Category: Daniel Levy
Registering to Vote More Complicated for Students
VOTING
New London Day
Dan Levy
Boston University Washington News Service
September 24 2008
WASHINGTON – For years one of the greatest challenges for political parties has been to persuade young people to show up at the polls on Election Day. Now, Democratic members of Congress and student rights groups are teaming up to make sure young people who do show up are able to cast their vote and have their ballots counted.
Students will encounter “disproportionate access barriers” to the polls this November and should know their rights in advance, said Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the House majority leader, at a press conference Wednesday outside the U.S. Capitol.
Hoyer was joined by several congressional colleagues, including Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who said that differing voter registration laws across the country make voting confusing for students who attend college outside their home states.
“We should be making it easier for students,” Schakowsky said. “Their impact on Election Day will only be felt if they’re allowed to vote.”
Former presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, urged students to cast absentee ballots in advance to avoid long lines at polling stations and to “find out if there are going to be any barriers” ahead of time.
Kucinich noted that some in his home state were concerned that voters whose homes were in foreclosure would be turned away the polls because they would no longer be considered residents.
Schakowsky said she had heard of students being told that their parents would no longer be able to claim them as a dependent for tax purposes if they voted outside their home district.
“That’s one of the lies,” Schakowsky said.
Connecticut is not one of the states that organizers of the press conference, which included the Student Association for Voter Empowerment and People for the American Way, were particularly concerned about. But officials and students at Connecticut College said they would make sure students were well-informed going into what is, for many of them, their first presidential election.
The New London college and the local voting registrar have a “good working relationship,” said Tracee Reiser, associate dean for community learning at Connecticut College. She said that her department is working with campus political groups to organize voter registration drives and information sessions on and off campus, and that the college would be running vans from residence halls to the polls from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Matthews Fairman, a 21-year-old senior who volunteers for the registration drives as a member of the Connecticut College Democrats, said his group encourages out-of-state students to register in New London, given the closeness of the 2006 congressional election, which Democrat Joe Courtney won by fewer than a hundred votes.
Still, Fairman expressed disappointment that the college has no Republican student group this year, which he said made political debates on campus “kind of lopsided.”
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No Child Left Inside Bill Passes House
ENVIRONMENT
New London Day
Dan Levy
Boston University Washington News Service
September 19, 2008
WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives Thursday passed an environmental education bill, which included an amendment by U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, that emphasizes the importance of utilizing state and local resources.
The No Child Left Inside Act would allocate $100 million for state grants promoting environmental literacy, outdoor education, and active living in both classrooms and community spaces.
The program is a response to No Child Left Behind, President George W. Bush’s education reform package, according to the legislation. Critics say Bush’s plan emphasizes math and reading test scores at the expense of science and community-based learning.
Courtney’s amendment highlights the importance of incorporating existing state and local resources, such as parks and recreation services, into environmental programs. This addition would make the federal program complement Connecticut’s version of No Child Left Inside, implemented in 2005 by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, whose project Courtney praised on the House floor.
“This is completely consistent with efforts going on in Connecticut that are on exactly the same path,” Courtney said in an interview. “We want environmental education to take place in the environment.”
While the state program has an educational component, it is primarily concerned with “reconnecting families and young people with the outdoors” by showcasing the state’s parks, according to Dennis Schain, spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, which administers the program.
Unlike the proposed federal program, the state version does not include grants to schools and community organizations. Officials at New London Public Schools said they looked forward to the possibility of receiving additional resources to support the school’s environmental curriculum.
The President’s controversial education plan, introduced in 2002, had left the district concerned that “science and community-based learning was being neglected,” said Stephanie Morton, the school’s environmental program coordinator.
At elementary and middle schools in the district students maintain fruit and vegetable gardens, participate in youth conferences on topics such as recycling, and enjoy hands-on learning with the University of Connecticut’s Project Oceanology in Groton, according to superintendent Chris Clouet.
“We have strong environmental roots in New London,” Clouet said.
Courtney said he believes environmental education is ultimately about preserving science’s role in solving today’s climate and energy challenges.
“This is not all feel good stuff,” Courtney said. “We as a country really need to pull out the stops in terms of trying to create interest in the sciences as young as possible.”
The legislation also must be passed by the Senate before the end of the year in order to become law.
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Bush Announces New Energy Relief Funding for Connecticut’s Low Income Families
RELIEF
New London Day
Dan Levy
Boston University Washington News Service
September 17, 2008
WASHINGTON—The White House announced Wednesday it would direct nearly $7 million in energy assistance funds to Connecticut as part of an effort to help low-income families heat their homes this winter. Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Democratic Rep. Joe Courtney, 2nd district, welcomed the move, but warned that the assistance was not enough to help working families weather the current energy crisis.
The money is Connecticut’s share of more than $120 million of left-over emergency Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funds, which President Bush made available. The aid consists of both baseline funds, approved by Congress, and emergency funds, released at the president’s discretion.
Wednesday’s release brings the total amount of emergency funds to Connecticut this year to nearly $24 million. Connecticut had not received emergency home energy aid funds since 2006, when the president directed $3.3 million toward the state.
Bush’s announcement comes a week after New England’s congressional delegation wrote a letter urging the president to release the outstanding funds, which would have expired at the end of the current fiscal year on Sept. 30, according to the members.
“With the winter months approaching, this is very good news for the working families of eastern Connecticut who are struggling to afford their home heating bills,” Courtney said in a statement. But along with Sens. Dodd and Lieberman, as well as Gov. M. Jodi Rell, he called for at least $2.5 billion more in federal funds.
“It is long past time to fully fund [the program]. and I intend to keep fighting,” Dodd said.
Low-income residents can apply for energy grants at one of 12 community action organizations in the state, according to Matthew Barrett, public and government relations director for Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. Barrett said his organization is expecting a spike in applications this year.
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