News
Weekly Wire Week Ending December 9, 2016
- By: NYSAC
- On: 12/12/2016 09:38:13
- In: County Perspective
Weekly Wire: State Laws, County Issues, more
NYSAC Presents Unlock the Power of Learning at the NYSAC Legislative ConferenceRegistration is open for the NYSAC 2017 Legislative Conference, which will be held January 30, 31 and February 1, 2017 at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Albany. County officials will attend a series of informative and timely workshops, standing committee meetings, conference-wide presentations, and networking opportunities. To register and for more information, visit our website at www.nysac.org/legislativeconference. |
State Update Special Session May Take Place This Week Legislative Leaders have indicated that they may convene in Albany this week for a Special Session, but there have been no confirmed details regarding the agenda lawmakers will take up or what day they may return. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Assembly majority members would hold session if there are important time sensitive agenda items they can agree upon. The Senate Republicans have not indicated whether they will return. Governor Andrew Cuomo has urged the Legislature return to Albany to free up more funds promised to combat homelessness. Included with combating homelessness the Legislature would most likely vote on Legislative pay raises as well. On Thursday, December 8 the 2017 Legislative Calendar was released, the calendar can be viewed at: http://wallaby.telicon.com/NY/library/2016/20161208ZU.PDF. State Announces Regional Economic Development Awards On Thursday, December 8, Governor Cuomo announced the sixth round of the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) Awards. During Round VI, members from the 10 Regional Councils traveled to Albany to make in-person presentations of their proposals to the Strategic Implementation Assessment Team (SIAT). More than $700 million in economic and community development funding has been awarded to the following regions.
In addition, the Governor awarded 10 communities $10 million for the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). The DRI is a $100 million effort to improve the urban vitality of city centers across New York State. The initiative will invest $10 million in each of 10 communities, designed to transform downtown neighborhoods into more vibrant communities. The DRI communities are: Capital Region - Glens Falls Central New York - Oswego Finger Lakes - Geneva Long Island - Westbury Mid-Hudson - Middletown Mohawk Valley - Oneonta New York City - Jamaica North Country - Plattsburgh Southern Tier - Elmira Western New York - Jamestown |
 Federal UpdateCongress Passes 21st Century Cures Act Last week Congress passed a package of legislation related to health care, mental health and medical research. Originally, this legislation included the Family First Prevention Services Act, which would have reduced funding for New York's foster care programs, but those sections were removed from the final version of the bill after objections from several states including New York. The Cures Act reauthorizes the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA), which is intended to help decrease mental illness in jails through a variety of initiatives like mental health courts, transitional services, jail diversion programs and in-jail services. The bill also reauthorizes the Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) and Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPT) block grants, and includes provisions to help strengthen the behavioral health workforce. Some of the provisions will help counties across the county by:
2nd Quarter GDP Increases Nationwide, But By-Passes New York According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis last week, 41 states experienced growth in their state GDP in the second quarter of 2016. Eight states struggled with negative growth, and one came in at zero percent growth - each of these states rely heavily on mining and oil extraction. New York State fell into the same low and negative growth category as these other struggling states with .1 percent growth. In the 2nd quarter New York experienced negative growth in a few key segments that detracted from overall state GDP including construction, durable goods manufacturing, retail trade, information technology and finance and insurance. Agriculture, utilities, transportation and warehousing performed better in the second quarter helping to keep the state in positive territory. The low growth for New York in the 2nd quarter of 2016 is consistent with a pattern where New York lags the rest of the nation. For all of 2015, New York's GDP growth ranked 41st. |
| Grant Opportunities State Extends 2016 Statewide Interoperable Communication Grants Due to technical issues with their website, the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Office of Interoperable and Emergency Communications extended the due date for the 2016 SICG Formula Program until Monday, December 12, 2016 at 5PM. The SIC grants are intended to help counties make necessary improvements and provide for sustainment of Land Mobile Radio Systems (LMR), maintenance of components supporting interoperability, continuous training and exercise, sustainment and further development of governance structure. There is a total of $45 million in funding available from the Statewide Public Safety Communications Account. The deadline has been extended to this afternoon. All Documents for this RFA may be found at www.dhses.ny.gov/oiec/grants/. Frequently Asked Questions are located at www.dhses.ny.gov/oiec/grants/. For more information, contact the grant administrator at Grant.Info@dhses.ny.gov. |