Tudela lauds funding under stimulus law

Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela is urging all concerned government agencies in the Commonwealth to immediately take advantage of the funding provided under the stimulus law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

He said the U.S. Conference of Mayors worked hard to make sure that the stimulus bill would contain funding to benefit member cities and territories.

Tudela was in Washington D.C. during the U.S. presidential inauguration week to attend the Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference, and participated during the deliberations. It was that same when the U.S. Conference of Mayors approved the final agreement in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The agreement provides the mayors with an opportunity to create jobs, invest in sustainable infrastructure, and increase energy efficiency while reducing climate emissions.

The approved congressional appropriations include:

-The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant in the amount of 2.8 billion. This is a huge victory for a program conceived and championed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In addition, there is another $400 million in competitive energy grants to be administered by the U.S. Department of Energy;

-The Highway Program at $27.6 billion, with 30 percent to be sub-allocated to local areas through the Surface Transportation Program;

-The Airport Improvements Grants at 1.1 billion;

-The Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Programs at $1 billion;

-The Public Housing Capital Funds (Modernization) at $4 billion;

-For Public Housing Capital at $4 billion;

-For Emergency Shelter Grants at 1.5 billion;

-The Safe Drinking Water Revolving Funds at $2 billion;

-The Community Oriented Policing Services at $1 billion, which waived the $75,000 cap and the $75,000 matching requirements;

-The Byrne Justice Assistance Grant,a block grant for Public Safety, at $2 million, which has more than doubles the funding ever provided in one year;

-For the Workforce Training Program at $3.95 billion, with $1.2 billion for youth training, including summer jobs. Restoration of the summer jobs program has been a key priority for the USCM since the standalone program was eliminated in the passage of the Workforce Investment Act in 1998;

-For schools’ modernization at $8.8 billion. This funding includes the $39.54 billion available in state general fiscal relief for schools and each governor of states will have discretion on how the funding will be sub-allocated;

-The National Endowment for the Arts will receive $50 million to provide grants to state and local arts agencies to assist non-profit agencies create or retain jobs in the arts community.

“Without the strong leadership of Conference president Manny Diaz of Miami, Florida, and the hard work of all the mayors, all of these funding would not have been possible, and the mayors will not be victorious in obtaining direct funding for their cities and local governments in the largest funding bill in American history,” said Tudela.

Tudela said he looks forward to seeing the local government maximize every opportunity to apply for these grant monies, where almost all of these programs have been implemented all year round here in the CNMI.[B][I] (PR)[/I][/B]