With the first budget surplus in years, Gov. Jan Brewer said
Friday she wants lawmakers to restore funding to promote
tourism.

The governor said the Arizona Office of Tourism has had to limp
along for years solely with proceeds earmarked from the states
share of tribal gaming profits and taxes on car rentals and hotel
rooms. The result, she said, is the state is not doing all it can
to get visitors – and their dollars -from other states and
countries.

She proposes to set aside $7 million specifically for
marketing.

It will enable the agency to explore new programs, such as
expanding the Office of Tourism targeted city advertising campaign
into a national campaign, she said. It will lead Arizonas
tourism industry into emerging visitor markets such as China, South
Korea and Brazil.

Brewer said some of the cash will be available for cooperative
advertising programs with rural communities to encourage those who
make it to the Phoenix and Tucson areas to venture out to other
areas.

The governor said she sees the funding as an investment that
will pay dividends.

This strategic initiative will create and sustain jobs, build
revenue and open new doors for economic development, she said.

State Tourism Director Sherry Henry said international tourists
are particularly important to attract, as they spend an average of
$4,000 a person when they visit.

The push comes as Arizona is once again in the national news
over immigration issues.

Attorneys for the state will be before the US Supreme Court
this spring defending provisions of SB 1070, which requires police
to check the immigration status of people they have stopped when
there is reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally.
And the US Justice Department announced this week it had evidence
of racial profiling by the Maricopa County Sheriffs
Department.

Brewer brushed aside questions of how that kind of publicity
will work against efforts to promote tourism. I dont think SB
1070 had a tremendous impact on our economy, she said. I think
that, in fact, it might have encouraged people. And we know that
people did make Arizona a destination because they wanted to stand
tall and support Arizona in our quest to get our borders
secure.

There is evidence that groups that plan conventions, often years
ago, cancelled plans or simply are refusing to even consider
Arizona for future events.

Henry said there always will be distracting issues.

Whatever challenges may be out there, whether theyre
political, whether theyre weather, whether its the economy, were
about promoting tourism. Thats where we should keep our focus We
will continue to tell our same message, that Arizona is still the
same and always will be wonderful, premier tourism destination,
whether thats for business, whether its for pleasure, whether
its to visit family and friends.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who chairs the House
Appropriations Committee, said the funding proposal is likely to
get approved.

An improving economy and a commensurate increase in sales taxes
is anticipated by the governors office to generate a nearly $760
million surplus, even after the state accounts for increases in the
number of children in school, more people enrolled in the Arizona
Health Care Cost Containment System and more prisoners behind
bars.

But while Kavanagh is willing to support the tourism funding, he
will not be entertaining most other requests.

He pointed out that the temporary 1-cent hike in state sales
taxes, approved last year by voters, will expire at the end of May
2013. That will cut about $1 billion a year in income.

Kavanagh wants what he calls a hurricane fund.

That would be made up of the anticipated $500 million the state
will have left over this fiscal year, coupled with the lions share
of next years anticipated surplus.

So instead of having a fiscal cliff, well just have a little
curb that we can easily manage, Kavanagh said.

While Gov. Rick Scott became a convert to education this year, his proposal to spend an additional $1 billion on public schools falls short of a meaningful boost.

Some $220 million of that amount offsets the decline in property values and resultant taxes. And an expected enrollment increase of 30,000 students will cost another $190 million.

Under the governor#x2019;s $66.4 billion state budget, per-pupil funding only increases $140 — still almost $500 less per student than in the 2006-2007 school year. Plus, last year the Legislature slashed $1.35 billion from education — at 8 percent, less than the 10 percent cut proposed by Scott.

McKenzie Towne resident Doug Hayden has done the math — and he’s not crazy about what the equation looks like.

That’s because when Hayden adds up all the future growth in southeast Calgary and compares it to the transportation network, he’s got the formula for a daily commuting headache.

For him and others, relief looks like a C-Train line.

“My numbers tell me they should have this line at least starting under construction in 2017,” says Hayden, a realtor and organizer for a coalition of residents lobbying for a southeast line.

“If they don’t, the problems that are going to flow after that are going to be massive, the traffic issues and everything else.”

But one of the key questions hanging over the timing of such a project is a big one: how do you pay for it?

It’s a common story for municipalities across Canada.

Largely reliant on property taxes, user fees and transfers from the provincial and federal governments, cities contend they lack the revenue tools for building modern transit systems while providing other local services.

As a result, when Calgary and other communities face massive transportation projects, they’re often counting on significant help from the provincial and federal governments.

But should it be this way?

Increasingly, people are saying it’s time to shake things up so cities have more flexible financing tools for local infrastructure, but also are more accountable for the dollars they collect.

“As a nation — as a society — we need to be directing more of our resources into our key infrastructure systems, no question about it,” says Casey Vander Ploeg, senior policy analyst at the Canada West Foundation.

“However, the problem is so big that more money and more funding is not going to solve the problem. We have to start looking at other models of funding and financing and other innovations to help get us there.

“That means drilling down a lot deeper than just crying for more grant dollars from the provincial and federal government.”

Calgary gets significant funds from both senior levels of government. Perhaps the most notable program is Alberta’s Municipal Sustainability Initiative, created in 2007 to provide funding for municipal infrastructure projects.

Up until 2011, the initiative has provided Calgary with nearly $1 billion. City officials expect to get $2.4 billion in MSI funding over the next decade.

But Calgary also has a hefty list of infrastructure projects, including an airport tunnel that ranges in price between $295 million and more than $400 million — depending on whether it is a supporter or an opponent that’s providing the estimate.

As for a southeast LRT line, there are projections that full build-out could carry a price tag as high as $3 billion.

From his vantage point in the city’s southeast, Hayden believes the provincial and federal governments should ensure the project gets done — especially given the important role that Calgary plays as an economic engine.

But Vander Ploeg believes there’s an opportunity now to discuss new ways of tackling a complex set of issues.

WASHINGTON, Dec 17, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
The Lupus
Foundation of America (LFA) applauds Congress for including vital
lupus funding in the Fiscal Year 2012 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, which
passed today, Saturday, December 17. The Military Construction
and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012,
includes $50 million for the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program
(PRMRP) at the Department of Defense; $1 million to continue the
national health education program on lupus for health care providers
through the Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health; and
more than $4 million for the National Lupus Patient Registry conducted
through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lupus continues to be one of the disease research areas that qualify for
funding under the PRMRP Program, which consists of $50 million that has
been appropriated for PRMRP in 2012. This will enable funding of
additional critically-needed studies on lupus. Through its advocacy
initiatives that began in 2003, the LFA pioneered efforts to have lupus
included as a disease area eligible for research funding through the
PRMRP. The LFA has continued to demonstrate to Congress the relevance of
lupus research to military personnel and their dependents. To date, 11.8
million has been awarded to lupus research by PRMRP as a result of these
efforts.

The legislation includes $4 million included for the National Lupus
Patient Registry, bringing the total funding to $18.5 million for the
study. In 2003, the LFA worked with Congress to establish the National
Lupus Patient Registry, designed to more accurately estimate the
prevalence and incidence of lupus in the United States. The National
Lupus Patient Registry will help us better understand and measure the
burden of illness, the social and economic impact of the disease, and to
stimulate additional private investment by industry in the development
of new, safe, tolerable and effective therapies — and eventually a cure
— for lupus.

In 2006, the LFA secured Congressional support for the Lupus Research,
Education, Awareness, Communications and Healthcare (REACH) Act. Among
its provisions, the legislation called for funding programs to improve
health professional education. The legislation provides $1 million to
for the national health provider education program on lupus, bringing
the program total to $4.6 million since 2009. The education program
addresses a key goal for the LFA’s advocacy efforts, to improve early
diagnosis and treatment of lupus.

About Lupus

Lupus is an acute and chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune
system is out of balance, causing inflammation and tissue damage to
virtually any organ in the body. Lupus can be unpredictable and
potentially fatal. Its health effects include heart attacks, strokes,
seizures, miscarriages, and organ failure.

About the LFA

The LFA is the foremost national nonprofit health organization dedicated
to finding the causes of and cure for lupus, and providing support,
services, and hope to all people affected by lupus. The LFA and its
national network of chapters, branches, and support groups conduct
programs of research, education, and advocacy. For more information,
visit
www.lupus.org .

SOURCE: Lupus Foundation of America (LFA)

Lupus Foundation of America (LFA)
Maggie Maloney, 202-212-6766
maloney@lupus.org
or
Duane Peters, 202-349-1145
peters@lupus.org

Copyright Business Wire 2011

New Zealand tennis is struggling to get a first serve over the net as funding problems strangle its aim to produce top-class players. David Long reports.

The return of Marina Erakovic and resilience of the Davis Cup team to stay in Asia/Oceania group one may hint at 2011 being a good year for New Zealand tennis, but scratch below the surface and youll find all is not so well with one of our major sports.

Erakovic aside, all of New Zealands other professional players have either stalled or gone backwards with their world rankings, and even more worrying is theres not much coming through at the junior level.

It has been disappointing for a long time that weve had decent juniors who werent able to make it at senior level. But the problem now is that were not even shining at junior level. Other than Jaden Grinter at 73 in the boys junior rankings and Emily Fanning at 55 for the girls, there is not a New Zealander in the top 250 for either gender.

But saddest of all is that this state of affairs looks likely to continue for many years because Tennis NZ just doesnt have the money.

The previous Tennis NZ CEO, Australian Steve Walker, had insisted players didnt need money to make it to the top, saying in 2008: Im pretty sure Pat Rafter didnt get any six-figure funding. I dont think he got any and he made it to No1 in the world.

Thankfully, Steve Johns, who is now in that role, lives on planet earth.

He doesnt pull any punches in his assessment of where the sport is at, and admits New Zealand will always struggle while tennis is so desperately under-funded.

And yes, Sparc, a finger is being pointed at you.

On Friday, Sparc announced funding for sports for next year and once again top-level tennis didnt get a cent.

Were unfortunate that from a high-performance perspective were grossly under-funded, Johns told the Sunday Star-Times.

We dont get any high-performance funding from Sparc and are not likely to under their current policy. Charity gaming isnt interested in funding the high-performance end of sport, so it is tough.

The sad fact is that Sparc doesnt understand tennis and judges it the same way as it does other sports.

In 2009, Sparc CEO Peter Miskimmin told the Dominion Post: Our aim is to grow the sport and youd like to think young kids will emerge. Im comfortable about the approach we have been taking and who we have been assisting.

In the presence of severe constraints on public expenditure and the generally accepted importance of education in social development and economic growth, the issue of funding education is one of the key issues that the newly elected administration will face in January.

The demand for tertiary education in Jamaica is on the rise because education is a key means of social mobility and access to wealth. The complaint from many is that tertiary education is expensive and so many qualified and deserving persons are unable to access higher education in Jamaica. While the Government has been a main source of funding for those who desire post-secondary education, given the tight fiscal constraints under which the Government is operating, there is little hope of an increase in the Governments ability or willingness to fund tertiary education. Indeed, there has been a contraction (adjusted for inflation) in government expenditure on tertiary education between 2008 and 2009.

Historically, government support for tertiary education was skewed towards the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, which was Jamaicas leading institution for tertiary education for many years. Notwithstanding some criticism of UWIs role, its performance has been creditable in many areas, providing in large the management cadre for the labour force. With the emergence of other institutions of higher learning, the increasingly global nature of higher education, and concerns with UWIs performance, calls have been made for the reconsideration of the funding model. A strong argument is that a more competitive and diverse market for higher education can only be beneficial. However, a more market-based approach runs the risk of further excluding the poor from access to tertiary education.

Some Key Findings

According to CaPRIs 2009 report, Funding Tertiary Education in Jamaica, there are three competing imperatives relevant to the funding of tertiary education.

First, the funding model is failing to achieve its primary objective of helping poor households to afford higher education. Since the household income of university students is higher than the national average, the neediest persons are not the beneficiaries. Further, the typical student borrower from the Students Loan Bureau also comes from a home with above-average household earnings. Such findings have to stand alongside anecdotal information of university students suffering deprivation towards completing their degrees. This indicates that the current funding model results in some getting more assistance than they need, while many of the neediest get no help.

The second consideration relevant to the debate around a funding model is that as many as four out of five university graduates migrate. This degree of brain drain is topped by only three other countries in the world. This means that Jamaicas education funding model is, in effect, subsidising the economies of the USA, Canada, and Britain, which receive the majority of Jamaicas educated migrants. The example of the USA is particularly striking – the Caribbean population with university degrees living there is more than twice the number at home.

The third imperative derives from the realisation that the future growth of the Jamaican economy depends on industries that are knowledge intensive.

Consequently, the labour force needs to include more tertiary-level educated persons. Cutting public funding for tertiary education is likely to impact this goal negatively. Similarly, a wholly privately funded higher education system is not the best option as this will risk marginalising Jamaicans from poorer backgrounds who have made it into tertiary education through hard work and talent.

Furthermore, government maintains an interest in research, not just teaching, which is essential for the countrys economic competitiveness, innovation in various fields, cultural well-being and sound policy formulation.

An Alternative Approach

A possible way of reconciling these competing imperatives is with a funding model that separates teaching from research while shifting the burden of the cost of teaching to the principal consumers, the students, in a fashion that enhances access and expands higher education. Since research has external effects that benefit, not only the recipient of the education, but also the wider society, the Government has an interest in promoting as much of it as possible. This could be done, not by directly funding tertiary education, but by making grants available on a competitive basis to researchers and the institutions at which they work.

The administration that starts a new term in January should set broad, transparent policy goals that can be met through the allocation of funds by disinterested granting agencies. These goals should go beyond simply economic efficiency, in order to incorporate areas such as a vibrant literary culture, developing critical reasoning and promoting ethical formation. This would mean that some tertiary institutions would be able to attract significant portions of their budgets from research grants, and could then support teaching functions with private funding. This would not mean that students will suddenly have to assume the full expense but would inevitably lead to a substantial increase in tuition fees.

Enabling students to absorb this increased expense while increasing the number of students who participate in higher education would require the newly elected government to provide additional funding for the student-loan scheme. The Government would need to continue to upfront the cost of students education, paying all interest for the duration of studies, including postgraduate, and for a brief transitional period after graduation. This transitional period would need to be increased from the current six months. Similarly, the loan repayment would need to be extended beyond the current maximum 10 years. At the same time, the Government still needs to keep graduates from migrating. Means of inducing them to remain at home or to repay the loan funds once they migrate are essential. A credit bureau would need to be created to monitor and enforce loan repayment once graduates are employed. This will prove somewhat more difficult for overseas migrants as it will be difficult to pursue repayment once they are abroad, unless the local credit bureau can liaise with overseas credit bureaus and flag graduates with outstanding loans in Jamaica.

Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) is a not-for-profit public-policy think tank. CaPRI works to promote evidence-based dialogue on issues critical to socio-economic development in Jamaica and the region.

The executive director of a local nonprofit that serves about 900 mentally ill people in Topeka and Shawnee County said Saturday that significant cuts to the agency’s budget will begin to adversely affect its clients in 2012.

Danette Tipton, executive director of Breakthrough House, Inc., said she learned Friday the United Way of Greater Topeka is shifting $70,000 in funds from the nonprofit.

“We just cannot absorb another huge hit like this without it impacting clients,” she said.

The United Way in a news release Saturday evening responded by saying it can’t yet discuss the specifics of the 36 programs chosen to receive funding, because paperwork hasn’t been finalized.

Miriam Krehbiel, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Topeka, said member agencies in 2010, such as the Breakthrough House, were granted a two-year funding commitment in preparation for the competitive funding process.

“The United Way board understood there was a possibility that agencies could be at risk in a competitive funding process that included opportunities for nontraditional partners to receive funding,”

The Tyler House group home, near the city’s downtown, was shuttered last summer, Tipton said, which saved the Breakthrough House about $50,000. Staff layoffs and cutbacks on meals served during the agency’s day program also have eased Breakthrough House’s budget woes.

Tipton noted the residents of the Tyler House were moved to other group homes and the same number of clients were still served by programs in 2011.

“These are some of the community’s most vulnerable citizens, and they are disproportionately affected by the poor economy,” she said.

Tipton, who has been with the Breakthrough House for about a year and a half, said the nonprofit’s financials show United Way’s annual contributions hovered just more than $100,000 the past few years.

She said other Breakthrough House donors have had to reduce their contributions because of their own financial issues. Tipton anticipates a budget of about $980,000 in 2012, which is about $90,000 less than two years ago.

The agency was notified by the United Way in October that one of its programs wouldn’t be funded (which equated to about $40,000), Tipton said, but they weren’t expecting the $73,000 Compeer program to be hit with a $30,000 cut, as well.

“We’ve had some warning,” she said, “but it’s just such a big hit.”

The $30,000 was allotted for the youth portion of the Compeer program, which helps about 50 kids improve their behavior, attendance and academic standing in school.

The United Way said it aimed to help agencies diversify their revenue streams in preparation for the bid process.

Krehbiel said United Way, in order to achieve this, lifted its decades-old “black-out” period in which member agencies were restricted from fundraising activities in September and October.

When funding agreements are finalized, the United Way said it will invest in 2012 more than $1.7 million in the 36 programs chosen and invest more than $7 million during the next three years.

“We greatly appreciate the dedication and countless hours of volunteers who were charged with making these tough funding decisions,” Krehbiel said.

The United Way will still fund a Breakthrough House program with nearly $35,000 that provides rent and utility assistance to clients on the verge homelessness, Tipton said.

She said she understands the United Way has the right to change their priorities and where they funnel funds to impact community needs, but she feels it is a difficult time for nonprofits to stomach significant cuts.

“Probably everyone in every nonprofit feels like their clients are the most vulnerable or pretty vulnerable to funding losses and service losses,” Tipton said.

According to the United Way’s news release, the agency in 2009 moved to create change through a “refined focus on community goals in education, income and health, while maintaining basic needs such as shelter and food.”

As part of selecting the programs for funding, the release continued, proposals were reviewed by a panel of volunteers and evaluated based on merits established by the United Way’s board.

“United Way highly values the long-standing relationship with and work of Breakthrough House,” said Krehbiel.

Corey Jones can be reached

at (785) 295-5612

or corey.jones@cjonline.com.

Follow him on Twitter @CoJo_86.

I DISAGREE with Jeff Jacobys Dec. 11 op-ed column E-mail isnt killing the Postal Service, in which he argues that a lack of competition is hurting the post office. He is correct, in part. While electronic diversion certainly has had a detrimental impact on first-class mail, it isnt killing the Postal Service. Jacoby failed to address the 800-pound gorilla on the post offices back, courtesy of Congress.

Jacoby asserts that not many institutions enjoy the benefits that federal law confers on the Postal Service. Let me bring to his attention one of these so-called benefits. Congress mandates that the Postal Service pre-fund its retiree health care costs 75 years in advance, a mandate no other federal agency or private company is forced to pay. Absent that annual $5 billion benefit, the Postal Service would be profitable.

Further, when the Postal Service underpays its pension obligations, it receives a bill from the government. When it overpays, which it has to the tune of $11 billion, the government keeps the cash. Not a bad deal for the Treasury. Representative Stephen Lynch has proposed legislation to fix these costly errors and unfair obligations.

Posted at 12:19 PM ET, 11/09/2011
U.S. Senate panel OKs transportation funding plan
By Ashley Halsey III

In a rare show of bipartisan agreement, a Senate committee unanimously approved a two-year transportation funding plan that would continue spending at current levels.

The more than $39 billion spending package sent to the Senate floor by the Environment and Public Works Committee will be coupled with two elements the will emerge from other committees to form a $109 billion two-year surface transportation bill.

The approval came with much self-congratulation by committee members for the bipartisan nature of their effort.

About half of the 16 members present embraced the mood by saying they would withhold potentially controversial amendments until the bill reached the Senate floor.

“The bill before us is completely bipartisan, so no one is going to think it’s perfect,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the committee chair.

The bill relies on coming up with an additional $12 billion in revenue from a yet to be identified source.

The House has outlined a six-year funding bill but has yet to take action.

“If the House chooses to take a partisan route everyone will know that,” Boxer said afterward.

The bill is the first in two decades devoid of controversial earmarks. The nation’s transportation program has been funded through a series of continuing resolutions for two years, with the latest set to expire on March 31.

Related stories

Federal transportation funding mandates — the coming battle

‘Gargantuan large’ investment in infrastructure needed, experts say

By Ashley Halsey III
 | 
12:19 PM ET, 11/09/2011

• Tumblr
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon
• Digg
• Delicious

Previous:
I-95 speed cameras that were part of ICC work zone are gone

Next:
New flights from Dulles to Dublin and Manchester, England

LOS ANGELES — California State University students would be hit with a 9 percent tuition hike for the next academic year if the state does not allocate additional funds for the 23-campus system in its upcoming budget.

The board of trustees is set to vote on the $498 annual raise at a meeting Wednesday, university spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said Tuesday. The raise would bring the yearly tuition bill to $5,970.

The university is hoping to stave off the increase by asking the state Legislature in January for an extra $138 million so tuition does not have to be raised for the sixth consecutive year, Uhlenkamp said.

Were going to ask the Legislature to allocate funds to buy out the increase, he said.

Tuition was upped by 23 percent this year after CSUs funding was slashed by $650 million. Enrollment was also slashed by 10,000. If state revenue falls short of projections, another $100 million could be cut next month, Uhlenkamp said.

Students plan to join the university in lobbying the state Legislature for funding to avoid another tuition hike, said Miles Jason Nevin, executive director of the California State Student Association.

We do not favor tuition increases, but we understand the position the trustees are in, he said.

The proposed tuition hike comes as faculty picketed numerous campuses this week and made plans to walk off the job on two campuses on Nov. 17 to protest the universitys withholding of