Category: Erin Kutz
UConn Joins Homeland Security Effort
UCONN
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
March 21, 2008
WASHINGTON – The University of Connecticut is taking a leadership role in developing national transportation solutions for everything from bridge collapses to evacuations during natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
In late February, the Department of Homeland Security announced the Connecticut Transportation Institute at UConn’s School of Engineering would co-lead the department’s Center for Transportation Security, with Tougaloo College and Texas Southern University. Long Island University, Rutgers University, San Jose State University and the University of Arkansas also will contribute.
The transportation center is one of 13 Centers of Excellence established by the Department of Homeland Security to work on issues such as food protection, port security, emergency management, explosives detection and border security.
This week, faculty members from all of the schools in all of the Centers of Excellence met in Washington with department officials to establish the research network’s next steps.
Mehdi Anwar, associate dean for research and graduate education at UConn’s School of Engineering, noted the importance of the various universities and the Department of Homeland Security cooperating in their work.
“We are a team and will work together to deliver what is required of us,” said Anwar, who attended the Washington meetings. “We can have all this technology, but if we do not have the policy in place, things are not properly implemented.”
Paul Schneider, acting deputy secretary of homeland security, lauded the numerous centers as valuable, long-term investments in homeland security, when he addressed the participants Thursday.
“The challenge is we have is to harness the brainpower that exists in your activities,” he said.
The department has allocated $4 million to the transportation center with UConn receiving at least $500,000 for the project.
“These Centers of Excellence encourage our country’s best and brightest to come together for the good of the country to work on solutions to some of the toughest issues we will face in our lifetime,” said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “This award is confirmation that the University of Connecticut has been and will continue to be a leader in the field of transportation security research.”
Anwar said the center will work to develop technology for sensors that would pinpoint fatigued transportation structures and potentially prevent disasters such as the Minnesota bridge collapse.
Additionally, the center is interested in exploring use of generators on trains that can function off the grid power and developing buses for emergency evacuation that can run without gasoline, Anwar said, noting the impasse New Orleans residents faced when their cars ran out of gas during Hurricane Katrina evacuations.
The UConn center will employ faculty researchers as well as undergraduate and graduate students and will reach out to industry leaders and other universities who could bring something to the mission, Anwar said. It would create new jobs in a range of fields, including technology, policy and psychology, he added.
While touting the homeland security implications of the participating universities, Schneider noted an additional benefit of the research networks.
“Equally as important is the contribution these are going to make to help reinvigorate the science and technology base of the country,” he said.
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Federal Election Commission Computer Error Results in Wrong Figures
FEC ERROR
Erin Kutz and Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
March 19, 2008
WASHINGTON— The Federal Election Commission early this month reported on its Web site incorrect campaign contribution numbers for all Senate candidates after making an error when transferring the candidates’ paper filings to an electronic version. The numbers have now been corrected.
The mistake occurred because of a coding error programmed by the commission within its data integration software, according to Bob Biersack, spokesman for the commission. Contributions of less than $200 and contributions of more than $200 are totaled on separate lines on the commission’s site and added together to form the total contributions. The mistake occurred when the under-$200 contributions were included in the total for the over-$200 contributions, causing the under $200 contributions to be counted twice.
The commission was informed of the error earlier this month when Boston University's Washington News Service, which covers Washington for a number of daily newspapers in the Northeast, discovered the error in reporting the Senate race in Maine between Sen. Susan Collins (R) and Rep. Tom Allen (D). The commission corrected the error within days of being notified, Biersack said.
Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said the error isn’t indicative of the FEC’s abilities.
“There is great potential for error when you’re working with campaign finance data,” he said. “It’s not as simple as balancing your checkbook. Mistakes get made.”
Biersack said the mistake had not occurred in the past and only the Senate campaigns were affected because the House candidates file electronically.
“We're very concerned about accurately representing the information that's provided to us,” said Biersack, who also said it would be easier if both the House and Senate filed electronically. “We've always encouraged the Senate to change their process and allow their candidates to file electronically.”
Kent Cooper, co-founder of CQ MoneyLine, an organization that analyzes campaign finances, said the problem could have been avoided with electronic filings by the Senate, noting that the chamber has followed the “status quo” of filing on paper since the 1970s. Any change would require legislative action on the Senate’s part.
He said the FEC’s computer error “is the kind of example that should open their eyes” and push the Senate to enact electronic filings.
Some senators have already pushed for that to no avail, though. In January of 2007, U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) introduced a bill requiring the Senate to file electronically. The bill has drawn the support of 40 co-sponsors, but the bill has not been voted on.
Stephen Weissman, associate director for policy for the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, said his organization is working to encourage the Senate leadership to schedule a vote. He noted that while computational errors in FEC reports are a concern, the graver issue in paper finance filings is that the information often cannot reach the public in time for an election or major vote.
“The people don’t have information about who has been giving contributions,” Weissman said.
Though the average voter doesn’t scour the FEC’s reports of candidate’s filings daily, errors in presenting the filings could have an effect on the numerous organizations and journalists who report on campaign finances, said Josh Israel , a researcher at the Center for Public Integrity.
“It’s vital that the information presented to [the public] be drawn from an accurate source,” he said.
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Admn. Allen Urges Congress to Approve Coast Guard Budget Request
COASTGUARD
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
March 7, 2008
WASHINGTON— Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard commandant, touted his branch’s successes in the past year Thursday while urging Congress to approve the full amount sought in President Bush’s fiscal year 2009 budget request.
The Coast Guard’s $9.3 billion request is almost 7 percent higher than the amount budgeted for this year, said Stephen Caldwell, director of homeland security and justice issues for the Government Accountability Office.
In 2007, the Coast Guard saved more than 5,000 lives, seized $4.7 billion worth of cocaine from narcotics trafficking and prevented 6,000 illegal immigrants from entering the country, Allen told the Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
“It was a banner year,” he said, noting that 2007 also marked the one-millionth life the branch saved since its inception in 1790.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the subcommittee chairwoman, added that the Coast Guard also carried out 27,000 search and rescue missions and responded to 162 oil and chemical spills. She also lauded the branch’s support in the war in Iraq.
“Few people are aware of the meaningful role the Coast Guard plays in Iraq,” Cantwell said of the more than 800 Coast Guard personnel stationed in that country in 2007. Typically they help with protecting oil bases, securing sea lanes and training Iraqi forces.
Allen also urged the senators to look at increasing the size of the branch, which has barely increased in close to half a century.
Cantwell pointed out that 49,000 Coast Guard employees are responsible for protecting 4.3 million square miles of ocean—leaving one employee for every 90 square miles.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the branch has faced increased pressure in managing its homeland security mission responsibilities—which include gathering intelligence at ports, controlling the flow of undocumented waterborne immigrants and assisting the Department of Defense.
The branch’s budget requests for all homeland security missions account for roughly 40 percent of the total, Caldwell, of the Government Accountability Office, told the subcommittee.
“The Coast Guard’s priorities and focus had to shift suddenly and dramatically toward protecting the nation’s vast and sprawling network of waterways,” he said in his testimony. “Coast Guard cutters, aircraft, boats and personnel normally used for non-homeland security missions were shifted to homeland security missions, which previously consumed only a small portion of the agency’s operating resources.
“Further complicating this balance issue is the understanding that any unexpected events—a man-made disaster (such as a terrorist attack) or a natural disaster (such as Hurricane Katrina)—could result in again shifting resources between homeland security and non-homeland security missions.”
Sen. Cantwell expressed concerns over the Coast Guard’s troubled Deepwater program and warned that the branch has been unable to respond to the environmental demands created by climate change.
“The Coast Guard needs to complete its missions safely and effectively, and taxpayers need to know what they’re getting for their dollar,” Cantwell said.
“At some point, though, there is a limit to what the Coast Guard can do with what we are giving them,” she continued. “We are starting to see the fault lines in an overextended agency that is beyond ‘do more with less.’ ”
Allen expressed hope in the budget, though.
“While much has been achieved, developing comprehensive maritime safety, security, and stewardship regimes for the nation remains a work in progress,” he said. “Our fiscal year 2009 budget request and current legislative priorities are critical steps in the right direction.”
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Dodd Pushes for Energy Assistance Program to be Fully Funded
LIHEAP
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
March 5, 2008
WASHINGTON – When Hartford resident Robin Hussain left her job to care for her grandchildren full-time, she quickly learned that federal energy assistance, not savvy shopping, would help her make ends meet.
“Your heating cost is the toughest thing to manage in your entire household budget,” she said. “There are many expenses that you can bring down. You can shop more carefully for groceries and you can clip coupons or switch to another market. You can get used clothes. You can find a more affordable apartment. But you don’t have a choice when it comes to heating that apartment.”
This year, Hussain is receiving $675 toward paying her heating and hot water bill, from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, she said Wednesday at a hearing held by the Children and Families Subcommittee of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn). Hussain is also on a plan in which the gas company fully matches her $80 monthly payments, she said.
Dodd is one of many legislators advocating that the fiscal 2009 budget contain the $5.1 billion required to fully fund the federal heating assistance program and help more households like Hussain’s. President Bush’s budget requested only $2 billion for the program, down from $2.57 billion for this year. Fully funding the energy assistance program would cost roughly half as much as a month in the Iraq War, Dodd said.
This year, close to 19,000 Connecticut households ran out of their basic heating assistance money by mid January– almost twice as many as last year, Dodd pointed out.
Last year, 211 families ran out of the extra, emergency assistance they are forced to rely on when the basic funding runs out. This year, more than ten times as many — 2,981 — have exhausted that emergency heating assistance.
Rising fuel prices, growing unemployment and the sub-prime loan crisis make expanding the heating assistance program, also known as LIHEAP, even more pressing, said. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).
“It seems to me that LIHEAP recipients are in the middle of a perfect storm,” he said. “The explosion in costs for oil has just been something just so dramatic and so out of step with people on fixed incomes.”
When some legislators pushed for heating assistance in the economic stimulus plan Congress approved last month, they were assailed by some as trying to score political points. Dodd said heating assistance “is not just a heating and cooling program—it is a homeownership program, a nutrition program and certainly a health program.”
Dr. Deborah Frank, a pediatrics professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, urged the senators to expand heating assistance from a child health and developmental standpoint, noting that babies will freeze to death before they will starve to death.
Children in families who spend grocery money on heating bills suffer from malnutrition, she added. She also pointed to two siblings in Boston who died in a fire started by their family’s space heater, which many struggling households use to lower oil expenses.
Frank also said that children whose families are eligible for heating assistance but do not receive it are 23 percent more likely to have poor physical growth and 32 percent more likely to be admitted to the hospital than their peers in families receiving heating assistance.
She looked to the subcommittee to help alleviate these ills.
“There is a medicine that is partially effective in protecting children from the current epidemic of energy insecurity and its costly consequences, not just in human suffering, but in medical and educational costs now and in the future,” Frank said. “That medicine is public energy assistance.”
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Mr. Himes Goes to Washington for Crash Course for Candidates
HIMES
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
February 29, 2008
WASHINGTON –Democrats welcomed Jim Himes and other congressional hopefuls to Washington this week for a two-day crash course in policy formation, networking and responding to third party attack ads that plague the later days of elections.
The training is aimed at widening the Democrats’ congressional majority in November. Himes compared the attempt to strengthen a troop of challengers to the nation’s desire for change—a popular buzzword in the Democratic presidential primary.
“I did get charged by the level of energy, excitement and optimism,” Himes said while waiting for a train at Washington’s Union Station on Thursday. “It’s just so clear that Americans around the country are going to be voting for change.”
Himes, who is running against Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, did say the desperation for reform has a “dark underbelly” because it is spurred by the public’s pressing concern over economic disarray and the war in Iraq.
The retreat drew challengers – around two dozen by Himes’ count – from the most high-profile House races in the nation, including districts in Illinois, West Virginia, Colorado, Washington and Florida, said Carrie James, northeast regional press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which sponsored the training.
“It’s not all-encompassing, but yes, these are races where we believe we have strong candidates,” she said.
The retreat included training in how to respond to attacks by 527 groups, so-called for the section of the U.S. tax code that covers them. Himes said that the committee cautioned the candidates against giving the groups something to feed on, noting that the guidance was a “constructive and positive thing.”
“It’s an area where everybody could improve,” he added, saying that he expects the ads to come his way. “The Republicans have so bungled the management of the country that they certainly are not going to run on the issues. They have to run on personal attacks.”
The National Republican Congressional Committee hosts programs that guide incumbents on how to respond to attack ads and “candidate schools” for challengers, said spokeswoman Julie Shutley. She said the offerings are available to anyone who wishes to participate.
For the Democratic training, Himes said he and the other candidates also received guidance on issues and developing solutions to constituent concerns. “All of us are running because they are so many challenges that require thoughtful new solutions,” he said. “But sometimes the process of campaigning can get in the way of forming those solutions.”
Though Himes has more than a decade of experience at Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs, he said he welcomed the party guidance on current economic problems, calling it “a good refresher course.”
Shutley discounted how much the sessions would help Himes.
“Himes is welcome to receive as much guidance and as much training as he needs, but that doesn’t come close to meaning he will be able to stand up to the record Chris Shays has,” she said.
Though the crop of challengers met with a host of members and grassroots organizations alike, Himes said a speech delivered by U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) on Iraq’s need for diplomacy rather than a surge in U.S. troops was particularly inspiring. Murphy is the first and only member of Congress to have served in Iraq.
“When a politician gets up there and shakes his fist at the war, that’s one thing,” Himes said, adding that when a “young veteran” says the nation can’t stay the course, it’s “very meaningful.”
He did note that the broad community support he’s received from voters makes his race more significant than a clash between Democrats and Republicans.
“There’s a sense this isn’t about politics this year, but a return to a sense of responsibilities and fundamental American values,” he said. “It changes it from a political activity to something a bit nobler.”
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Funds for Additional Submarine Leave Supplier Industry Optimistic
SUBMARINES
New London Day
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
February 28, 2008
WASHINGTON— The Submarine Industrial Base Council had its 17th annual congressional breakfast Thursday with a distinct note of cheer in the air.
It was the first such meeting since Congress in November 2007 approved $588 million for construction of two Virginia-class submarines per year starting in 2011 instead of 2012, which was the Navy's initial suggestion.
Since 2001, only one submarine has been produced a year, with production split between General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton and Northrop Grumman in Newport News, Va.
“We’re coming out of a pretty good year,” said John Casey, president of Electric Boat. “I think everybody is pretty upbeat.”
But U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn) noted the industry still needs to do more to make their product’s economic and national security priorities known.
“This is a very competitive place, in terms of people trying to get their issues heard,” he told the crowd of nearly 200 representatives of companies from across the country that have a role in submarine production. “The competition this year is going to be even more intense.”
This year Electric Boat will push for an additional $79 million to begin construction on the second submarine prior to 2011, Casey said. The early start would ensure a smoother transition to the production of two submarines annually, stabilize the workforce supplying submarine parts and get the ship to the Navy sooner, he said.
The diminished demand in recent years has crippled the supplier industry, driving some companies to shut down completely and others to respond with layoffs and price increases for their products, Casey said. The industry also has struggled to sustain the skill set required for submarine parts production.
“The industrial base is composed of specialists,” said Raymon Sterman, CEO of Prime Technology, a North Branford firm that builds electronic systems for the submarines. “If we disappear and go in another direction, we’ll never recover.”
He added that the procurement for two submarines a year has enabled his company to lower its costs by 30 percent.
Maintaining stable production for Virginia-class submarines also has a pressing national security interest, Courtney said.
Raymond McGee, president and CEO of Ansonia Copper & Brass, said his company is one of two in the world that makes the alloy tubing for the Virginia-class submarines. If the demand ever dips low enough to drive the company out of business, the U.S. Navy would be forced to rely on one company in northern Germany for the product, he said.
The increase in Virginia-class production also aids in maintaining a stable manufacturing force for future generations, said Michelle Allinson, president of Cursor Industries, a five-person raw materials manufacturing company in Bloomfield. The current manufacturing base is aging, she said.
“It’s part of the entire economic well-being of our state,” she noted.
McGee also said the increased Virginia-class production has an important social component. The suppliers provide well-paying job opportunities for people who don’t go to college or own their own business. “If you don’t have these basic jobs, what will people do?” he said.
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Senators Challenge Investigation of Sleeping Guards at Pennsylvania Nuclear Plant
NUCLEAR
New London Day
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
February 28, 2008
WASHINGTON – Senators challenged Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials and industry executives Thursday over security concerns at nuclear plants.
“Public confidence in the industry is only as good as its weakest link,” said Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio).
The comments came at a hearing regarding September reports of security guards at Pennsylvania’s Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station sleeping while on duty. The legislators grilled the regulators and nuclear officials about how such problems are dealt with industry-wide.
The Peach Bottom problem came to light after security guard Kerry Beal reported in March 2007 that his fellow guards were sleeping on duty. When the plant and the NRC found no evidence to back up the charges, he videotaped his coworkers and sent the tape to a CBS television station in New York City last September. The plant’s owner, Exelon, then fired its security company, the Wackenhut Corporation.
“My hope is that we take that lesson we learned at Peach Bottom and fully spread that lesson across the country,” said Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s nuclear safety subcommittee, which held the hearing.
Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) challenged the NRC’s response to the incident and urged that nuclear power plants establish better protocols for responding to the claims of whistleblowers like Beal.
NRC Chairman Dale Klein noted that the commission and the plant owners each take different steps in investigating claims, which can delay the process.
He said the agency typically receives between 500 and 600 allegations per year, 10 percent of which are substantiated and require disciplinary action.
Waterford’s Millstone nuclear station encourages employees to come forward and had stringent safety guidelines even before the Peach Bottom incident, said Pete Hyde, spokesman for Millstone, which is owned by Dominion.
“It is Dominion’s practice that we encourage people to bring forward concerns,” he said in a phone interview. “Sometimes we don’t always agree with what they are saying. We’ve had differences of opinion with employees in the past. But it’s a critical part of a safety culture. We fully investigate internally and that’s usually immediate.”
He also said that the plant rotates officers through different posts throughout their shifts and have activities in place so the officers don’t fall asleep.
The Peach Bottom officers who slept were not assigned to specific surveillance duties in the plant but were on standby to respond to needs as they arose, Eric Wilson, CEO of Regulated Security Solutions, a company hired to assess the security at the plant, told the Senate panel.
The NRC ruled that the sleeping guards posed a minimal threat to the security of the plant.
“But I think it is important to point out that for the 10 million Pennsylvanians living near the nuclear plants, a low to moderate safety threat is still too great of a threat,” Casey said.
Several committee members urged that heightened public opinion of the industry is especially pressing, as nuclear energy becomes a more widely used option for the future.
This year the commission is reviewing applications for the first new nuclear facility in 30 years, Carper said. They expect to have the first of possibly 30 new reactors up in the next seven or eight years, he added.
“If any one of our nuclear reactors fails to act safely or securely, it could undermine our nuclear renaissance,” Carper said.
Bill Proposed to Curtail Campaign Automated Phone Calls
ROBOCALLS-Hour
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
February 27, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Nearly two-thirds of voters—90 million people—received automated phone messages during the 2006 election year, according to a 2006 Pew Research Center study. Now members of Congress are moving to restrict the practice.
Also known as robocalls, the phone messages cost less than a dime each and can target tens of thousands of homes in just an hour. Recipients of the calls complain that they flood phone lines several times a day and night, interrupt family or work time, and eat up pricey cell phone minutes.
And robocalls can frequently come as attack ads from an opposing campaign and do not identify themselves as so until the end of the message.
In the week before the November 2006 election, the National Republican Campaign Committee spent nearly $45,000 on robocalls attacking Diane Farrell, the Democrat running against U.S. Rep. Chris Shays in the 4th District, according to a 2006 Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee press release.
Shays also reported falling victim to robocall attack ads in the 2006 election.
“I am particularly concerned about the anonymity of these phone calls,” Shays said. “They sometimes give my phone number as if I were the one making the calls…. It’s pretty outrageous.”
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., introduced legislation earlier this month to restrict political candidate’s abusive use of automated phone messages to voters. Her bill would prohibit these calls between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. and ban the same campaign from calling a phone line more than twice per day. The measure also requires callers to identify themselves at the beginning of the message and prohibits them from blocking their numbers on caller ID.
In 2007, the House passed bills prohibiting any calls from either leaving phone numbers other than the ones from which they originated or transmitting false caller ID information.
James Bopp Jr., an attorney at the James Madison Center for Free Speech, a conservative free speech advocacy group, told the Senate Rules and Administration Committee that the bill would curtail First Amendment rights to free speech. He said the “unconstitutionally vague” and “overbroad” language in Feinstein’s bill could inhibit grassroots and issues-oriented organizations’ ability to advocacy.
Bopp also pointed to a Supreme Court ruling upholding citizens’ rights to distribute door-to-door literature and place political signs in their lawns as evidence of the legislation’s unconstitutionality.
But Feinstein answered that “a political yard sign is a benign instrument. A telephone is not.” Calls, in other words, are intrusive.
Bopp said political candidates should decide how to use robocalls based on how voters respond. “The market will deal with this,” he said. “People who are doing these calls have no desire to alienate or offend anyone.”
Sen. Robert Bennett,R-Utah, the panel’s highest ranking Republican, said he himself had ended his robocall campaigns when voters complained, but that candidates have no ability to stop opponents from making robocalls against them.
In 2003, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission established the National Do Not Call Registry, which enables people to remove their numbers from telemarketer’s lists. But it does not apply to automated political phone calls.
Feinstein said she declined to include the Do Not Call Registry restrictions in her bill because she thought Congress would not support it, considering more than 140 million people are on the list.
The National Political Do Not Contact Registry, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization aiming to extend the restrictions of the National Do Not Call list to political phone calls launched in October. Voters can register their information on The National Political Do Not Contact Registry for free and the organization will advocate for politicians to remove them from their call lists, said CEO and founder Shaun Dakin.
The organization also charges a fee for voters to select who they want to hear from, how they want to be contacted and what issues they want to hear about, he said. Rep.Virginia Foxx, R-N.C, is the only member of Congress who has used the organization’s data and complied with voter requests, he added.
Feinstein said she would consider adding the protection under the National Political Do Not Contact Registry to her bill.
In 2007, Shays cosponsored a bill Foxx proposed that would extend the Do Not Contact limitations to automated political messages.
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Courtney Looking to Slice School Energy Expenditures
SCHOOLS
New London Day
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
February 26, 2008
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-2nd District) is trying to bring federal help to Connecticut's failing schools. They're not failing academically but environmentally.
Connecticut school buildings scored an average of 26 out of 100 in energy efficiency based on the Energy Star rating developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to a 2006 study conducted by the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University. Schools were scoring so low that officials at the institute thought something was wrong with the rating system, recalled William Leahy, executive director of operations for the institute.
Courtney said the study spurred his decision to help found the Congressional Green Schools Caucus, a group of members of Congress from across the country that advocates for enhanced school energy efficiency. Two weeks ago, Courtney announced that he was co-sponsoring legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.) that calls for the Secretary of Education to authorize competitive grants nationally for school construction projects that enhance energy efficiency.
“It is eye-popping, in terms of the waste that is occurring in Connecticut public schools,” Courtney said.
The Eastern study analyzed 119 schools that were statistically representative of the 1,026 Connecticut public school buildings at the time and also incorporated data that 237 schools voluntarily submitted.
The study found that 90 percent of state public school buildings were constructed before 1978—when energy shortages prompted greater conservation measures—and 68 percent were built between 1950 and 1978, when expanding populations forced the rapid construction of school buildings with little regard for energy efficiency.
“We're bearing a huge burden in terms of that legacy of school construction,” Courtney said.
The study also showed that making Connecticut school buildings merely average, as measured by the Energy Star program, would save $46 million in energy costs. This however was calculated based on 2006 energy figures, with oil costing around $60 a barrel. Savings would escalate with oil prices now close to $100 per barrel, Courtney said.
Towns currently finance school building renovations with bonds or construction grant programs from the state, Leahy said. The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund pays half the cost of school renewable energy projects and the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund provides financial assistance for schools looking to upgrade to more efficient energy equipment. The Department of Public Utility Control also helps schools pay for installation of efficient generators, Leahy said. He noted that this existing financial aid only focuses on reducing electricity usage but doesn't cut down on fuel output.
“The problem is that none of these programs address the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, either for national security reasons or climate change reasons,” he said. “These programs, coupled with a federal grant program would be excellent for improving Connecticut schools.”
The Windham High School building scored an eight in the Eastern Connecticut study, said Windham Superintendent Paul Perzanoski. The system responded by replacing boilers and ordering new windows, which should come in next month, he said. They’re also building a generator for the high school to use when power is in high demand in the area – days for which the power company will give the school rebates.
The consulting company that oversaw the construction projected annual savings to be $260,000, which after 14 years, would cover the cost of construction.
“We're looking forward to seeing the savings,” Windham First Selectman Jean deSmet said. “This is how towns like ours are going to survive the energy crisis.”
Leahy said that while energy efficient construction elements can be more expensive up-front, school systems need to consider the long-term savings opportunities.
“They need to connect the initial cost of the school to what it’s going to cost over its life and spend more money on the front end of the school so it doesn’t create horrendous energy bills,” he said.
Courtney said the savings in energy would bolster educational quality and facilitate the passage of yearly town budgets, or what he called “the annual ritual of pain.”
Enhancing school energy efficiency could save 25 percent of the $8 billion schools spend on energy nationally, a Courtney press release said. The savings could translate into 30,000 new teachers or 40 million additional textbooks each year, according to the press release.
The bill co-sponsored by Courtney was taken up by the House Education and Labor Committee. Courtney said he expects Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) to incorporate Holt’s bill into a larger measure on school construction later this year. Courtney said the bill faces positive prospects, particularly at a time when the nation is concerned with mitigating the effects of both global warming and dependence on foreign fuels.
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Some Say Money Isn’t Everything in the District 4 Race
FEC-Hour
Norwalk Hour
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
February 22, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Democratic challenger Jim Himes has raised nearly 80 percent as much as U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, R-4, has for the 2008 election, but through 11 elections extraordinary sums of money have yet to knock Shays from his congressional seat.
By the end of last year, according to the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission, Himes raised $951,221, compared to the $1,154,044 raised by Shays, the sole Republican House member in New England.
In 2004, Democratic challenger Diane Farrell raised nearly $1.5 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign finance data, and garnered 48 percent of the vote. She raised nearly twice as much for the 2006 election, but Shays prevailed in an even closer election, with just 50 percent of the vote.
Himes, who worked for 12 years at Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs, draws 93 percent of his funds from individual contributions, according to the center. Himes’ campaign manager Maura Keaney said the challenger’s broad community involvement – including charitable work and a past chairmanship of the Greenwich Housing Authority’s board – positions him well for fundraising and voter support. In addition to working in the financial arena, he was a Rhodes Scholar and worked the last five years at the Enterprise Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on expanding affordable housing.
“One of the reasons why we've gotten so much early grassroots support is that Jim is not a career politician,” she said.
John Orman, Fairfield University politics department chair, said polls of the district would better indicate Himes’ vitality in the race, but called his fund-raising a “great start.”
“Money is not everything, but without the money you can’t even come close,” he said.
Micahel Sohn, Shays’ campaign manager, said his finances are on target. “We’ve always raised what we need to raise to run a successful campaign and this year is no different,” he said. “Our fundraising is on budget and this year is moving right along.”
Goldman Sachs’s political action committee and employees are the biggest source of funds for both Shays and Himes. They’ve given Himes nearly $50,000, compared to $10,900 to Shays, according to the center. (And Goldman Sachs’s PAC and employees are the largest political donors nationwide, according to Center for Responsive Politics Communications Director Massie Ritsch.)
Shays raised almost 90 percent of his money from Connecticut donors, while Himes got 51 percent of his campaign cash from outside the Nutmeg State. Himes’ heavy out-of-state financing indicates the Democratic Party has its eye on the seat, Ritsch said.
“When a seat has been identified as one that could possibly change hands, the party out of power rallies to try and support the challenger,” he said.
Carrie James, northeast regional press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the party will support Himes “to the extent necessary,” and that “Himes’ fundraising successes show just how eager people are for a change in direction and how much support there is for Himes.”
The Democratic committee donated $1,000 to the Himes campaign in September, according to filings with the FEC.
Both candidates also have benefited from support of fellow politicians. Himes received $2,000 from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s campaign committee and $1,000 from Democrats Win Seats, the leadership political action committee of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, R-Fla. . Leadership PACs are separate funding entities politicians use to raise for their colleagues. All told, Democratic politicians gave Himes $11,500 from their campaign committees.
Shays received even more largesse from his colleagues in 2007, including $10,000 each from Freedom Project PAC and the Rely On Your Beliefs PAC, , the leadership political action committees of House Republican leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., respectively. Overall GOP politicians have given at least $71,000 to Shays from their committees.
Shays has held his district even in years when other Connecticut Republican House members lost their seats.
“Rep. Shays won last time in one of the worst election cycles for Republicans in decades,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Julie Shutley said of the 2006 election, when Republicans lost 30 seats in the House and six in the Senate. “We’re confident that he will be reelected in November.”
Nathan Gonzales, political editor at the Rothenberg Political Report, noted the Democrats’ real challenge has been not monetary but ideological.
“In this district, the Democrats’ problem is not money,” he said. “It’s never been generating enough money against Chris Shays. They need a better message about why Chris Shays should be defeated.”
Orman, of Fairfield University, said Himes’ chances could be enhanced if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is the Democratic presidential candidate. Obama would be more appealing for the independent voters in the state, who Himes also needs, Orman said.
However, Connecticut voters have favored the middle-leaning incumbents, Orman said, citing the success of Shays and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in the last election
Gonzales, of the Rothenberg report, said Shays’ previous victories hinged on his ability to identify himself outside of party lines.
“I think he’s been able to carve out his own image within the party,” he said. “. I know that drives Democrats up the wall, but that’s what they’re working against. … Chris Shays does not have a lot of margin for error, but I think he knows what he needs to do.”
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