Posted on 06/03/2002 12:24:59 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Either that or I just reminded them of something they forgot, and they'll bribe the states to change their laws.
Key Provisions
H.R. 1433
The bill authorizes $50 million per year for 5 years for a grant program aimed at state and local planning.
HUD is the administrative agency for the grant program.
Individual grants of up to $1 million for states and $200,000 for Tribal Governments are available.
A minimum local match of 10 percent is required.
The purpose of grant program is to assist in the development or revision of state planning legislation, promote the implementation of planning in states with updated statutes, or planning for multistate regions.
The development or revision of state planning legislation is designated as the first priority for grants.
The bill establishes eligibility guidelines for receiving grants. The guidelines state that the basic goals of planning legislation / reform be consistent with the following principles:
citizen participation, multijurisdictional cooperation, implementation elements, comprehensive planning (which is further defined in the bill), regular updating, and professional standards. Grants may be use for the purposes of drafting legislation, R&D for planning programs or legislation, workshops and public meetings, and coordination with regional and federal land use planning.
S. 975
The Senate version attempts to clarify some legislative language and intent.
It authorizes $25 million per year for 5 years, plus an additional $1 million per year for an educational and informational grant program for planning / zoning officials.
The administrative agency for the program would be the Economic Development Administration.
In addition to the primary state grant program, the bill creates a local pilot project grant for local governments. This was done in an effort to clarify that grants could be used for local activities.
The bill creates ranking criteria for evaluation of grant applications. Six elements are set up as criteria:
outdated legislation, facilitate development of plans consistent w/ reform legislation, facilitate regionalism, experiencing significant growth, protect environment and promote economic development, and state financial commitment. The reform of outdated legislation is designated as the "fundamental priority."
The bill maintains the House bill's "eligibility criteria" but adds a stronger focus on environmental protection and public infrastructure.
The bill explicitly states that grants can be used by local governments for implementation of planning and to acquire new technologies for planning.
"No state in the nation is immune from the effect of rapid unplanned development. Suburbanization is expensive, costing state and local taxpayers dearly for extending roads and infrastructure and building new schools. Even states considered more rural are now facing rapid alterations in land use and quality of life. Federal grants under this act would help states promote citizen participation in the developing of plans, encourage sustainable economic development, coordinate transportation and other infrastructure development, conserve historic, scenic resources and the environment, and sustainably manage natural resources."
Sen. Lincoln Chafee
July 27, 2000
in the United States Senate
I'm pro-environment protection, and see a problem with these laws. In Massachusetts, an option to add a small amount to property tax, to be matched by the state, could be voted on locally. The problem is that the money that was supposed to be used to buy land for conservation has one nasty little addition...it can be used to subsidize low income housing! (That's REAL GOOD for the environment, huh?)
Go here:
Ignorance Making You Ill? Cure It!
for links, tools, & instructions about how to contact a pile of different people, and how to send a link to this story right here ( or anywhere else ) to a "mass email" using Outlook Express.
Do be advised that since I increased my volume of mass emails to letters to editors I have gotten return volleys of virus attacks- my ISP filters them out before the get to my PC, but if yours does not, take appropriate precautions to guard your PC.
I take this as a positive- my emails are simply links with no editorial content; so the other side must fear & loath the information even reaching the public.
The name alone was enough to send chills up my spine.
Some chilling excerpts from the summary:
And this , which to me is one of the scarriest provisions:
Check it out.
They don't bribe the states they hold our tax money hostage with their so called fedral matching funds. If a state doesn't meet the fed's requirment on a range of issues and that is everything from low income housing to enviromental laws they keep the money they take from us. This bill will just add more money for enforcement and line the pockets of the ecofreak NGO's.I keep wondering what the hell happend to the 10th amendment?
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