some future year a federal agency will elect to once again transport large quantities of this material for storage or disposal at another site. Neither is there any basis to assume some future economic use of this highly toxic material. Instead, our planning assumption must be based on the realistic expectation that the designated site or sites will effectively become the disposal site for this material.
Viewed in that light, I believe that consideration of the Grand Junction Disposal Site is deeply flawed, for several reasons.
First, in the arid Southwest water is our life’s blood. The Colorado River and its tributaries directly serve not merely millions of people in our state – for irrigation as well as domestic uses – but many millions more in both upper and lower basin states. Our state simply could not countenance the disposal – and as I said, we must proceed upon the assumption that this site will become the de facto disposal site – of a large quantity of elemental mercury at a site not significantly removed from a major tributary to the Colorado River. Any loss of mercury by any pathway to ground water or to surface water (for example, as the result of a major precipitation event) could be catastrophic.
Second, I note that much of the existing elemental mercury inventory is controlled either by the Department of Energy or the Department of Defense. And a very large part of that inventory is located at Oak Ridge. Conversely, it appears to me that most, if not all of the sites being considered for the disposal of elemental mercury are located at some substantial distance from the sites at which this material was generated and where it currently is being stored. I am deeply concerned about the risks inherent in transporting large quantities of elemental mercury over long distances for storage and disposal. Elemental mercury spills pose very serious health hazards because mercury evaporates, releasing highly toxic odorless and colorless vapors, and, significantly, elemental mercury is very difficult to clean up because most common methods actually disperse mercury, increasing evaporation and spreading the toxic contamination. The very real danger of human exposure from inhaling mercury vapors from a spill or release of the elemental mercury during a transportation incident demand that sites closer to where the mercury is currently stored be given preferable consideration.
At bare minimum, I believe that the Department of Energy’s environmental analysis must include a detailed and complete assessment of the entire transportation infrastructure that would be needed for this program: what transportation mode, what routes, what security precautions, what form of container or cask, what testing for that container or cask, how the mercury would be transferred into the facility, what level and type of monitoring will be performed, what are the incident response capabilities, and so on. But more fundamentally, I simply do not subscribe to the notion that rural western Colorado should become the storage and disposal site for a large quantity of elemental mercury that could and should be stored in close proximity to the generating sources. In that regard, I also want to note that it is simply impossible to transport large quantities of elemental mercury from the eastern part of the country to western Colorado without crossing the Continental Divide and traversing major waterways innumerable times. The inherent risks in transporting elemental mercury over this great distance are simply too insurmountable to warrant any further consideration of western Colorado as the final repository.
Third, I also want to note that when the Department of Energy was searching for sites at which it could dispose of large quantities of uranium mill tailings and related materials, the Department assured the local community that the Cheney reservoir site would not become a hazardous waste disposal site. While that was many years ago now, and the Department has done commendable work at the Grand Junction and other legacy sites, the Department has made no case for why its earlier commitment should not stand. But beyond that fact, I am convinced that the State as well as the Department would have taken a much harder look at the Cheney Reservoir site had we known at the time that it might in future be considered as a storage and disposal site for elemental mercury. Simply put, we cannot go back in time.
Colorado has worked well with the Department of Energy on a variety of projects, and we look forward to continuing to build our partnership with you and the Department. However, on this project I strongly urge the Department of Energy to return to the drawing board to develop a new set of potential storage and disposal sites that are located in close proximity to the major inventories of elemental mercury, and to concurrently develop a comprehensive plan for the safe transportation of elemental mercury.
Respectfully,
Bill Ritter, Jr.
Governor