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WASHINGTON- Today, Congressman Mike Thompson (D- St. Helena) announced that the water reclamation plant in the Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District will receive a grant of just over one million dollars and a loan of approximately $600,000 allocated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development program. This funding will be used to construct a solar array system to allow for a more efficient use of energy for the plant.
The first item of business today was adopting the rules by which we will run the 112th Congress. While the Republican Leadership has introduced some new, positive procedures that will enhance transparency in Congress, some of their proposals will hurt our district and add to our deficit.
The incentive has been key in the past for North Coast landowners who have opted to sell development rights on their land and often undertake different management strategies. The provision applies to donations landowners make toward the value of the conservation easement, and local land trust representatives say it's vital for projects going forward.
I am proud to have cast my last vote of this Congress for the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. September 11th was an attack on our country just like the attack on Pearl Harbor. The brave first responders and volunteers who came to the World Trade Center stayed day after day to clean up, with no regard to their own safety. These heroes deserve nothing but the best medical care.
This morning, President Obama signed legislation that will, once and for all, repeal the “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy of the Department of Defense. I am proud to be a cosponsor of the bill to repeal this discriminatory policy (H.R. 1283), and to have voted last week to repeal “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.”
I voted against the tax cut "deal" last night. It takes money from Social Security putting at risk the future of a federal program that most every American relies upon. It increases taxes on the working poor and puts $1 trillion dollars on the nation's credit card, adding to our national debt.
A large bloc of House and Senate Democrats rallied behind a Treasury Department plan for renewable energy Thursday, bolstering the chances of the cash grant program being extended in the tax cut package.
Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said the program was added to the tax package, while cautioning it was not a done deal. The office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., confirmed the provision was included.
Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., said of the grants, "I hope that they will be in there and I believe they probably will."
WASHINGTON- Today, the House of Representatives passed the Continuing Resolution which includes the necessary provision to restore geothermal royalties to local counties. Geothermal production requires counties to provide increased public services, such as police patrols, and requires increased maintenance of public goods, such as roads. Geothermal revenue sharing provides a funding stream to allow local governments to support these necessary community services.