NewzIntel.com

Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Christine Lagarde: Setbacks and strides forward: structural shifts and monetary policy in the twenties

    Source: European Central Bank

    Speech by Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, at the 2024 Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture organised by the IMF

    Washington, DC, 20 September 2024

    Central banks are public institutions with powerful tools, but the way these tools affect the economy is constantly changing. This uncertainty comes, in part, from the famous “long and variable” lags of monetary policy transmission.[1] It typically takes 18 to 24 months for a change in interest rates to have its peak effect on the economy and inflation.[2]

    But there are also more fundamental issues that affect the transmission of monetary policy, which were identified by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan 20 years ago. He wrote that:

    “The economic world in which we function is best described by a structure whose parameters are continuously changing. The channels of monetary policy, consequently, are changing in tandem.”[3]

    In other words, the effectiveness of monetary policy is intrinsically linked to the evolving structure of the economy. In recent years, uncertainty about policy transmission has been particularly acute.

    We have faced the worst pandemic since the 1920s, the worst conflict in Europe since the 1940s, and the worst energy shock since the 1970s. These shocks have changed the structure of the economy and posed a challenge for how we assess the impact of monetary policy. This challenge was exacerbated by the fact that the pandemic caught us after a long period of anaemic growth, below-target inflation and low interest rates.

    To manage this uncertainty, we introduced a three-pronged policy framework, focusing not only on forecast inflation but also on underlying inflation dynamics and the strength of transmission. This framework has been instrumental in helping us calibrate the rate path over the last phase of the hiking cycle, during the period when we held rates at their peak and, more recently, as we have started to make policy less restrictive.

    Our determined policy actions have successfully kept inflation expectations anchored, and inflation is projected to return to 2% over the second half of next year. Considering the size of the inflation shock, this unwinding is remarkable.

    But the uncertainty ahead is still profound. The economy is currently undergoing transformational changes and we need to analyse and understand their impact.

    While some of these changes – like climate change and ageing societies – are unique to our times, others resemble those that took place a century ago. Two specific parallels between the “two twenties” – the 1920s and the 2020s – stand out. Today, like back then, we are seeing setbacks in global trade integration, at the same time as strides forward in technological progress.

    But there is an important difference in how these changes are affecting monetary policy.

    In the interwar period, structural shifts affected the prevailing monetary policy strategy. The main lesson for central banks was that the dominant paradigm was not robust in times of profound structural change.

    It was this realisation that led to modern monetary policy strategies emerging a few decades later, with a core focus on price stability and flexible policy strategies to deliver it.

    Thanks to these developments, we are in a better position today to address these structural changes than our predecessors were. The challenge we face is not about our goals, which have proven successful, or our tools, which are sufficiently flexible.

    Rather, it is about how monetary transmission will be affected by structural shifts, and how we should adjust our analytical frameworks to these shifts.

    In my remarks today, I will start by exploring the parallels between the structural changes of the 1920s and those of the 2020s, while highlighting the different implications for monetary policy in each era. I will then share some preliminary considerations for the evolution of policy frameworks.

    My main message is that we must be ready for change and prepared to use the flexibility in our frameworks as necessary. To ensure stability in the future, our approach must continue to embody “stability without rigidity”, allowing us to adjust swiftly as the economy transforms.

    Post-war structural shifts and monetary policy in the 1920s

    If we go back a century to the 1920s, the world economy was going through a series of transformations. These shifts pulled in different directions, representing both setbacks and strides forward from the previous environment. They fundamentally changed the structure of the economy.

    Two of these shifts had profound implications for monetary policy.

    The first was global fragmentation, which put an end to the open, liberal economic order of the late 19th century and its assumed permanence.

    The decades leading up to the First World War had seen rapid global integration. World trade as a share of GDP rose from 10% in 1870 to 17% in 1900 and then to 21% by 1913, creating new expectations and lifestyles. As John Maynard Keynes famously wrote:

    “the inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such quantity as he might see fit, and reasonably expect their early delivery upon his doorstep […] he regarded this state of affairs as normal, certain, and permanent.”[4]

    At the same time, the dominant paradigm among major central banks was the gold standard, which prioritised maintaining an external equilibrium and relying on intrinsic mechanisms for domestic credit to adjust to external imbalances.

    But the war brought about the end of Pax Britannica, while the United States was reluctant to assume the role of global hegemon sustaining open trade. Economic nationalism rose and a rapid unravelling of globalisation followed. World trade as a percentage of GDP fell to 14% in 1929 and 9% in 1938.[5][6] Tariffs more than tripled in most European countries[7] and also rose in the United States.[8]

    Major central banks initially attempted to revive the gold standard in the mid-1920s to recreate the conditions for open trade, but they faced a worsening trade-off.

    As Ragnar Nurkse showed in his seminal study, in a more unstable world, central banks increasingly had to use gold reserves as a buffer against external shocks rather than allowing them to be transmitted to domestic credit growth.[9] While this approach was intended as a “second-best” policy to maintain a degree of domestic stability, it ultimately exacerbated deflationary pressures. Deflation in turn fuelled economic malaise and contributed to the cycle of economic nationalism.

    The second major shift in this period was rapid technological progress. While fragmentation was a step back, technology unambiguously took a step forward. But it triggered a series of changes in the economy and financial markets that created new challenges for central banks.

    Innovation accelerated rapidly in this period, fuelled largely by spillovers from wartime advancements. This surge saw new machinery introduced on a much larger scale than before. Progress was most visible with the internal combustion engine, the assembly line pioneered by Henry Ford, and the electrical network and motor.[10]

    The technological boom drove rapid productivity gains. In Britain, for example, 55 employee weeks were required to produce a car at the Austin Motor Company in 1922, compared with only ten in 1927.[11] For Europe as a whole, the average rate of productivity growth[12] rose to over 2% per year between 1913 and 1929, up from about 1.5% per year between 1890 and 1913.[13]

    Irrational exuberance about technology, however, also fuelled a significant rise in stock market valuations. Research indicates that a 1% increase in a firm’s stock of cited patents corresponded to a 0.26% increase in market value during the 1920s.[14] But central banks lacked a framework for dealing with booms and busts.

    Several central banks tried unsuccessfully to pop stock bubbles[15], and then they took a series of wrong turns when the crash came. The resulting banking crisis and the return to a deflationary stance – which in the United States, for example, appeared justified by the prevailing real bills doctrine – are now widely considered to have played a significant role in exacerbating the Great Depression.[16]

    A key lesson ultimately became clear for governments: central banks needed a new concept of stability. And this concept had to be reflected in their monetary policy strategies.

    As the economic historian Michael D. Bordo observed, in the 1920s central banks tried to focus on both external and internal stability, “but as long as the gold standard prevailed, external goals dominated.”[17]

    The main realisation of the interwar period was that central banks in advanced economies needed to be assigned domestic stability targets first and foremost. But it took another 30 to 40 years to realise that they would do better stabilising inflation rather than fine-tuning output and employment.

    Structural shifts and monetary policy in the 2020s

    Today, we also face some setbacks as the global economy fractures, while seeing strides forward with transformative digital technologies expanding.

    The consequences for monetary policy, however, are different.

    The last few years have been an extreme stress test of inflation targeting across the globe. We have faced not only back-to-back shocks, but also a differing variety and strength of shocks in different places. For example, Europe suffered much more than the United States from high energy prices, while the United States had to contend with the legacies of a stronger stimulus to demand.

    Yet, inflation is converging towards target almost everywhere. And remarkably, disinflation has come – at least so far – at a low cost to employment. As I recently observed, it is rare to avoid a major deterioration in employment when central banks raise rates in response to high energy prices.[18] But employment has risen by 2.8 million people in the euro area since the end of 2022.

    There are two reasons for this greater stability.

    First, decades of inflation targeting have had a deep impact on how people build expectations about future inflation. Indeed, when the inflation goal is stated sufficiently clearly, and monetary policy is credible, inflation expectations will remain anchored, which makes the adjustment process to an inflationary shock less painful.

    Second, over time central banks have recognised that stability should not mean rigidity.

    Indeed, we are better placed to confront structural changes because policy strategies combine three elements: clearly defined inflation targets, flexible policy toolkits to deliver those targets, and analytical frameworks that can assess and respond to changes in the economy, thereby feeding into our reaction functions. We have used all these elements in recent years to ensure that monetary policy maintains price stability without excessive costs to the economy.

    For these reasons, the ongoing transformations will not revolutionise the goals of monetary policy as they did a century ago. But they are likely to have a more profound impact on monetary transmission.

    Setbacks: fragmentation

    Just as one era of globalisation reached a turning point in the aftermath of the First World War, we are now witnessing another wave of globalisation plateauing. The hallmark of this era was the geographical unbundling of production through global value chains (GVCs), which led to a doubling in the value of traded intermediate goods. It now accounts for over half of world trade.[19]

    But the landscape is changing. We are not seeing outright “de-globalisation” in the sense of a reversal in world trade. But we are seeing the structure of GVCs changing in response to a more volatile environment, marked by more frequent supply shocks[20] and a fragmenting geopolitical landscape.[21]

    ECB analysis finds that both the United States and the euro area have recently diversified their supply of imported goods, leading to a larger number of sourcing countries and increasing costs.[22] In the United States, firms appear to be exploring the options of both “nearshoring” production in Canada and Mexico and “reshoring” at home.[23] In Europe, the focus is on “nearshoring” production within the region while still exporting globally.[24]

    These changes have implications for monetary transmission, as they could partially reverse some of the long-term changes in the economy that may weaken transmission.

    First, they could strengthen the link between domestic slack and inflation.

    A key puzzle that central banks faced in the 2010s was that policy easing was transmitted strongly to activity but in a weaker fashion to inflation. One explanation for this disconnect was that the expansion of GVCs reduced the impact of domestic slack on inflation by shifting the focus to global factors.[25] However, if GVCs become shorter or less efficient, domestic slack and inflation may reconnect. This shift could make monetary policy impulses more powerful.

    Second, policy transmission may strengthen as GVC restructuring could potentially boost capital deepening. Inducements for “strategic sectors” to set up closer to home may lead to a resurgence of capital-intensive industries within advanced economies. In the United States, for instance, manufacturing construction spending has doubled since the end of 2021 in response to policies like the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act.[26]

    Such a shift could somewhat attenuate the long-term shift in activity towards services and the observed slowdown in capital deepening over recent decades. In turn, capital deepening could increase the economy’s sensitivity to interest-rate changes, potentially enhancing the effectiveness of monetary transmission through the interest-rate channel.

    By strengthening the transmission mechanism, these shifts could potentially allow central banks to exercise more control over domestic outcomes. But these benefits would be offset if the restructuring of GVCs led to more volatile inflation.

    In a stable global environment, the expansion of GVCs facilitated a virtuous cycle of trade integration and stable inflation, as GVCs buffered the effects of cost-push shocks. Research shows that a 1% increase in input prices resulted in only a 0.44% increase in output prices owing to this buffering effect.[27] But if supply chains were to shorten, it could lead to stronger pass-through of cost shocks.

    Strides forward: technological progress

    Like in the 1920s, setbacks in some areas are being matched by advancements in others. We find ourselves in the midst of a digital revolution that echoes the technological boom of the 1920s.

    Just as that era saw rapid advancements in electricity, automobiles and mass production, our era is witnessing unprecedented growth in digital technologies. In particular, the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) looks set to transform a swathe of industries, including the financial sector. And financial technology (fintech) is already having a profound impact on finance.

    In 2022, fintech generated 5% of global banking revenue, totalling USD 150 billion to USD 205 billion. This share is expected to exceed USD 400 billion by 2028, growing at an annual rate of 15%. Banks are also acquiring fintech firms and adopting their technologies to enhance their lending operations.[28]

    By changing the nature of financial intermediation and fostering competition, fintech can significantly strengthen the transmission of monetary policy decisions to the wider economy, influencing interest rates, asset prices, credit conditions and ultimately growth and inflation.

    For example, advanced credit scoring[29] and new sources of credit provided by fintech platforms can reduce lending constraints. By leveraging alternative data sources, which can include over 1,000 data points per loan applicant, fintech using AI and machine learning has outperformed traditional credit scoring models in predicting loss rates, particularly for riskier firms.

    These developments are already expanding access to finance. Fintechs have been found to process mortgage applications around 20% faster than other lenders.[30] The use of data could also alleviate the need for collateral, thereby extending credit to underserved businesses at a lower cost.

    The modern consumer who can quickly check their creditworthiness and secure the best financial deals through their smartphone is no distant fiction. In some ways, it mirrors how the Londoner of the past could effortlessly order global goods from their bed.

    As a result, fintechs’ credit supply tends to be more responsive to changes in borrowers’ business conditions or broader economic conditions[31], contrasting with traditional banks’ emphasis on long-term relationships with borrowers. This responsiveness also means that fintech lending could be more procyclical in times of stress, amplifying credit cycles and volatility.[32]

    But the net benefits for transmission hinge crucially on the effect of digitalisation on market structures.

    Digital markets tend to be “winner-takes-most”, as is visible in the handful of “hyperscalers” that dominate digital platforms and cloud services. For example, just three US “hyperscalers” account for over 65% of the global cloud market. Google commands an outstanding market share of more than 90% among search engines. In e-commerce, business is concentrated among a handful of top players.

    Market power has important effects on policy transmission. IMF research finds that firms with greater market power are less sensitive to changes in interest rates. In the United States, a 100 basis point increase in the policy rate causes a low-markup firm to cut sales by about 2% after four quarters. By contrast, a high-markup firm barely reduces its sales in response to the same policy change.[we start to understand the effects of global fragmentation and digitalisation on monetary transmission, we will have to continuously reassess our analytical frameworks. Just as in previous eras, stability should not mean rigidity.

    Regular strategy reviews provide an opportunity for self-reflection. We published the results of our last strategy review in 2021, which mainly took stock of the low inflation era, and we expect to conclude the 2025 assessment of our strategy in the second half of next year.

    Important elements of the previous review remain valid. In particular, we will maintain the symmetric, medium-term oriented 2% inflation target. But there are two key areas in which we need to develop our framework to be more robust in times of profound change.

    First, we need to reduce as much as possible the uncertainty created by these structural shifts. We can do so by deepening our knowledge and analysis of the ongoing transformations, and how they may affect the shocks we face and the transmission of our policy.

    Second, as uncertainty will nonetheless remain high, we need to manage it better.

    In particular, we should reflect on how our policy framework incorporates risk assessments. While our current three-pronged policy framework provides a useful set of cross checks, the strategy review provides an opportunity to consider how to balance the information from baseline forecasts with real-time information, how to make best use of alternative scenarios, and the importance of the medium-term orientation when faced with different types of shocks.

    The two main strands of our 2025 review will correspond to these goals.

    First, we will look at how the economy has changed in the post-pandemic world, aiming to distinguish as best we can cyclical from structural drivers. As part of this analysis, we will consider how we can improve our analytical framework, including embedding new techniques and sources of data into our forecasts.

    Increasing the use of AI will be an important element. Machine learning will help us, for example, to identify non-linearities in macro forecasting, to use large data sets for event prediction, and to improve inflation nowcasting. These advances may be especially important in relation to near-term forecasting, which is not the strength of traditional macro models.

    Second, we will consider what we can learn from our past experience with too-low and too-high inflation, including for our reaction function. We will look at how our medium-term orientation can be made operational when faced with both upside and downside risks to inflation expectations.

    Conclusion

    Let me conclude.

    History shows that structural shifts matter for monetary policy, even if their effects take time to appear. They affect how monetary policy is transmitted through the economy. And, in the past, they sometimes affected the fundamental goals that monetary policy pursued.

    Today, the goals of monetary policy do not change, because a focus on price stability has been shown to be crucial in times of profound change. But that does not imply that the way in which we conduct monetary policy will remain the same.

    In 1933, the Governor of the Bank of England, Montagu Norman, told his newly appointed economic advisor that “you are not here to tell us what to do, but to explain to us why we have done it.”[36]

    So, let me end by promising you this: we will not take that approach. We will draw on our best analysis, experience and knowledge, so that when change comes, we will be ready.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Canada pledges CAD 250,000 to support food, animal and plant health standards

    Source: WTO

    Headline: Canada pledges CAD 250,000 to support food, animal and plant health standards

    WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala expressed her appreciation for Canada’s generosity. “I thank Canada for its longstanding commitment to the STDF. Canada’s contribution will allow the STDF to advance agricultural innovation, facilitate safe trade, and promote global food security. This support is necessary for fostering inclusive trade and enabling developing countries to actively participate in the global marketplace,” she said.
    The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, said: “Canada has a role to play when it comes to supporting efforts to improve food security, reduce poverty, and promote sustainable economic growth around the world. This investment will create opportunities for developing countries to enhance their trading relationships and competitiveness, while supporting a safe and secure global food system.”
    The donation underscores Canada’s long-standing commitment to the STDF’s mission, bringing its total contributions to CHF 7.4 million since 2001.
    Canada has contributed over CHF 15 million to WTO trust funds over the past 22 years.
    The STDF is a global multi-stakeholder partnership that promotes safe and inclusive trade. It was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Bank Group, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and the WTO, which houses and manages the partnership.
    In support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the STDF responds to evolving needs, drives inclusive trade and contributes to sustainable economic growth, food security and poverty reduction.
    Developing economies and least developed countries are encouraged to apply to the STDF for SPS project and project preparation grants. Information on how to apply is available here.
    To date, the STDF has funded over 250 projects benefiting LDCs and other developing economies.

    Share

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Moot Court competition opens with webinar support on offer for participants

    Source: WTO

    Headline: Moot Court competition opens with webinar support on offer for participants

    The competition is a simulated hearing under the rules of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism involving exchanges of written submissions and oral pleadings before panelists on international trade law issues. The competition is organized by the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) with the technical support of the WTO.
    The WTO and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) are partnering to support participants interested in this competition by providing a series of webinars titled “Legal Mooting Masterclass”. These webinars will equip teams and their coaches with the information required to navigate the competition successfully.
    The webinars will provide an overview of the competition, useful tools for research on WTO law, and tips on best practices for participating in the competition from experts from the WTO and ACWL. 
    The sessions will be held the first week of October and require prior registration.
    For the complete schedule and to register click here.
    Every year, the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition provides hundreds of students across the globe an opportunity to address interesting and novel questions of WTO law, and to engage with WTO experts who serve as panelists and sponsors of the competition. Students who participate in the Moot Court Competition often go on to internships, graduate programmes, and careers in international trade law.
    This year’s case, “Alabasta – Certain measures affecting electronic goods and digital services” – is a dispute between the fictitious WTO members Alabasta and Wano involving trade in tablet computers and services via video streaming platforms. It navigates the complex intersection of the domestic regulation of video streaming platforms and anti-competitive practices in the digital economy on the one hand and international trade obligations on the other. By debating whether Alabasta’s actions constitute legitimate state regulation or contravene WTO law, students will gain insight into the evolving landscape of digital trade regulations.

    Share

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: New wave of Copilot innovation coming to education

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: New wave of Copilot innovation coming to education

    Enhance your AI journey with Business Chat and Copilot Pages, updates to Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot agents, enterprise data protection, and more.

    We’re introducing a new wave of Microsoft Copilot innovation with Business Chat and Copilot Pages, updates to Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot agents, enterprise data protection, and more. In this blog we’ll share new education insights, recap the latest innovations coming to our customers with Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot, and provide resources to support your AI journey.

    AI is reshaping education, and institutions need a plan. With new education insights from the 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Survey, it’s clear that AI use in education is here with 71% of education professionals using it at work. At the same time, 63% reported their institutions lack a vision and plan to implement AI, likely contributing to 81% of education professionals not using tools provided to them—but instead choosing to bring their own AI to work (BYOAI).

    Discover insights from the 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Survey

    As the future of work and education continues to evolve with AI innovation, it’s increasingly important to ensure that educators and students are engaged and encouraged to build AI literacy. 77% of business leaders say with AI, early-in-career talent will be given greater responsibilities, yet many education professionals express reluctance to admit to using AI and say they don’t know how to use it effectively. Learn more about the need for bridging the AI literacy gap and starting AI conversations in our AI in Education Report.

    Explore the AI in Education Report

    Enhancing Microsoft Copilot with enterprise data protection

    Microsoft Copilot is your AI assistant for education, providing secure access to advanced AI models for free so you can focus on what matters most. We’ll continue bringing new models to Copilot, now including GPT-4o, and capabilities like recent chats to reference or continue previous chats. In August 2024, we shared several additional updates to enhance data security, privacy, compliance, and user experience which begins rolling out today. While signed in with a school account, Copilot will offer enterprise data protection (EDP) in a simplified, ad-free interface that can be accessed at Microsoft.com/copilot, in the Microsoft 365 app, and will soon be available in Microsoft Teams and Outlook. 

    Enterprise data protection means that your Copilot prompts and responses are protected by the same terms and commitments that are widely trusted by our customers—not only for Microsoft 365 Copilot, but also for emails in Exchange and files in SharePoint. With EDP, we secure your data, your data is private, and your access controls and policies apply based on the underlying subscription plan. Additionally, we help safeguard against AI-focused risks such as harmful content and prompt injections, and your data isn’t used to train foundation models.

    Learn more about enterprise data protection
    Microsoft Copilot, now with enterprise data protection and available at Microsoft.com/copilot and in the Microsoft 365 app.

    Education institutions like Wichita Public Schools and Auburn University have already leveraged Copilot to empower students, faculty, staff, and researchers. We look forward to continuing to support institutions worldwide in their mission to provide equitable AI access and learning about where Copilot is improving educational outcomes.

    These updates will be available to all educators, staff, and higher education students aged 18 and older over the next month. We’re also excited to continue our private preview program for students 13 and older, now with enterprise data protection. For more information, review the enterprise data protection FAQ.

    Microsoft Copilot Wave 2 innovation

    Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrated into the apps you use every day and available as an add-on, has added 150 new features and capabilities since general availability and more than 700 product updates based on customer feedback. We’ve announced three key updates: Business Chat and Copilot Pages, transforming Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, and Copilot agents.

    Business Chat and Copilot Pages

    • Business Chat (BizChat) is a central hub that brings together all your data—web data, work data, and line of business data—with the rich capabilities of the Microsoft 365 apps. BizChat is where you can work with Copilot like a partner, turning organizational content into a rich database of information and insight.
    • Copilot Pages is a dynamic, persistent canvas in BizChat designed for AI collaboration to ensure the data in your organization is persistent, accessible, and valuable. You and your team can work collaboratively in a Page with Copilot, seeing everyone’s work in real time. In the coming weeks, we’re also bringing Pages to the free Microsoft Copilot when signed in with a Microsoft Entra account.

    Updates to Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps

    • Copilot in Excel is now generally available with new skills, and we announced Copilot in Excel with Python—empowering anyone to conduct advance analysis or visualize complex data—all using natural language, no coding required. 
    • Copilot in PowerPoint now offers Narrative Builder, helping you to iterate with Copilot to build a great first draft in minutes and with Brand manager, Copilot can leverage your organization’s branded templates.
    • Copilot in Teams can now reason over both the meeting transcript and the meeting chat to give you a complete picture of what was discussed and leave no question, idea, or contribution behind.
    • Copilot in Outlook helps you quickly get to the messages that matter with Prioritize My Inbox, which analyzes your inbox and soon, you’ll even be able to teach Copilot the specific topics, keywords, or people that are important to you.
    • Copilot in Word will enable you to quickly reference not only Word, PowerPoint, PDFs, and encrypted documents, but also emails and meetings, and offers the ability to partner with Copilot inline as you work on specific sections of your document.
    • Copilot in OneDrive is rolling out now and makes it easy to gain insights, summarize, and compare up to five files with a clear, easy-to-ready summary of the details and differences within your files—without opening a file.

    Copilot agents

    • Now generally available in BizChat, Copilot agents run the spectrum from simple, prompt-and-response agents that anyone can build, to more advanced, fully autonomous agents.
    • Simple and secure to manage, all agents have the same Responsible AI and enterprise data protection promises—your data never leaves the Microsoft 365 trust boundary, and everything happens within your tenant.
    • To make it even easier to build custom agents, we announced agent builder. It’s a new, simplified experience that complements Copilot Studio to enable easy creation of custom agents and realize the value of your organizational data.

    Copilot is transforming productivity in the workplace, empowering customers to accelerate research on rare diseases, save customer service agents hours each week, or go from content ideation to production significantly faster, and more.

    In education, institutions like the University of South Florida are preparing students for this new future of work and are already seeing the value for their faculty and staff. We’ll also continue to enhance the value of Microsoft 365 Copilot with capabilities built for students and educators.

    The University of South Florida is preparing students for the future of work and seeing the benefits of Microsoft 365 Copilot for their faculty and staff.

    Get started on your AI journey

    With new innovations and improvements coming every day, one constant is the importance of providing guidance, learning opportunities, and resources. We’ve compiled a relevant list below to help you get started.

    Learn from more educators, and students:

    Explore and share AI resources:

    • Microsoft Education AI Toolkit: Designed to guide school leaders through the process of integrating AI into their school’s operations and building robust plans for your organization.
    • AI for educators learning pathway: Explore the potential of AI in education, enhance teaching and learning with Microsoft Copilot, and equip and support learners.
    • AI Classroom Toolkit: A creative resource that blends engaging narrative stories with instructional information to create an immersive learning experience.
    • Microsoft Copilot Scenario Library: Get inspired with guidance by departments such as IT, HR, Legal, Communications, Operations, and more.
    • Copilot technical skilling resources: A collection of kits, learning paths, Microsoft Mechanics videos, resources for developers, and upcoming events for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
    • Worklab: explore the latest research insights on the future of work and generative AI
    • Minecraft Education AI Foundations: A set of accessible, engaging materials for building AI literacy with Minecraft for students, educators, and families.
    • AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit from TeachAI: Designed to help education authorities, school leaders, and teachers create thoughtful guidance.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: New wave of Copilot innovation coming to education

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: New wave of Copilot innovation coming to education

    Enhance your AI journey with Business Chat and Copilot Pages, updates to Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot agents, enterprise data protection, and more.

    We’re introducing a new wave of Microsoft Copilot innovation with Business Chat and Copilot Pages, updates to Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot agents, enterprise data protection, and more. In this blog we’ll share new education insights, recap the latest innovations coming to our customers with Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot, and provide resources to support your AI journey.

    AI is reshaping education, and institutions need a plan. With new education insights from the 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Survey, it’s clear that AI use in education is here with 71% of education professionals using it at work. At the same time, 63% reported their institutions lack a vision and plan to implement AI, likely contributing to 81% of education professionals not using tools provided to them—but instead choosing to bring their own AI to work (BYOAI).

    Discover insights from the 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Survey

    As the future of work and education continues to evolve with AI innovation, it’s increasingly important to ensure that educators and students are engaged and encouraged to build AI literacy. 77% of business leaders say with AI, early-in-career talent will be given greater responsibilities, yet many education professionals express reluctance to admit to using AI and say they don’t know how to use it effectively. Learn more about the need for bridging the AI literacy gap and starting AI conversations in our AI in Education Report.

    Explore the AI in Education Report

    Enhancing Microsoft Copilot with enterprise data protection

    Microsoft Copilot is your AI assistant for education, providing secure access to advanced AI models for free so you can focus on what matters most. We’ll continue bringing new models to Copilot, now including GPT-4o, and capabilities like recent chats to reference or continue previous chats. In August 2024, we shared several additional updates to enhance data security, privacy, compliance, and user experience which begins rolling out today. While signed in with a school account, Copilot will offer enterprise data protection (EDP) in a simplified, ad-free interface that can be accessed at Microsoft.com/copilot, in the Microsoft 365 app, and will soon be available in Microsoft Teams and Outlook. 

    Enterprise data protection means that your Copilot prompts and responses are protected by the same terms and commitments that are widely trusted by our customers—not only for Microsoft 365 Copilot, but also for emails in Exchange and files in SharePoint. With EDP, we secure your data, your data is private, and your access controls and policies apply based on the underlying subscription plan. Additionally, we help safeguard against AI-focused risks such as harmful content and prompt injections, and your data isn’t used to train foundation models.

    Learn more about enterprise data protection
    Microsoft Copilot, now with enterprise data protection and available at Microsoft.com/copilot and in the Microsoft 365 app.

    Education institutions like Wichita Public Schools and Auburn University have already leveraged Copilot to empower students, faculty, staff, and researchers. We look forward to continuing to support institutions worldwide in their mission to provide equitable AI access and learning about where Copilot is improving educational outcomes.

    These updates will be available to all educators, staff, and higher education students aged 18 and older over the next month. We’re also excited to continue our private preview program for students 13 and older, now with enterprise data protection. For more information, review the enterprise data protection FAQ.

    Microsoft Copilot Wave 2 innovation

    Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrated into the apps you use every day and available as an add-on, has added 150 new features and capabilities since general availability and more than 700 product updates based on customer feedback. We’ve announced three key updates: Business Chat and Copilot Pages, transforming Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, and Copilot agents.

    Business Chat and Copilot Pages

    • Business Chat (BizChat) is a central hub that brings together all your data—web data, work data, and line of business data—with the rich capabilities of the Microsoft 365 apps. BizChat is where you can work with Copilot like a partner, turning organizational content into a rich database of information and insight.
    • Copilot Pages is a dynamic, persistent canvas in BizChat designed for AI collaboration to ensure the data in your organization is persistent, accessible, and valuable. You and your team can work collaboratively in a Page with Copilot, seeing everyone’s work in real time. In the coming weeks, we’re also bringing Pages to the free Microsoft Copilot when signed in with a Microsoft Entra account.

    Updates to Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps

    • Copilot in Excel is now generally available with new skills, and we announced Copilot in Excel with Python—empowering anyone to conduct advance analysis or visualize complex data—all using natural language, no coding required. 
    • Copilot in PowerPoint now offers Narrative Builder, helping you to iterate with Copilot to build a great first draft in minutes and with Brand manager, Copilot can leverage your organization’s branded templates.
    • Copilot in Teams can now reason over both the meeting transcript and the meeting chat to give you a complete picture of what was discussed and leave no question, idea, or contribution behind.
    • Copilot in Outlook helps you quickly get to the messages that matter with Prioritize My Inbox, which analyzes your inbox and soon, you’ll even be able to teach Copilot the specific topics, keywords, or people that are important to you.
    • Copilot in Word will enable you to quickly reference not only Word, PowerPoint, PDFs, and encrypted documents, but also emails and meetings, and offers the ability to partner with Copilot inline as you work on specific sections of your document.
    • Copilot in OneDrive is rolling out now and makes it easy to gain insights, summarize, and compare up to five files with a clear, easy-to-ready summary of the details and differences within your files—without opening a file.

    Copilot agents

    • Now generally available in BizChat, Copilot agents run the spectrum from simple, prompt-and-response agents that anyone can build, to more advanced, fully autonomous agents.
    • Simple and secure to manage, all agents have the same Responsible AI and enterprise data protection promises—your data never leaves the Microsoft 365 trust boundary, and everything happens within your tenant.
    • To make it even easier to build custom agents, we announced agent builder. It’s a new, simplified experience that complements Copilot Studio to enable easy creation of custom agents and realize the value of your organizational data.

    Copilot is transforming productivity in the workplace, empowering customers to accelerate research on rare diseases, save customer service agents hours each week, or go from content ideation to production significantly faster, and more.

    In education, institutions like the University of South Florida are preparing students for this new future of work and are already seeing the value for their faculty and staff. We’ll also continue to enhance the value of Microsoft 365 Copilot with capabilities built for students and educators.

    The University of South Florida is preparing students for the future of work and seeing the benefits of Microsoft 365 Copilot for their faculty and staff.

    Get started on your AI journey

    With new innovations and improvements coming every day, one constant is the importance of providing guidance, learning opportunities, and resources. We’ve compiled a relevant list below to help you get started.

    Learn from more educators, and students:

    Explore and share AI resources:

    • Microsoft Education AI Toolkit: Designed to guide school leaders through the process of integrating AI into their school’s operations and building robust plans for your organization.
    • AI for educators learning pathway: Explore the potential of AI in education, enhance teaching and learning with Microsoft Copilot, and equip and support learners.
    • AI Classroom Toolkit: A creative resource that blends engaging narrative stories with instructional information to create an immersive learning experience.
    • Microsoft Copilot Scenario Library: Get inspired with guidance by departments such as IT, HR, Legal, Communications, Operations, and more.
    • Copilot technical skilling resources: A collection of kits, learning paths, Microsoft Mechanics videos, resources for developers, and upcoming events for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
    • Worklab: explore the latest research insights on the future of work and generative AI
    • Minecraft Education AI Foundations: A set of accessible, engaging materials for building AI literacy with Minecraft for students, educators, and families.
    • AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit from TeachAI: Designed to help education authorities, school leaders, and teachers create thoughtful guidance.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Security: West Park Man Pleads Guilty To Filing Thousands Of Fraudulent COVID-19 Testing Reimbursement Claims In The Names Of Homeless, Incarcerated And Deceased Individuals, Agrees To Forfeit Over $5.6 Million And Properties

    Source: United States Department of Justice (National Center for Disaster Fraud)

    Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Willie F. Murray, Jr. (55, West Park) today pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Murray faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud offense and a consecutive two years’ imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft offense. Murray has also agreed to forfeit $5,671,611.74 in U.S. currency, $1,578,925.56 from a bank account, and seven real properties located in Punta Gorda, Fort Lauderdale, Belle Glade, Hollywood, and South Bay, which are traceable to proceeds of the offense.

    According to the plea agreement, Murray was the registered agent and manager of Lab Tess, LLC, a Florida company that purportedly provided its customers with COVID-19 testing services. In fact, Lab Tess provided no such services. Murray used Lab Tess to submit fraudulent claims for reimbursement to the Health Resources and Services Administration for COVID-19 testing services supposedly provided to uninsured individuals. To complete the scheme, Murray used personal identifying information of individuals incarcerated by the Florida Department of Corrections, individuals falsely reported as having been tested at homeless shelters and electrical substations, and deceased individuals. Murray submitted more than 126,000 fraudulent claims and received reimbursement in the approximate amount of $5,671,611.74, which he used, in part, to purchase real properties in South Florida.

    This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Pizzo and Suzanne Nebesky.

    Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Jayapal, Bonamici, Merkley Introduce Legislation to Stop Predatory Payday Lending Practices

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

    WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswomen Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced legislation to protect consumers from predatory payday lending practices.

    The Stopping Abuse and Fraud in Electronic (SAFE) Lending Act of 2024 would safeguard consumers as predatory payday lenders have continued to flourish online despite laws passed by many states to stop abusive lending. Internet lenders hide behind layers of anonymously registered websites and “lead generators” to evade enforcement and can empty consumers’ bank accounts before they have a chance to assert their rights.

    “Payday lenders take advantage of working families, struggling to pay medical bills or rent, by trapping them in a seemingly endless cycle of debt,” said Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. “I’m proud to lead this legislation with Congresswoman Bonamici that would protect consumers across the country by closing loopholes, increasing transparency, and putting an end to these predatory lending practices. Congress has a responsibly to protect hardworking people from bad actors, and that’s exactly what we will accomplish with our SAFE Lending Act.”

    “Predatory payday lenders rob hard-working individuals and families of their resources at a time when they are financially vulnerable,” said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “The SAFE Lending Act would finally put an end to the unscrupulous practices payday lenders use to trap consumers in an unending cycle of debt.”

    “Predatory payday lenders trap hardworking Americans in an inescapable vortex of debt,” said Senator Jeff Merkley. “Before we kicked payday lenders out of Oregon, they preyed on families in my blue-collar neighborhood. We need strong consumer protections to break this cycle of endless debt for families across America.”

    The SAFE Lending Act is endorsed by the National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Main Street Alliance, U.S. PIRG, and UnidosUS. It would:

    1. Give Consumers Control of Their Own Bank Accounts

    • Prevent third parties from gaining control of a consumer’s account through remotely created checks (RCCs) – checks from a consumer’s bank account created by third parties. To prevent unauthorized RCCs, consumers would be able to preauthorize exactly who can create an RCC on his or her behalf, such as when traveling.
    • Allow consumers to cancel an automatic withdrawal in connection with a small-dollar loan. This would prevent an internet payday lender from stripping a checking account without a consumer being able to stop it.

     2. Allow Consumers to Regain Control of their Money and Increase Transparency

    • Require all lenders, including banks, to abide by state rules for the small-dollar, payday-like loans they may offer customers in a state. Many individual states currently have much tougher laws than the federal government. There is currently no federal cap on interest or limit on the number of times a loan can be rolled over.
    • Increase transparency and create a better understanding of the small-dollar loan industry by requiring payday lenders to register with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
    • Ban overdraft fees on prepaid cards issued by payday lenders who use them to gain access to consumers’ funds and to add to the already exorbitant costs of payday loans.
    • Require the CFPB to monitor any other fees associated with payday prepaid cards and issue a rule banning any other predatory fees on prepaid cards.

     3. Ban Lead Generators and Anonymous Payday Lending

    • Some websites describe themselves as payday lenders but are actually “lead generators” that collect applications and auction them to payday lenders and others. This practice is rife with abuse and has led to fraudulent debt collection.
    • The SAFE Lending Act bans lead generators and anonymously registered websites in payday lending.

    The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on access to capital on Tribal lands and directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to promulgate rules to implement this legislation.  

    A one-page summary of the SAFE Lending Act can be found here. The full text of the legislation can be found here.

    In the House, the legislation is cosponsored by Representatives Susan Wild (D-PA) and Katie Porter (D-CA).

    The Senate, the legislation is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Tina Smith (D-MN).

    Issues: Jobs, Labor, & the Economy

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray Announces $200 Million for Moses Lake’s Group 14 to Help Power America’s Battery Manufacturing Sector, Create 300 Local Jobs

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    Murray is the Chair of the full Senate Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee that funds the Department of Energy, and has made investments in clean energy and American manufacturing and innovation a top funding priority for the federal government
    ICYMI FROM AUGUST 2023: Senator Murray Discusses New Clean Energy Jobs and Opportunities at Big Bend Community College’s Workforce Training Center in Moses Lake
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Chair of the Energy & Water Development Appropriations subcommittee, announced $200 million in federal funding to help Moses Lake’s Group 14 build a new facility to produce silane. Silane gas is critical for the development and manufacturing of new energy storage devices and advanced batteries. The proposed facility would produce silane in Moses Lake at a significantly reduced capital and energy requirement from the conventional process and be capable of directly feeding silane to multiple silicon anode powder manufacturers via pipeline or container, alleviating a critical bottleneck for the industry.
    “For America to continue building a stronger, cleaner economy and leading the world in new technologies, we have to strengthen our supply chains and invest in bringing the industries that are powering the future to states like Washington—and that’s exactly what this funding from our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will do,” said Senator Murray. “This investment isn’t just bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to Moses Lake, it is bringing hundreds of jobs to Moses Lake and helping our country ramp up production of a key resource that is necessary to make batteries. The new Group14 facility in Washington state will reduce America’s dependence on countries like China for silane gas and provide a crucial foundation to build even more domestic manufacturing of other products for years to come. We are building a stronger clean energy economy while creating good-paying union jobs in our rural communities—this is a win for Moses Lake, for union workers, our future, and our entire economy.”
    By manufacturing and delivering large commercial volumes of transformational silicon-based anode material named SCC55 , Group14 is seeking to support the global transition from fossil fuels to a green energy future with a net zero-carbon economy.
    However, manufacturing large commercial volumes of silicon-based anode materials in the U.S. requires commensurately large-scale commercial access to silane gas. The objective of this project is to install, commission, and operate a U.S.-based silane manufacturing plant.
    While the largest source of silane today is China, Group14 and other silicon battery companies must strategically source this critical raw material domestically to support EV-scale battery production and reduce foreign battery supply chain dependence. Approximately 80% of the largest available source of silane produced in the U.S. is controlled by a single company and earmarked for solar polysilicon. Additional domestic silane capacity is required to develop the silicon battery industry.
    The proposed project will create more than 300 jobs to construct the plant and retain 150 employees to commission, ramp up, and sustain production. Group14 will be meeting quarterly with the Washington Building Trades to collaborate on ensuring there is a skilled workforce to complete the project on time and on budget. In addition, Group14 will use its Project Advisory Council and Youth Advisory Council for local residents to provide feedback on the project and address issues early on in the project. Group14 anticipates that it will provide funding to help support workforce development in the local community.
    As Appropriations Chair, Senator Murray is supporting key investments to ensure the federal government can deliver grants and loans to develop a diversified portfolio of projects that help deliver a durable and secure battery manufacturing supply chain for the American people. In the Fiscal Year 2025 Senate energy bill Murray authored and passed out of committee, she secured $17.74 billion for the Department of Energy’s non-defense programs, a $296 million increase over Fiscal Year 2024. That funding includes key investments to boost renewable energy and strengthen our energy grid. Murray is currently working to pass this bill into law before the end of the year.
    Murray visited Moses Lake just last year to tour Big Bend Community College’s Workforce Training Center and hold a roundtable discussion on how new clean energy investments are bringing career opportunities to communities like Moses Lake while helping tackle the climate crisis. Murray’s visit came shortly after Group14 broke ground on their battery materials manufacturing facility in Moses Lake—with a boost from climate incentives Murray secured in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: House Passes Congressman Meuser’s Protecting U.S. Business Sovereignty Act

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-9)

    Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4790, the Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act, introduced by Congressman Bill Huizenga. The bill includes a beneficial provision authored by Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA), H.R. 4653, the Protecting U.S. Business Sovereignty Act.

    Rep. Meuser’s legislation specifically targets foreign overreach by addressing the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), requiring the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to study how this EU directive harms U.S. businesses.

    CSDDD imposes politically motivated environmental and social mandates on U.S. businesses operating in European markets, threatening U.S. economic sovereignty, and harming our economy. Any U.S. business that does $100 million in revenue in the EU is captured and forced to comply or face heavy penalties.

    “Let me be clear—Republicans are not against ESG as an investment choice,” said Congressman Meuser. “If individual investors want to prioritize environmental, social, or governance factors, that’s their freedom. What we oppose is when these ideological views are mandated—when investors and businesses are forced to comply with burdensome regulations that prioritize political ideology over profitability.”

    Congressman Meuser’s legislation prioritizes economic growth, limits regulatory overreach, and safeguards the freedom of choice for American investors. Congressman Meuser urges the Senate to swiftly pass this important legislation to ensure American businesses and investors are protected from harmful, unnecessary mandates.

    Text of H.R. 4653, the Protecting U.S. Business Sovereignty Act, can be found here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Promote U.S.-Israel Energy Development Cooperation

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL)

    Washington DC – Today, U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Buddy Carter (GA-01), Joe Wilson (SC-02), and Brad Schneider (IL-10) announced the introduction Thursday of the BIRD Energy and U.S.-Israel Energy Center Reauthorization Act of 2024. This bipartisan legislation expands upon the U.S.-Israel energy cooperation program, increasing funding and extending the program through 2034 to advance clean energy technologies, improve energy security, and foster economic innovation in both nations.

    The BIRD Energy program has consistently demonstrated its success, supporting 49 projects with a combined investment of more than $38 million. These initiatives have driven advancements in clean energy technologies and fostered strong U.S.-Israel collaboration.

    “By renewing and expanding this vital partnership, we can leverage our combined resources to tackle the most pressing energy challenges of today, while supporting clean energy innovation and job creation in both the U.S. and Israel,” said Rep. Wasserman Schultz. “This legislation will drive advancements in energy storage, cybersecurity for energy infrastructure, renewable energy, and more.”

    “The BIRD Energy partnership allows both the U.S. and Israel to develop the next generation of clean energy technology. This initiative not only strengthens our economic ties but also accelerates innovation, which is the key to protecting our environment while growing our economy,” said Rep. Carter. “Together, we can create a reliable, affordable clean energy sector, and reauthorizing the BIRD program is a critical step in getting us there.”

    “Reauthorizing the BIRD Energy program is an important demonstration of the strong partnership with our ally Israel, making lasting investments in the future of clean energy. By collaborating on cutting-edge technologies, we can enhance our energy security, create good-paying jobs, and contribute to the global fight against climate change,” said Rep. Schneider. “The success of this program proves that when nations come together with a shared goal, we can make meaningful strides toward a cleaner, safer, and more prosperous future.”

    “I am grateful to cosponsor this important bipartisan bill that will further critical U.S.-Israel cooperation on the energies of the future like hydrogen and fusion as well as the technologies to modernize and protect our energy infrastructure. U.S.-Israel energy cooperation brings together the best of both nations’ capabilities to advance our joint energy goals,” said Rep. Wilson “It is imperative that we deepen and expand our cooperation with our valued ally Israel across all sectors to ensure we can meet the challenges of tomorrow.”

    The BIRD Energy program has sparked partnerships between Israel and U.S. companies resulting in the development of innovative flexible solar panels for wireless electronics. Another collaboration led to solar energy production systems that operate over water reservoirs.

    By focusing on innovative solutions like solar energy, smart grid systems, and energy efficiency, BIRD Energy has significantly enhanced both countries’ energy security while contributing to global progress in the clean energy sector.

    The U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation program, established in 2009, has supported the commercialization of clean energy technologies and played a key role in improving both countries’ energy competitiveness. Read the entire bill here.

     

    ####

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cartwright’s minions caught lying about Rob Bresnahan

    Source: US National Republican Congressional Committee

    The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI –

    September 20, 2024

    Congressman Cartwright’s minions got caught running an ad about Rob Bresnahan that was so misleading that the ad was pulled off the air.

    “Do-nothing Congressman Cartwright and his minions have nothing else to run on except lies and distortions about Rob Bresnahan. None of Cartwright’s desperate lies will hide the fact that Rob has worked to grow a successful business that provides 150 good-paying union jobs to the people of Pennsylvania.” — NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella

    Read more from Broad & Libertyhere or see excerpts below.

    Pelosi-allied PAC hits Bresnahan with another unfounded claim, stops ad
    Broad and Liberty
    Bradley Vasoli
    September 20, 2024

    House Majority PAC (HMP), the political outfit that recently mischaracterized northeastern Pennsylvania congressional candidate Rob Bresnahan’s (R) abortion stance, just ran another inaccurate advertisement. 
     
    The new ad was so misleading about Bresnahan, currently running in the 8th Congressional District against Democrat incumbent Matt Cartwright, that Bresnahan was able to get the ad canceled from airing.
     
    The video depicts several costumed, prop-toting narrators taking turns bemoaning what they see as the Republican’s professional shortcomings. One young man holding a skateboard says, “Rob Bresnahan was handed the keys to his family fortune as a teenager.” Then a twenty-something male in a matte cap and gown complains, “Most of us get diplomas; Bresnahan was given a company.” 
     
    But no evidence suggests anyone gave Exeter-based Kuharchik Construction to Bresnahan. Yes, Bresnahan’s grandfather started the electrical contracting firm and Bresnahan became its CFO when he was nineteen. Nevertheless, long before the candidate launched his congressional bid, he attested to buying the entity from his grandparents after graduating college.
     
    In a March 2022 appearance on the On the Stacks podcast, Bresnahan recalled purchasing the company only after meeting his grandmother’s condition that he receive “a four-year college degree from an approved university of her choosing.” He graduated from the University of Scranton in 2012 and, according to his attorney’s missive to TV broadcasters, bought the family business at a fair-market rate. He was no longer “a teenager” like the ad said he was. 
     
    “In fact, he purchased a debt-laden business and turned it into a successful operation, something HMP certainly doesn’t want viewers to know,” lawyer Jessica Johnson of the Holtzman Vogel firm wrote to station executives. “This advertisement is, at best, ignorant, and, at worst, intentionally deceitful. Regardless, it cannot be permitted to continue to air on your stations or elsewhere. With so much at stake this election, voters at the very least deserve to be told the truth about their candidates.”
     
    Incidentally, the ad’s comment that “most of us get diplomas” also doesn’t jibe with local reality; no county in the district has a majority college-graduation rate for adults aged 25-64. Post-secondary degree-holders comprise 43 percent of that demographic in Lackawanna, 38 percent in Pike, 38 percent in Luzerne, 37 percent in Monroe and 31 percent in Wayne. Bresnahan, at any rate, has a diploma, despite the video insinuating that he doesn’t.
     
    This isn’t the first time HMP put an erroneous anti-Bresnahan spot on the airwaves. In late summer, the PAC released a TV ad stating the candidate wanted to “pass a national abortion ban [with] no exceptions,” something he went on record opposing on August 14. HMP didn’t answer a request for comment before Broad + Liberty published that story nor did the committee respond to an inquiry about the newer ad depicting Kuharchik’s ownership transfer as a gift. 
     
    […]

    Read more here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: CFTC Staff Extends Temporary No-Action Letter Regarding Capital and Financial Reporting for Certain Non-U.S. Nonbank Swap Dealers Domiciled in the EU and the UK

    Source: US Commodity Futures Trading Commission

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Participants Division (MPD) today announced it issued a temporary no-action letter extending CFTC Staff Letters No. 21-20 and 22-10 to certain nonbank swap dealers (SDs) domiciled in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) that are the subject of pending CFTC reviews for comparability determinations regarding capital and financial reporting requirements. 

    As part of the capital and financial reporting requirements for nonbank SDs, the CFTC adopted a substituted compliance framework that permits certain nonbank SDs to rely on compliance with home-country capital and financial reporting requirements in lieu of meeting all or parts of the CFTC’s capital adequacy and financial reporting requirements, provided the CFTC finds the home-country requirements comparable to the CFTC’s requirements. 

    Through CFTC Staff Letter No. 24-13, issued today, MPD is extending a no-action position to eligible nonbank SDs domiciled in the EU and the UK that are not covered by existing CFTC orders addressing capital and financial reporting requirements. The no-action position is conditioned upon the nonbank SDs remaining in compliance with applicable home-country capital and financial reporting requirements and submitting certain financial reporting information to the CFTC.   

    The no-action position will expire by December 31, 2026 or the effective date of any final CFTC action addressing the comparability of capital and financial reporting requirements applicable to the relevant nonbank SDs. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Hanover Bank Hosts Celebration to Thank Community

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MINEOLA, N.Y., Sept. 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Michael P. Puorro, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hanover Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: HNVR), the bank holding company for Hanover Community Bank, announced they hosted a cocktail party at their Hauppauge Business Banking center on Thursday, September 19, 2024 to thank the many people and businesses who have contributed to their success and welcomed them to Suffolk County.

    Hanover Bank recognizes that success is never accomplished alone. Since its expansion into Suffolk County, Hanover has received an enormous amount of support from its clients, the community, the businesses, and the leaders of this region. The scores of people and businesses that rolled out the red carpet for Hanover are all a part of the fabric and foundation that makes Suffolk County one of New York’s most vibrant business hubs. With a philosophy that success comes through helping others succeed, Hanover wishes to recognize all this support by showing its appreciation and celebrating so many friends and associates.

    Michael Puorro stated, “Being a part of the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge was the perfect choice for us when we decided to expand into Suffolk County. We have experienced such a tremendous amount of goodwill and enthusiasm that hosting this celebration is our way of thanking and honoring the many people who help us grow and succeed every day. This entire evening is dedicated to showing our appreciation and gratitude for the overwhelming warmth and welcome we have received.”

    The Hanover Bank building was developed and built as a state-of-the-art office facility and is located at 410 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge, NY. The developer and owner of this property, Craig Padover, President of Aresco 410 LLC, worked closely with Kelly Murphy, Executive Director and CEO, Suffolk County Industrial Development Association (IDA) to take this vacant lot and transform it into a Class-A office building.

    “Much like the theme behind this celebration, the development of this beautiful, thoughtful building is the true definition of collaboration and partnership,” said Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency CEO/Executive Director Kelly Murphy. “This newest addition serves as the official gateway into the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge and represents endless opportunity for those who walk through its doors. Long Islanders pride themselves on their quality of life and Hanover Bank’s building mirrored that sentiment with their employee-focused design and amenities. We congratulate Hanover Bank for anchoring this property now and into the future as we wish them continued success in the years to come,” stated Ms. Murphy.

    “In a project spearheaded and implemented by the Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim, our building was one of the first in the Innovation Park at Hauppauge to fully understand and take advantage of the Town of Smithtown overlay zone change along with the Suffolk County sewer expansion allowing the building to rise over sixty feet. Further, we are thrilled that Hanover Bank is a part of 410 Motor Parkway’s success,” stated Craig Padover.

    Hanover Bank is so proud to contribute to the local and regional economy by employing approximately sixty-five people that operate from this business center. Logistically, this location allows us to further service the Long Island community with commercial, municipal, and consumer retail banking products. By contributing to the local economy, and by working and transacting business with many of Long Island’s most successful organizations and municipalities, our Hauppauge Business Banking Center allows us to leverage our existing relationships across business lines to deliver unparalleled service to this region.

    “There is much to celebrate and so many individuals to thank. We felt it was only fitting to recognize “the village” of people who have supported our growth, and last night was our way of showing our gratitude and letting them know how important they all are to us,” concluded Michael Puorro.

    About Hanover Community Bank and Hanover Bancorp, Inc.

    Hanover Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: HNVR), is the bank holding company for Hanover Community Bank, a commercial community bank focusing on highly personalized and efficient services and products responsive to client needs. Management and the Board of Directors are comprised of a select group of successful local businesspeople committed to the success of the Bank by knowing and understanding the metro-New York area’s financial needs and opportunities. Backed by state-of-the-art technology, Hanover offers a full range of financial services. Hanover employs a complete suite of consumer, commercial, and municipal banking products, and services, including multi-family and commercial mortgages, residential loans, business loans and lines of credit. Hanover also offers its customers access to 24-hour ATM service with no fees attached, free checking with interest, telephone banking, advanced technologies in mobile and internet banking for our consumer and business customers, safe deposit boxes and much more. The Company’s corporate administrative office is in Mineola, New York where it also operates a full-service branch office along with additional branch locations in Garden City Park, Hauppauge, Forest Hills, Flushing, Sunset Park, Rockefeller Center and Chinatown, New York and Freehold, New Jersey.

    Hanover Community Bank is a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and is an Equal Housing/Equal Opportunity Lender. For further information, call (516) 548-8500 or visit the Bank’s website at https://hanoverbank.com.

    Media and Press Contact:
    Annette Esposito
    First Vice President – Director of Marketing
    (516) 548-8500

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Transforming Education Symposium

    Source: Caribbean Development Bank

    Joshua Andall is a transformative leader at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into education across the Caribbean. As a key contributor to UNESCO’s policy guide on AI in the Caribbean, Joshua has played a critical role in shaping how AI is applied responsibly in education to meet the region’s unique needs. His innovative approach has helped ensure that AI supports inclusivity, access, and quality education, particularly for underserved populations.

    As the founder of EduBots AI, Joshua has revolutionized the way educators interact with technology. He has developed subject-specific chatbots tailored to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) syllabus, providing teachers with powerful tools to create lesson plans, quizzes, and learning materials. These AI-driven solutions enhance teaching efficiency and student engagement, supporting the overall learning experience. His work has agrnerd the support of  CXC and other  minsters and CEOs across the region. Hence, EduBots AI is now being positioned as an essential resource in classrooms across the region. Joshua is also committed to ensuring that AI benefits special needs education, having created a chatbot for them as well making learning more accessible for all students.

    In addition to his impact in education, Joshua is a CARICOM Youth Ambassador. Through this role, he has championed mental health, crime prevention, and reproductive health education across the Caribbean, working with youth leaders, governments, and civil society organizations to address critical social challenges.

    Beyond his contributions to education, Joshua is a digital transformation specialist and AI chatbot architect, focusing on creating AI-powered chatbots that streamline operations for organizations and businesses. His solutions optimize workflows, enhance customer service, and improve operational efficiency across sectors.

    As a digital marketing expert, Joshua has extensive experience in web development, social media management, and ad campaign execution. He has provided end-to-end digital solutions locally and internationally, helping businesses elevate their brands and achieve measurable results.

    With over five years of experience running a digital agency, Joshua has successfully helped corporate organizations, credit unions, and government institutions embrace digital transformation, ensuring they are future-ready and competitive in the evolving digital landscape.

    Joshua is committed to ensuring education is accessible and fun for all.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Reps. Watson Coleman, Kim Lead Resolution Recognizing National Children’s Emotional Wellness Month

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman

    September 20, 2024

    Today, U.S. Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and Young Kim (CA-40) introduced a bipartisan resolution to recognize September as National Children’s Emotional Wellness Month and to increase public awareness on the emotional health and mental wellness challenges that children and teenagers face.

    One in five children in the United States struggle with an emotional, mental, or behavioral disorder, and only 20% of these children receive the specialized care and treatment that they need, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    “America’s children are facing a crisis. Suicide has become the 2nd leading cause of death of young people ages 10-14. This horrifying statistic is even more tragic when you consider that all of these deaths may have been prevented with the right intervention,” said Congresswoman Watson Coleman. “There are many causes of this crisis, from the impact of Covid-19 to social media, to the increased access to firearms, but we have the capacity to create the conditions in which all of our children have a shot at happy fulfilling lives. Children who have access to help can thrive. They’ve shown an ability to bounce back and become strong, happy, and resilient.  All that is required is for us to break through the partisan gridlock and get them the care they need. This resolution is an important step toward that goal and I thank Rep. Kim for her continued partnership on issues of children’s health.”

    “America’s youth are in crisis. We must ensure children receive adequate care and the therapeutic and educational resources they need to achieve their dream,” said Congresswoman Kim. “Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders, and investing in parents, the pediatric mental health workforce, and targeted programming improves children’s emotional wellness outcomes and livelihoods across American communities. That’s why I’m leading a bipartisan resolution to recognize September as National Children’s Emotional Wellness Month and expand awareness on the importance of children’s emotional and mental health.”

    “The Children and Families Coalition of Orange County wholeheartedly endorses this resolution and is eager to collaborate in any way possible to ensure its success,” said Valerie Banks, Project Director, Children and Families Coalition of Orange County. “We believe that this initiative will have a profound impact on the well-being of children in our community and beyond.”

    “I could not be more proud to have our organization tied to Children’s Emotional Wellness Month,” said Mara James, Founder and CEO, Extraordinary Lives Foundation (ELF) in Mission Viejo. Our end goal is to care for the mental and emotional needs of children and their families and the reason we created Children’s Emotional Wellness Week which we hope to grow exponentially in future years.”

    “As you know, the first years of life are the most crucial in the development of a young child. At the center of this development is attachment and bonding with the child’s primary caregiver, which provides a secure base for all other development. Social and emotional skills are the foundation for developing and maintaining positive and responsive relationships throughout life; the key to health and wellness,” said Sandy Avzaradel, M.S. Ed., Director, Start Well. “It is imperative that we help our communities understand the importance of building these skills at the earliest age possible. Start Well is in full support of the Extraordinary Lives Foundation and the work they do to ensure children receive the support they need to become resilient adults; Start Well fully endorses September as Children’s Emotional Wellness Month.”

    “Every child deserves the chance to thrive — to be nurtured, protected, cared for and cared about, emotionally and physically, so that they can learn, grow, and develop to their greatest potential…so these little ones can soar, living their dreams. But too many children never get that chance because anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions stand in the way, and that too often go undiagnosed and untreated. It’s never too late to provide the support that children and parents need — but it’s also never too early,” said Heidi Murkoff, author of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and founder of the What to Expect Project. “Research shows that the mental health of moms and dads from pregnancy, postpartum and beyond significantly impacts the mental health of the babies they love — and their future. Providing parents and children with mental health support throughout their journey is essential — and that’s why the What to Expect Project and I are proud to support this resolution to raise awareness about the importance of children’s emotional wellness.”

    Read the full resolution here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Canada Announces Significant Funding to Unlock More Critical Minerals Development in Northern British Columbia and the Yukon

    Source: Government of Canada News

    News release

    September 20, 2024                                         Vancouver, British Columbia                                                                              Natural Resources Canada

    Investments in critical minerals infrastructure are essential to enable Canada to seize the generational opportunity of the transition to a low-carbon economy and capitalize on our rich mineral resources. Canada is well positioned to be a global leader and first-class producer of a wide variety of critical minerals that are essential to power the clean economy and, in turn, create good jobs and support economic opportunities across critical mineral value chains — from upstream exploration and extraction to downstream processing, manufacturing and recycling.

    Today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, with the Honourable Josie Osborne, British Columbia’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, and the Honourable Ranj Pillai, Premier of the Yukon, announced up to $60 million in funding, pending final due diligence from Natural Resources Canada, for two critical minerals infrastructure developments in B.C.’s Golden Triangle and the Yukon. This funding would be provided through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund (CMIF).

    Galore Creek Mining Corporation (Galore Creek) is planning to construct a 43-kilometre access road to support the development of its copper mine located in Tahltan Territory in northwest B.C. The Galore Creek deposits contain over 12 billion pounds of copper and, once in production, will significantly increase Canada’s annual copper supply. The construction of the Galore Creek Access Road would link the mine project to existing road infrastructure, provide ground access to proposed mill and processing facilities, and provide the electricity transmission corridor allowing the Galore Creek mine to operate using BC Hydro’s low-emission electricity grid. Road improvements are integral to advancing critical minerals development in B.C.’s northwest, in partnership with First Nations. Pending final due diligence, Natural Resources Canada has conditionally approved an investment of up to $20 million under the CMIF for this project.

    The Government of Yukon is seeking to undertake pre-feasibility activities to advance a 765-kilometre, high-voltage transmission line network that would connect the Yukon electrical grid to the North American grid in B.C. This regional project has proposed energy infrastructure located in two priority regions for critical minerals development — Yukon’s Cassiar and Tanana regions and B.C.’s Golden Triangle. The transmission line could support projects producing critical minerals such as cobalt, copper, molybdenum, nickel, platinum group metals, tungsten and zinc in the Yukon and northern B.C. Pending final due diligence, Natural Resources Canada has conditionally approved an investment of up to $40 million under the CMIF for this project.

    The Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund is a key program under the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy to address infrastructure gaps and enable sustainable critical minerals production and connect resources to markets through various clean energy, electrification and transportation infrastructure projects. Future funding decisions for projects under the CMIF to further critical minerals infrastructure development are also expected in the coming months.

    These projects — which benefit from close collaboration under the B.C. and Yukon Regional Energy and Resource Tables — are, in addition to the recently announced Northwest BC Highway Corridor Improvements Project, key to facilitating critical minerals development in the Golden Triangle and Yukon. B.C.’s Golden Triangle has considerable mineral potential and holds approximately 75 percent of Canada’s known copper reserves. Copper is crucial in various industrial processes and a fundamental component in electrical wiring, electronics and renewable energy systems, including solar panels and wind turbines.

    Critical minerals are essential components in products used for clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, electrical transmission lines and batteries. B.C. and the Yukon’s mining sectors provide many of the building blocks of clean technologies needed to fight climate change and build a clean economy. Across the country, clean energy solutions are providing enormous economic opportunity for Canada.

    Quotes

    “These two projects, under the Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy’s flagship program, will develop the necessary infrastructure to access and transport our rich critical mineral resources in northern B.C. and the Yukon. Developments like these help mines get built faster, and they are a key element in seizing the generational opportunity before us. These investments are needed to support critical minerals development in the region, improve community access and safety, and create good mining jobs across British Columbia and the Yukon.”

    The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson

    Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

    “B.C. has the critical minerals that Canada and the world needs to build a clean economy. We have a generational opportunity to create good jobs, not only in northwest B.C. but also in communities across the province that supply and provide services to our mining sector. That’s why we are working with Canada and First Nations on key infrastructure upgrades needed to unlock billions of investments in new critical mineral mines like Galore Creek and provide new opportunities for people and communities.”

    The Honourable Josie Osborne

    B.C. Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation

    “The Grid Connect Project is more than an energy initiative: it presents a transformative opportunity for all Yukoners. By delivering clean, affordable and reliable clean energy, this project will not only power our homes but also drive economic and social growth. I thank our partners in British Columbia and the federal government for their collaboration on this important project, which will positively impact our northern communities. This is a proud milestone for our government on the path toward a more sustainable energy future.”

    The Honourable Ranj Pillai

    Premier of the Yukon 

    “This project will connect Canada’s two most western jurisdictions, helping bring the Yukon on to the North American power grid. It marks a significant step in our shared journey to build a more connected and resilient energy landscape for Yukoners while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I extend my deepest thanks to everyone whose hard work and determination made this vision a reality. I look forward to seeing how it will enhance clean energy in the Yukon, help protect our incredible natural landscapes and fuel new opportunities for economic growth.”

    The Honourable John Streicker

    Yukon’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources

    “We’d like to thank Minister Wilkinson and the Government of Canada for their contribution to developing the Galore Creek Mine and, by extension, Canada’s critical minerals industry. Canada’s support for Galore Creek represents confidence in our project, our owners, the relationships we have fostered with the Tahltan Nation and our commitment to responsibly developing a world-class copper–gold mine.”

    Rob Mean

    General Manager, Galore Creek Mining Corporation

    “Galore Creek has the potential to significantly increase Canada’s production of the copper needed for the energy transition and global development, generating jobs and economic activity, in alignment with Teck’s focus as a Canadian-based energy transition metals company. This investment by the Government of Canada will support the development of infrastructure needed to advance critical mineral projects and strengthen the nation’s mining sector.”

    Jonathon Price

    President and Chief Executive Officer, Teck Resources Limited

    “Newmont is a 50/50 partner of the Galore Creek Project with Teck Resources. Galore Creek stands as Canada’s largest undeveloped copper project, poised to play a crucial role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. As global demand for copper surges, we will soon face a supply deficit that underscores the project’s significance. The investment through Canada’s Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund in a vital road for Galore Creek will help unlock the project and the broader region’s substantial critical mineral potential in northwest B.C.”

    Bernard Wessels

    Managing Director North America, Newmont Corporation

    Quick facts

    • Canada has developed its own critical minerals strategy with the aim of advancing the development of these resources and related value chains to drive the transition to a low-carbon economy and support advanced technology and manufacturing.

    • The Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy addresses five core objectives:

      o   supporting economic growth, competitiveness and job creation;

      o   promoting climate action and strong environmental management;

      o   enhancing global security and partnerships with allies;

      o   advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples; and

      o   fostering diverse and inclusive workforces and communities.

    • Canada’s whole-of-government approach to critical mineral development is collaborative, forward-looking, iterative, adaptive and long-term. The initiatives presented in the Strategy will be implemented and refined in collaboration with provincial, territorial, Indigenous, industry and other Canadian and international partners.

    • The CMIF is a key program under the Strategy to support enabling clean energy and transportation infrastructure projects necessary to increase Canada’s supply of responsibly sourced critical minerals.

    • The CMIF supports strategic priorities such as decarbonizing industrial mining operations, strengthening supply chains through transportation infrastructure and advancing economic reconciliation by supporting the participation of Indigenous Peoples in infrastructure and critical minerals projects.

    • In addition, the federal government is helping to develop Canada’s abundant critical minerals through NRCan’s Regional Energy and Resource Tables. These regional tables are joint partnerships with individual provinces and territories — in collaboration with Indigenous partners and with the input of key stakeholders — to identify and accelerate shared economic priorities for a low-carbon future in the energy and resource sectors.

    Associated links

    Contacts

    Natural Resources Canada
    Media Relations
    343-292-6100
    media@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

    Cindy Caturao
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
    613-795-5638
    cindy.caturao@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gallego Urges Administration Not to Punish Arizona for Ozone Pollution Outside Its Control

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Ruben Gallego (AZ-07)

    September 19, 2024

    WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) sent a letter to the Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) urging it to expand its research and study of ozone levels in the Intermountain West to investigate why ozone concentrations are not decreasing despite repeated efforts by states and localities to implement ozone reduction policies.

    “Based on the EPA’s own Good Neighbor Ozone Modeling, over 80% of the emissions assigned to Arizona are not produced or controlled by residents, but rather come from Natural Sources, International Transport, and Interstate Transport,” Rep. Gallego wrote. “Furthermore, there is a concerning trend in which ozone levels remain the same or even increase in some areas even as rigorous emissions activities are being put in place. States and localities are struggling to understand this trend, and that is where we need the EPA’s assistance.”

    In the letter, Rep. Gallego asks the EPA to use its vast scientific resources and expertise to study the divergence between monitored ozone levels and documented reductions in ozone precursor emissions in the Intermountain West, improve understanding of background and baseline ozone levels, and examine the policy implications of ozone implementation, including transportation planning.

    The letter is supported by the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) and the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

    “While we are proud of the achievements and prosperity we have advanced in our region, we appreciate Rep. Gallego’s recognition that the challenge of addressing ozone pollution requires a better understanding of what is leading to rising ozone concentrations,” said Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke, Chair of MAG.

    “We appreciate Rep. Gallego for his proactive and practical approach to addressing Arizona’s unique air quality challenges. It’s crucial to have leaders in Washington who understand the need to balance environmental stewardship with economic development, and who are willing to push back against federal regulations that threaten Arizona’s job creation and competitiveness. We’re thankful for the Congressman’s leadership and look forward to continuing to work together to protect jobs and foster sustainable growth in Arizona,” said Arizona Chamber President & CEO Danny Seiden.

    “In my extensive conversations with stakeholders throughout Arizona, it is clear that local leaders are committed to protecting public health while continuing to grow sustainably, especially in the fields of clean energy production and green technology manufacturing,” Rep. Gallego concludes. “Doing so will require federal engagement as well as local buy-in, and the research requested here could go a long way in ensuring that local ozone reduction efforts are focused on the right factors.”

    Full text of the letter can be found HERE.

    The letter builds on Rep. Gallego’s work to ensure Maricopa County is not unfairly punished for pollution outside its control. Following his calls, last month the Administration announced the conditional approval of a new rule which will allow for new offsets to create clean air credits in Maricopa County.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rep. Webster and Colleagues Urge White House Action To Prevent Strike at East and Gulf Coast Ports

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Daniel Webster (11th District of Florida)

    Washington, D.C. — Florida Congressman Daniel Webster, R-Clermont, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, along with T&I Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and republican members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, urged the Biden-Harris Administration to do everything in its power to prevent a work stoppage at East and Gulf coast ports that could lead to “dire impacts to our supply chains, our economy, and the American consumer.”
     
    In their letter to the White House, the 69 Members of Congress say, “Given the devastating economic consequences of a potential strike and the Administration’s lack of engagement to date, we urge you to give immediate attention to this matter, to aid in these negotiations, and find a reasonable resolution to these contract disputes.” They add that, “if a strike should occur, we urge the Administration to utilize every authority at its disposal to ensure the continuing flow of goods and avoid undue harm to American consumers and the Nation’s economy.”
     
    The leadership of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), the largest union of maritime workers in North America, has warned of a potential strike beginning October 1st if no agreement on a new labor contract is reached with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX).
     
    The Members of Congress reminded the Administration of the COVID-19 pandemics impact on the supply chain and highlighted their concerns about what could happen even with a comparatively brief work stoppage: “If a work stoppage occurred at East and Gulf Coast ports in October, estimates suggest that a one-week strike would take until mid-November to recover from and clear the backlog of cargo/ Estimates further suggest that a two-week strike would take until 2025 to fully recover from. Lengthier strikes would have an even greater cascading disruption. Any of these situations would have serious consequences for American consumers and the holiday season.”
     
    The letter comes after Republican Committee Members were briefed yesterday by users of the supply chain – including representatives from the National Retail Federation, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Forest & Paper Association, the National Cotton Council, and the American Trucking Associations – on the anticipated impacts of a strike at East and Gulf Coast ports.
     
    Read the full letter here.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Capito, Manchin, W.Va. Officials Announce Form Energy Selection for $150 Million to Build Out Battery Factory in Weirton

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Shelley Moore Capito
    CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Today, U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), and a number of West Virginia officials announced that Form Energy has been selected for an award negotiation of up to $150 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling programs to support Form Factory 1 in Weirton, W.Va. The funding is part of the more than $6 billion included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to support a strong domestic battery supply chain.
    “When I was crafting and negotiating the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), delivering support for manufacturing initiatives in West Virginia was an impact I knew we could make. Form Energy is providing a needed boost to the manufacturing industry in our state, specifically to the Weirton community. During my visit to the facility this summer, I saw how their embrace of new technological capabilities will help America continue to lead the way in energy innovation. This grant through the IIJA will expand Form Energy’s production and workforce, and will help continue West Virginia’s proud tradition of being an energy state,” Ranking Member Capito said. 
    “West Virginian workers and families have made the hard sacrifices to power our country to greatness and become a global energy leader. With today’s investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are continuing to ensure that we are producing the materials needed to protect our nation’s energy independence right here in the Mountain State,” Senator Manchin said. “I was proud to secure this funding and I am thrilled that Form Energy will be able to utilize it to create good-paying jobs in Weirton and help preserve our legacy as America’s Energy Powerhouse for decades to come.” 
    “We are incredibly grateful to the Department of Energy, Senator Manchin, Senator Moore Capito, and the many state and local leaders from West Virginia who provided pivotal support on the path to this award selection. This selection will enable us to more rapidly scale up our manufacturing capabilities and hire hundreds of skilled workers at Form Factory 1. We’re proud to help contribute to the growth of a clean, domestic, and independent energy economy in America. And we’re honored to do it alongside a strong local workforce, right here from West Virginia.” Mateo Jaramillo, Co-Founder and CEO of Form Energy, said . 
    “With its investment in Form Energy and Weirton, the U.S. Department of Energy is acknowledging that West Virginia is an ideal place to locate all-of-the-above energy development and manufacturing,” West Virginia Secretary of Economic Development Mitch Carmichael said. “Thanks to the encouragement and support of Senators Manchin and Capito, this backing will ensure even greater success in the Mountain State.”
    “With our robust history and past successes in heavy industry, the Northern Panhandle has paved the way for Form Energy and other innovative companies to be successful here in West Virginia,” Anthony Clements, Executive Director of the Business Development Corporation of the Northern Panhandle, said. “This funding from the U.S. Department of Energy shows the unanimous support from our state and our United States Senators Manchin and Capito for our region. I am thrilled we have the opportunity to see Form Energy grow right here in West Virginia.”
    “For years as a result of the decline and closure of its steel industry, the people of Weirton believed that its days as a manufacturing hub were over,” West Virginia State Senator Ryan Weld said. “Now, thanks to significant investments made by the State of West Virginia and the U.S. Department of Energy, along with the leadership of Senators Manchin and Capito, there is a renewed excitement for Weirton’s future and the products that will be made here.”   
    BACKGROUND:
    This announcement comes after Ranking Member Capito, Senator Manchin, and a group of their bipartisan colleagues sent a letter to DOE urging them to include alternative battery types, like the iron-air batteries manufactured by Form, in their grant awards. Once awarded, Form plans to use the funding to more rapidly scale up its commercial-scale manufacturing lines to produce up to 20 GWh/yr iron-air batteries and employ at least 600 employees to operate them.
    To learn more about the IIJA, click here.
    To learn more about DOE’s Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants, click here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Transcript of Senior Defense Official and a Senior Administration Official Background Briefing on Operation Inherent Resolve and the US-Iraq Bilateral Security Relationship Update

    Source: United States Department of Defense

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  All right, well good morning, everyone. This is Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary. Thanks very much for joining us today for today’s backgrounder on and update on Operation Inherent Resolve and the US-Iraq bilateral security relationship. As a reminder, today’s call is on background, attributable to a senior defense official and a senior administration official.

    SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining here on a Friday. What we thought we’d do today, we don’t have any real news to make, but we want to kind of just put some context into some issues that have been out there related to the global coalition against ISIS. And particularly the mission in Iraq. So — and heading into the UNGA next week, and then a Counter-ISIS — the Counter-ISIS ministerial of the Global Coalition a week from Monday.

    So, this month marks the 10th anniversary of the formation of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. And after a decade of that coalition, and particularly the defeat of the territorial caliphate in Iraq and Syria, there have been discussions going on really over the last year about the evolution of the coalition and the mission.

    There is broad consensus with every member of the coalition that the coalition will continue. We do extraordinary work in terms of counter terrorist financing, counter foreign fighter flow and everything else, sharing information, sharing intelligence — with 10 years on so there will be evolutions in the overall mission.

    It’s a way to deepen and enhance the coalition and the cooperation and also kind of deepen and enhance our relationship with Iraq. I think it’s fair to say we’ve had great success in territorially defeating ISIS in the core regions of Iraq and Syria. However, we are all very mindful that ISIS, you can say is down, but they’re never quite out.

    We have done a number of very effective operations against ISIS just over the last few weeks in Iraq and Syria. We remain fully committed to the defeat of ISIS. The core threat, that is what we’re working on in Iraq and northeast Syria, something that is ongoing every day and that will very much continue into the future. And we have a good consensus with the Iraqis and our partners in Syria as well on that.

    So, what we’ve been talking about, and this really came out of the — when Prime Minister Sudani was here and visited the president in April. If you go back to the joint statement that we released there, we talked about the ultimate end of the coalition military mission in Iraq. And again, 10 years on, and a number of coalition partners who are interacting — who’ve been there for a decade, some of which are looking to move on from that mission. But of course, the United States is the core and we very much intend to continue to prosecute this mission against ISIS over the coming years.

    And so — but we will be transitioning away from the coalition military mission in Iraq more to enduring bilateral security partnerships. Again, that’s what the president and the prime minister discussed back in April. And since then, we’ve kind of been working with the Iraqis and importantly with all of our coalition partners to kind of determine when and how — what that might look like.

    And so, we haven’t reached any final conclusions. I think this will kind of unfold over the course of next week. We look forward to having very constructive discussions with Prime Minister Sudani and other prominent leaders, including those who have been central to this coalition. And then of course, the ministerial a week from Monday.

    I think it’s important though to emphasize that what we’re talking about is an evolution of the coalition mission, ultimately the ending of the coalition military mission in Iraq. This is not about any specific posture decisions or anything like that. So, I think those issues kind of tend to get conflated. And we just wanted to make clear really what this is.

    This is kind of coming out of the success after a decade of extraordinary international cooperation, of extraordinary cooperation between coalition partners, the Iraqi security forces, the US military in particular, just an unbelievable job they’ve done and kind of an evolution of this after a decade. It’s kind of the appropriate mark to do that and we’ll have more to discuss about it next week. And with that, I’ll turn it over to my colleague.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  Thanks. Good morning. This is the Senior Defense Official. So, just to underscore a couple of the comments that have been made — we’ve had all this year, really — starting in April really, outstanding discussions with our Iraqi colleagues in what we call the Higher Military Commission. This is a military-to-military dialog, obviously coordinated and informed by policymakers as well, to help determine exactly how this transition should take place, timing and then how it should transition into the bilateral security partnership.

    And we’ve had some agreed criteria that we’ve spoken about, looking at what is the threat of ISIS. As was mentioned, ISIS has definitely been severely defeated, certainly territorially defeated, and we want to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, but the threat does remain, so we have to assess exactly the nature of that threat.

    The second criteria, the capability of the Iraqi security forces, which has significantly increased. We still do things in partnership with them, but we’ve seen that evolution of their capability. And then the broader operating environment, what includes the challenge of ISIS in Syria, which is a related threat in a neighboring country, and how we have to scope our transition to make sure we can still get after that threat as well.

    But those conversations have been very successful. They really flowed out of that meeting when Prime Minister Sudani was in Washington. As was mentioned all through this period and certainly even in recent weeks, we’ve continued to conduct very effective counter ISIS operations in Iraq and in Syria, with our Iraqi and with our Syrian Democratic Forces partners.

    ISIS is under real pressure as a result of those operations. And so, now as we get ready to make the announcement on the transition of the global coalition’s military mission in Iraq, we’ll be deepening the conversation with our Iraqi colleagues on the nature of that bilateral security partnership.

    We believe it will be quite deep and quite intense because that’s what both sides want. The Iraqi partners have made very clear to us that they are committed to continuing to work together to shape the future US Iraq bilateral security relationship to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS. We already have gotten fairly advanced into those discussions about what that looks like in terms of the kinds of training, the kinds of presence, the kinds of support for their capabilities.

    But this is an iterative conversation that will continue through and beyond the announcement that we hope we’ll be in a position to make at the end of next week. I think with that, I’ll take — I’ll pause.

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  Thank you, gentlemen. The first question will go to Associated Press Tara Copp. Tara, are you there? Okay, we’ll come back to Tara. Let’s go to Nancy Youssef, Wall Street Journal.

    Q:    Hi, I’m having a hard time understanding because the Iraqis said last month that this deal had been finalized, they outlined the timeline in which US forces would withdraw from Baghdad and then from the north. And you’re saying you can’t announce it yet, maybe next week. Can you help me understand why there’s not an agreement on how to announce it? And does this suggest there are disagreements about the specifics of the deal?

    And in light of the news out of Lebanon, can you speak at all about these potential strikes in Southern Beirut that have killed Ibrahim Akil, the number two in Hezbollah, what your assessment is? And what your you’re read is of Israel’s understanding and intelligence on Hezbollah operations given the sophistication of the strikes we’ve seen this week? Thank you.

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  Why don’t we start with our Senior Administration Official and then Senior Defense Official.

    SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, so I’ll keep the topic to the topic of the call. So, look, there’s a lot of discussions here because it shows it’s bilateral with us and Iraq. Those have been very constructive and successful, I think as Senior Defense Official mentioned, but also the number of coalition partners. So, we’re working to get this — we want to get this right and before we roll anything out formally.

    So, I would not say that everything is fully concluded. I think we made an awful lot of progress. I think heading into next week we’re in very good shape. But we’re not going to do anything that is not known to all of our coalition partners and that this is a broad — kind of a broad area of diplomatic engagement which is ongoing in multiple capitals.

    And so, it takes time to put everything together, dot every I, cross the T. But again, it’s a kind of a broad evolution of the mission and it does not speak to kind of more of the specifics of future posture which are discussions that will continue even beyond next week and the Counter-ISIS Ministerial on Monday.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  Just to add, the announcement we anticipate will be about the transition of the coalition, but many of those details of the mechanics of the transition and the next phases of the future US bilateral security partnership will take shape in discussions that will go beyond that announcement. Again, we made a lot of progress in the HMC discussions, also in the Joint Security Cooperation dialog we hosted when the Iraqi defense minister came here in July, but many of those conversations are going to continue beyond the announcement next week.

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  Thank you both. Let’s go to Washington Post, Missy Ryan.

    Q:    Hi there. I’m hoping — I know you don’t want to address the details of the plan, but it’s sort of already out there and the Iraqis have outlined it in pretty clear detail. But presuming that that all is correct, what they have said, could you talk about — either of you, [SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL or SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL] — could you talk about how you see this evolution in Iraq fitting into what’s going on in the rest of the region in terms of the conflict in Gaza, the episodic escalation that we’re seeing between Israel and Hezbollah, the sort of broader instability in the region, and the efforts that the administration has been making to bring about some sort of larger diplomatic resolution there? Thanks.

    SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I would say, I mean, our presence and relationship and partnership with Iraq is important for overall regional stability. We think our — what we’ve done in Eastern Syria is important for stability in that part of Syria, given the vacuum that can easily open up where we would simply withdraw without a plan for what that might look like. So, I think we’ve been very deliberate, very careful about this.

    I think throughout the crisis that began on October 7 with Hamas’s attack into Israel, we have used diplomacy, we’ve used backchannel diplomacy, and we’ve used the direct and targeted application of military force and deterrence and maneuvers and deployments to deter and signal. And when necessary, the president, as I mentioned, has ordered the application of military force.

    I think we’ve done that not only to protect our people but also to deter and contain this overall conflict to the theater primarily in Gaza. We know that Iran and many of its proxy networks, including those who are in Iraq, had designs early in this crisis to significantly broaden the conflict into a regional conflict. They have not succeeded in doing that and we intend very much to continue.

    And I’ll turn it over to my Senior Defense Official colleague to speak more to this, but we very much will maintain that deterrent posture, because we are still in the crisis. There’s a lot of diplomacy going on behind the scenes and above board. But we — and of course obviously our relationship with Iraq, our presence in Iraq is fundamental to that. So, I would not — the Counter-ISIS mission has been ongoing throughout this crisis, I think doesn’t get as much attention. But we’ve done extremely effective Counter-ISIS operations and strikes even in the last two months.

    And that’s something that is going to continue even while this crisis is ongoing. And hopefully we will find diplomatic solutions to some of the issues obviously in Gaza and Lebanon. The question that was just asked we’re working at extremely hard, but there is a military dimension to this and we’re mindful of that. And I think we used that tool of national power effectively, deliberately. And we work with the president every day on this and Secretary of Defense and others. So, I’ll turn it over to [SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL].

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  Yeah, look, I would just say that during this crisis, our partners across the region have looked to the United States to be present, to indicate that we are remaining present and active, to use our force posture and our other capabilities to defend our friends, to defend our own forces and to deter our adversaries. And in the case of the Counter-ISIS mission, to continue to prosecute that mission to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS.

    And what our friends have seen during this crisis is part of what we’re discussing here today. That presence is going to continue. Our partnerships are going to deepen — they may take different forms. They may evolve based on evolving conditions, based on evolving threats. But we will continue to remain present and to use our presence and our capabilities and our partnerships to address those common threats. So, this discussion is very much in keeping with that theme.

    Q:    Just to clarify, you’re not worried that this will give Iran some sort of greater positioning in the region at a moment of intense tension with Iran sort of like running through everything that you’re doing?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  We are not.

    SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No, not at all.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  We are remaining present and active in partnership with our allies and partners. Again, sometimes these things take different forms, but we’re not concerned about that. But [SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL] should speak to it as well.

    SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  No, not at all. If anything, I think deepening our cooperation with Iraq in multiple areas, which we’re doing, is something that the Iranians clearly don’t want. The Iraqis have been enhancing their relations with Saudi Arabia in the Gulf and the broader Arab world. Obviously remains a very dynamic situation.

    But that’s something that’s also quite important. You look at the energy infrastructure buildouts from Southern Iraq into the Gulf, stuff that had just been talked about for a decade. Iraq actually capturing its flared gas working with Total and Western energy companies to do that, which ultimately weans themself off dependency of Iranian gas. This is all kind of part of a broader picture.

    So no, I would not draw an evolution of a coalition military mission after 10 years. Again, it’s important to — there’s a 10-year mark, very natural point. You have an inflection point and kind of an evolution of a mission into anything that would give any benefit to the Iranians. I think if anything, it’s quite the opposite.

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  Thank you. Let’s go to Al Hurra, Wafaa, Wafaa, are you there? Okay, we’ll come back. Next al-Arabiya, Joseph Haboush.

    Q:    Thanks. Can you guys hear me?

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  You’re very faint. If you can speak up a bit?

    Q:    How about now?

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  Still kind of quiet, but a little bit better.

    Q:    All right. Thanks for doing this. I just wanted to ask, on the heels of the CENTCOM announcements earlier this summer about ISIS on track to doubling the number of attacks this year as opposed to last year. And then these massive — or these pretty significant raids that we’ve seen, joint raids — joint raids between the Iraqis and us, and then the SDF and the US earlier this week.

    I mean how — can you just kind of clarify how this makes — the timing of it at least makes sense when we’re seeing these large-scale operations that have taken place previously but we haven’t always publicized in detail. So, is there any split between the policymakers and CENTCOM, SOCOM or the folks in the military. In terms of timing, can you just explain how that, at least publicly, would make sense to people here? Thank you.

    SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yeah, I think the timing mainly is — it’s just — it’s a 10-year mark of a coalition and an evolution. But it’s also very consistent with the intelligence we’re seeing and what we’re doing and will continue to do, I want to emphasize that, against ISIS. So, I think it’s pretty much aligned to both of those things. But I’ll turn it over to my colleague.

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  Yeah, it is the 10-year mark, but it’s also a significantly different operating environment than when the coalition first undertook its mission. As I mentioned, ISIS has been territorially defeated. It doesn’t control those swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq that it once did. Millions of people who used to live under its genocidal rule, do not any longer. So, they’re kind of isolated in their desert encampments.

    And we have been able to, under the current coalition arrangement in the way you describe, continue to conduct operations that further weaken them, further prevent them — prevent them from conducting external operations and disrupt their command and control and their leadership, cadres.

    That ability is going to continue. It will continue during the course of this transition, which, by the way, even when it’s announced next week, takes some time to actually be implemented. So, many of these capabilities, even as we are doing them now in partnership with our Iraqi and our Syrian democratic Forces colleagues, will be able to continue.

    And then as the bilateral security relationship becomes the basis for our cooperation with Iraq in the course of the transition, again, which isn’t instantaneous, we will find that we’ll still be able to cooperate as we need to ensure that that mission can continue to be carried out — may be carried out differently, again, we talked about the evaluation of the threat, the evaluation of the Iraqi security force’s capability and the evaluation of the operating environment.

    All of that is scoped to ensure that there will be no lessening of pressure on ISIS as the transition from coalition to bilateral security partnership takes place.

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  Thank you. Let me try Associated Press again. Tara, are you on the line?

    Q:    Yes, I am. Thanks for doing this. I’m sorry if this has been asked before. I had to drop off at the very beginning. But have you seen any indication that ISIS has tried to exploit the October 7 instability? And especially right now with increased tensions being — have you seen them try to launch any additional operations?

    SENIOR DEFENSE OFFICIAL:  We do see that there are continued attacks and attack planning by ISIS. I’m not sure I would attribute it specifically to October 7 or the crisis that’s followed October 7. They have their ideology; they have their ambitions. So, we definitely have seen a continued ISIS capability to try to conduct attacks, certainly to do some planning for attacks.

    But we’ve also during the same period, and without any distraction from our mission of the coalition and of our partners during the period of this crisis, we’ve been able to prosecute the defeat ISIS mission very, very successfully.

    MAJ GEN PAT RYDER:  And for our last question, we’ll try Al Hurra one more time. Wafaa, are you on the line? All right, she may have had to drop. All right, well, thank you very much for joining us again today. As a reminder, this discussion was on background attributable to a Senior Defense Official and a Senior Administration Official. Thanks very much for joining us. This concludes the backgrounder.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Urges Small Businesses to Strengthen Resilience During National Disaster Preparedness Month

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    WASHINGTON – This month, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 34 million small businesses, is encouraging small businesses to take proactive steps to safeguard their operations from potential natural disasters. This year’s theme is “Prepare Now, Recover Faster.” 

    “As the frequency and intensity of natural disasters rise due to climate change, it is more critical than ever for Americans to be prepared,” said Administrator Guzman. “This Disaster Preparedness Month, we encourage all small businesses, homeowners, renters, and non-profits to take advantage of the SBA’s resources to create emergency response plans so that they can recover more quickly when disaster strikes, minimizing disruptions in communities and the economy.”

    With a wide range of resources and support services, the SBA is committed to helping businesses and communities across the country prepare for, respond to, and recover from unexpected events. Homeowners, renters, and businesses of all sizes are eligible for SBA assistance and can learn more here and by utilizing the Business Resilience Guide.

    “A natural disaster can occur anytime, anyplace, and climate change has only added to the problem,” said Francisco Sánchez Jr., Associate Administrator of SBA’s Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience. “That’s why it is important to remember that proper planning and preparation can mitigate a disaster’s impact. ‘Prepare Now, Recover Faster’ highlights the benefits that preparedness offers – that putting in the work now can lead to a quicker recovery and a return to normalcy later.”

    In 2023, the SBA lent nearly $3 billion to disaster survivors nationwide – including over $670,000 for small businesses and over $2.3 million for homeowners and renters – to help them recover from the financial and physical impacts of manmade and natural disasters. Currently, the SBA is responding to 34 disaster declarations across the country.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Climate Pledge Arena to pay $477K in penalties, refunds as a result of AG Ferguson’s hidden fee investigation

    Source: Washington State News

    Court order ensures concertgoers who paid fee get money back with an additional $10

    SEATTLE — Climate Pledge Arena will pay $477,917 in penalties and refunds as a result of Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s investigation into a hidden fee the arena charged thousands of Washingtonians.

    From February 27, 2023, to July 22, 2023, Climate Pledge added a 3% fee to food and beverage purchases made at the arena. They did not disclose the fee in any way before customers made their purchase, in violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. The Attorney General’s investigation revealed the company charged the fee on approximately 183,000 transactions over the course of 37 events, bringing in $162,917.16. The legally binding agreement is subject to court approval.

    As a condition for resolving his case, Ferguson required that Climate Pledge:

    • Conclude a class action lawsuit resulting in full restitution to all Washington consumers who were harmed, to be administered through a claims process, subject to court approval;
    • Pay affected customers who file a claim an additional $10 for their inconvenience and loss of their money in addition to the full refund;
    • Pay $315,000 to the Attorney General’s Office to pay for the cost of bringing the case, future enforcement work and, if necessary, cover claimants’ additional $10 payment if the $162,917.16 is insufficient; and
    • Disclose all fees it charges customers in the future.

    “Washington law is simple: If you charge a fee, you must clearly disclose that fee before someone pays it,” Ferguson said. “Climate Pledge was not doing that. Now they are paying the price. If you believe a company is charging hidden fees in Washington, contact my office.”

    Ferguson opened his investigation following a KIRO news story about the fee. State law requires companies to clearly disclose all added fees and charges to Washingtonians before they charge them. Instead, the fee was not disclosed at the arena kiosks or in digital payments. Attendees only learned about the fee if they asked for a receipt for their transaction.

    The arena stopped charging the fee following the KIRO story and the Attorney General’s Office confirmed the arena is not currently charging the fee. The court order ensures the arena does not charge any fees without appropriately informing people. If the arena does, the Attorney General’s Office can go to court for any violations.

    Assistant Attorney General Dan Davies handled the case for Washington.

    Honest Fees Initiative

    Companies caught charging hidden fees have paid more than $9.6 million as a result of Ferguson’s Honest Fees Initiative.

    Ferguson is calling on Washingtonians to check their bills, and, if they believe they contain hidden fees, to file a complaint at the Attorney General’s website here.

    Follow these easy steps to check your bill:

    1. Review your bill carefully for additional fees and taxes. Pay special attention to fees that appear to be government-imposed. Though they may appear to be, that may not be the case.
    2. Compare your bill against the advertised purchase price. Is it different? Were fees added on without being disclosed to you when you signed up?
    3. If you see a fee that was not included in the initial purchase price, or that you believe is deceptive, contact the Washington Attorney General’s Office at www.atg.wa.gov/file-complaint.

    Ferguson took the first major action as part of the initiative in December 2019, when global technology company CenturyLink paid $6.1 million to the State of Washington for adding charges to customer bills without accurately disclosing those fees, and failing to provide discounts that their sales agents had promised customers. In July 2020, Frontier Communications Northwest paid $900,000 to Washington to resolve an Attorney General’s Office investigation that found Frontier did not adequately disclose fees when advertising and selling its products, and misled subscribers about internet speeds it could provide. Later in July 2020, Charter Communications paid nearly $1 million for failing to disclose its “Broadcast TV Surcharge” to customers who ordered the company’s services online. In March 2021, Bothell-based TV and broadband internet provider Wave paid $900,000 to more than 23,000 customers who ordered the company’s services online and more than $300,000 to the Attorney General’s Office.

    -30-

    Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

    Media Contact:

    Brionna Aho, Communications Director, (360) 753-2727; Brionna.aho@atg.wa.gov

    General contacts: Click here

    Media Resource Guide & Attorney General’s Office FAQ

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor DeSantis Appoints Four to the Clay County Development Authority

    Source: US State of Florida

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Dennis “Rick” Dingle and Dell Hoard Sr. and the reappointment of Tina Clary and Tammy “Chereese” Stewart to the Clay County Development Authority.

    Dennis “Rick” Dingle
    Dingle is the Chief Administrative Officer for the Clay County Clerk of the Court and Comptroller’s Office. Active in his community, he currently serves as a member of the Florida Government Finance Officers Association. Dingle earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Flagler College and his master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Florida.

    Dell Hoard Sr.
    Hoard is the Owner of Grumpy’s Restaurant. Previously, he served as a Transportation Coordinator for Walmart Transportation Center. A lifelong resident of Clay County, Hoard attended St. Johns River State College.

    Tina Clary
    Clary is the Principal and Chief Executive Officer for Clary & Associates. Previously, she served as a member of the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society, the American Society of Highway Engineering, and the Clay County Chamber of Commerce. Clary earned her associate degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville.

    Tammy “Chereese” Stewart
    Stewart is the Assistant County Manager for the Clay County Board of County Commissioners. She was previously elected as a Clay County Commissioner and currently serves as a member of the Clay County Cattlemen Association, the Clay County Farm Bureau, and the Florida Planning and Zoning Association. Stewart earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and her master’s degree in educational leadership and administration from the University of North Florida.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Hochul Addresses Phones in Schools

    Source: US State of New York

    Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks on phones in schools at NYSUT’s “Disconnected” Conference in Albany.

    VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

    AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here.

    PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor’s Flickr page.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

    Thank you. Yes, this is an extraordinary gathering of people that we could not have foreseen. When we started to talk about this a year ago, a few enlightened people came forward, people like Melinda, but others were not so sure we could take on something so bold and audacious. But that’s right up my alley. I like to do that. The issues that others say are too hard to tackle and move on, I say, bring them on.

    But when I have allies like NYSUT and Melinda Person, and all the others gathered here, our school board members, our PTA, our school superintendents, our districts, our principals, parents – I can say there’s no stopping us.

    We could not have imagined, just a year ago, a day like today. Absolutely not. And to have so many people here willing to stand up and do what is right – I want to acknowledge some of my colleagues in government. I notice that Senator Shelley Mayer has joined us here, Senator Mayer. Assemblymember Pat Fahy has joined us, Pat Fahy. I saw Harvey Epstein here coming up from the city, Harvey, great to see you as well.

    The easiest thing in life is doing nothing. But when it comes to our kids on an issue like we’re talking about today, doing nothing is simply not an option. When I took office, I vowed change. I had seen that our mental health system here in the State of New York had languished from neglect. Forgotten. No one talked about it. But yet, New Yorkers were suffering. And you know who was suffering the most? Our kids.

    I can guarantee that every adult in this room does not wake up thinking about the pandemic anymore. COVID is in the rearview mirror for you. My friends, after listening to countless young people, it is still having an effect on their mental health today. What they went through for a year, a year and a half, two years, has profoundly impacted their quality of life and their well-being. We have to acknowledge that. We have to acknowledge that these kids are suffering.

    And I made a commitment to transform New York’s mental health system. And we do it, we don’t go halfway. We boosted funding by $1 billion to show our commitment. Investing in more psychiatric beds and services, and setting aside millions of dollars to help kids with programs: suicide prevention efforts, eating disorder care, peer to peer programs. But you know what was so important to me? Was the school-based mental health clinics that — when I was growing up, or my kids who are now adults were growing up — you wouldn’t have thought you needed. But today, we need them.

    And we listened to the kids, we listened to parents, and I could not ignore the trends that were emerging beyond the pandemic. What else was having such a detrimental effect on our kids’ mental health? And we learned that coinciding with the pandemic was the rise in addictive algorithms, intentionally designed by social media companies to grab your child, your student, and hold them — hold them captive.

    Every generation has struggles. I’m a former teenage girl. I know it’s not the easiest time in life. I raised a teenage girl. I’m still around to talk about it. And we’re very close now, okay? And none of this is news to you, but the parents and teachers of today are wrestling with something that is unprecedented. And you see this. All of you.

    I’m not telling you something that those of you who are in constant communication with our kids, our teachers, our administrators, our school boards, you know what I’m talking about. You are on the front lines. And I’m proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with NYSUT and educators to say that, first of all, we have to make sure there’s sufficient funding for our schools overall.

    We have increased school aid. We have increased school aid by over $5 billion in two years, the largest funding increase in history and fully funding Foundation Aid for the first time ever. Tier 6 retirement benefits there to help our teachers. Overhauling the reading curriculum.

    I listened to Melinda, I listened to Randi Weingarten, I listened to Mike Mulgrew about how we’re teaching in our schools, why we’re teaching reading, and phonics based on a system that was put in place 20 years ago and is not successful. So, I don’t mind reaching into the world and saying we can do better.

    All these investments have been made with one sole purpose: to do what’s best for our kids. But listen, there’s something else going on. What we had to do was address these algorithms aggressively because I’ll never forget one of the round tables I did locally with a number of high school students. They were describing to me what they were going through, and I felt as a mom, more than anything. My heart was breaking, because this young woman said to me, “We can’t put down the phones in schools. We can’t do it. You have to save us from ourselves.”

    This was a cry for help. It hits you right here when you’re a mom, you’re a parent, you’re a teacher who cares. You can’t ignore that. What she was referring to was the fact that she’d be ostracized. That she had to know that the kids were talking about what she was wearing that day or what she was saying, what she was doing in school or their meeting in the lavatory – she needed to be connected because if you weren’t, you were a social outcast. But just imagine a world where no one has the phone with them. No one is an outcast. No one has to worry about being bullied when they should be paying attention to their teacher in the front of the classroom. This is the world we’re talking about. The anxiety, the depression, the sadness that never seems to go away. I have close family members, I’m watching them, spiraling. They need help.

    So, we took on the social media companies. Not an easy task. I’ll tell you that right now, not for the faint of heart. But I said to them, with all these threats of litigation against us, you’re going to lose in court. Get out of the courtroom, and get into my conference room. We can work on this together. We don’t have to be adversarial, because I guarantee your corporate leadership, your CEOs, your employees also see what’s going on with the product you’re creating. And there must be limitations on this. Leave our children alone. Let them get some sleep at night. Don’t be bombarding them 24 hours a day with messaging that they did not ask for.

    That’s the whole nature of this. They’re taking information about your child, your student, and monetizing their mental health by bombarding them with advertising and messaging over and over again. They can go to social media sites if they want to. They can go to support groups. They can go where they want to go. But this is about them being on the receiving end of something they did not ask for.

    We changed the law. I thank our legislators. I thank Nily Rozic, I thank Andrew Gounardes, those two leaders for being champions and for standing with me and our Attorney General, Tish James. Last October we did a press conference with our teachers and everybody. And we said, we are going to make sure that New York leads. We’re going to be number one in the nation in terms of how far we are willing to go because the costs are so high if we do nothing. Online privacy – you should not be capturing information about our kids and selling it. You should not be hitting them during nighttime hours and parents should be able to be aware and turn off the addictive algorithms. You cannot send them this information anymore. And we got it through.

    The regulations being worked on and the rest of the nation is paying attention. Look at Instagram this past week. I’m not saying they went all the way. They have some more to do, but at least they took that step that everybody told me a year ago was impossible. “Wait, how will we ever know whether it’s someone under 18 or not? We don’t have the ability to do that. So, we cannot limit our activity with kids under 18.” I said, “Really? You’re tech companies, you know how to figure this out.” Surprise. They figured it out. And that’s what they did this week. I need others to do that.

    So, we’re looking at this. We’re looking at the Surgeon General report on how children are held captive. Three hours is dangerous, the average is five. I’m listening to teachers, 72 percent who say across the country this is a huge distraction. The teachers I met in person who said, “I’m in competition. I’m trying to teach, I’m trying to engage, make eye contact, have a relationship with these kids because that’s how I can create a bond. And they’re not even looking at me. I’m tired of this, this is getting too hard.”

    Those are direct quotes from teachers who want to do their jobs. We have to help them as well. So let me say this. We are doing something. We’re taking on the tech giants. They’re starting to come around. We need Washington to do more. You’ll hear more about that. And I thank Randi Weingarten for being a national leader on this and being our champion in Washington, D.C. Thank you, Randi. Thank you.

    But the cell phone in schools issue: I will tell you this, this has been an evolution for me personally. My kids were in middle school during Columbine, right? This is when you have that sense of security shaken to the core that something could happen to your child when they’re out of your watch. Something devastating. A shooting. A mass shooting. I was listening to a lot of people who thought that you need to have that connection all day long, just in case something happens. And I realized my first thought was wrong.

    When I listened to law enforcement who said, if there is a crisis on the school grounds, there is a shooter running loose. The last thing you want happening is for your child to be looking at their cell phone, maybe videoing, sending messages, trying to go viral, and not paying attention to the adult in the room who is trained to get them to safety.

    All I needed to hear was that from multiple members of law enforcement, and I said, you know what, you’re right. And I also want our kids to grow up free from this influence throughout the day. I can’t help what happens after hours, Mom and Dad, that’s up to all of you. We need to do more. We need to set the example as well. Let’s set the example as well.

    When it comes to the school day, I want our kids to be kids again. I want them to talk to each other in the hallways. I want them to yell and talk to each other in the schoolyard, I want them to communicate during lunchtime. I want them to develop the interpersonal relationships that are not occurring right now, because I’ve said this many times, our number one job is to raise adults, not raise kids. Our job is to raise adults, fully functioning adults who emerge from childhood with the social skills that they develop in school settings. They’re being denied that now, because the cell phone has taken over human interaction.

    We can stop this now. We can work with the kids who’ve already had to deal with the stress and the anxiety and all those pressures. We can help them, but wouldn’t it be fantastic to know that their younger siblings will enter a very different world, closer to our childhoods, when you went out and kicked a ball, you talked to someone on the phone for fun, you got together and went to the movies.

    Your world was not taken into a device. We owe that to our kids, my friends. We owe that to them. Let’s right the wrongs of the past, when nobody had the courage to stand up and say, this has gone too far. We do not have leaders, like Melinda Person and everybody in this room, say enough is enough. Let’s let our kids have a childhood free from this interference, this disruption.

    I guarantee they’ll be able to emerge fully functioning in technology, go to the tech jobs, all the opposition I’m hearing, I can find an answer and say, no, this is more important. My question is this: are you with me when it comes to saving our children right here and right now? Are you with me?

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Joined by Education and Business Leaders from Both Parties, Governor Cooper Vetoes HB10

    Source: US State of North Carolina

    Headline: Joined by Education and Business Leaders from Both Parties, Governor Cooper Vetoes HB10

    Joined by Education and Business Leaders from Both Parties, Governor Cooper Vetoes HB10
    mseets

    Today, Governor Roy Cooper vetoed HB10, the Republican scheme to take taxpayer money out of public schools and redirect it to private schools. The Governor was joined by education and business leaders from both sides of the aisle to highlight the disastrous impact this would have on public schools, particularly those in rural areas.

    Governor Cooper issued the following statement on his veto of House Bill 10 Require ICE Cooperation & Budget Adjustments:

    “This bill takes public taxpayer dollars from the public schools and gives it to private school vouchers that will be used by wealthy families. Studies show that private school vouchers do not improve student performance, but we won’t know with North Carolina’s voucher scheme because it has the least accountability in the country. All public schools will be hurt by the legislature wasting its planned $4 billion of the public’s money over the next decade with rural public schools being hurt the worst. This money should be used to improve our public schools by raising teacher pay and investing in public school students. Therefore, I veto the bill.”

    During the press conference, Governor Cooper emphasized the need for investments in public education. Instead of funneling hundreds of millions more in taxpayer dollars toward vouchers for unaccountable private schools that would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest demographic in the state, the legislature should invest in public education so our state’s public schools, educators and students have the resources they need to thrive.

    “Private school vouchers are the biggest threat to public schools in decades because they don’t improve student performance and they drain taxpayer money from badly needed investments like better teacher pay,” said Governor Cooper. “North Carolina public schools continue to thrive and improve despite chronic underfunding by the legislature. We must stop the expansion of private school vouchers and prioritize investing in our public schools.”

    “I am an educator first and a Republican second,” said Burke County Board of Education Member Wendi Craven. “Education is the cornerstone of our nation and once it fails this country fails. Instead of continuing to divide and conquer, which shows a complete lack of leadership, legislators should support public education.”

    “This bill encourages families to send their children to private schools in other counties, draining our public schools and dividing our community,” said Chairman of the Washington County Board of Education Carlos Riddick. “Our students deserve strong, well-funded schools right here at home, not a system that incentivizes them to leave. House Bill 10 doesn’t just redirect taxpayer money—it weakens the backbone of our county by undermining public education.”

    “As an educator and parent, I want my child and every child to have the education they deserve and that requires funding,” said Pitt County Schools Teacher Elyse Cannon-McRae. “Legislators, I am holding you accountable. You have to do right and support public education.”

    “As a former elected Republican who understands the financial challenges of rural governments in North Carolina, I am extremely concerned about the revenue displacement that would take place under HB10,” said Business Leader and Former Transylvania County Commissioner Mike Hawkins. “Rural Republican representatives know that this is a threat to our school systems and to the very fabric of life for rural North Carolina.”

    Expanding private school vouchers would disproportionately impact rural North Carolina counties, where access to private education is limited and public schools serve as the backbone of communities. More than one-quarter (28) of North Carolina’s counties – all rural counties – have no or just one private school participating in the voucher program. By diverting public funds to wealthier urban areas, private school vouchers are deepening the resource gap and undermining the educational opportunities for rural students.

    Private schools that receive vouchers are not regulated and are not accountable to taxpayers despite receiving taxpayer money. Vouchers cover tuition for schools that don’t have to report how students are performing, don’t have to serve all students regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status or religious beliefs or don’t have to hire licensed teachers.

    Public schools that serve more than 84% of students are continuously asked to do more with less. North Carolina ranks near the bottom of all states in K-12 funding, spending nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average. Our state is falling behind nationally in teacher pay, dropping in the most recent rankings to 38th.

    Based on an updated analysis by the Office of State Budget and Management, if the General Assembly fully expands the taxpayer-funded private school voucher program, private schools could siphon nearly $100 million in state funding from public schools just in the first full year of the program. In addition, the expansion of the voucher program will cost the state $277 million in new spending just in the first year.

    Governor Cooper declared 2024 as the Year of Public Schools and has been visiting public schools and early childhood education programs across the state calling for investments in K-12 education, early childhood education and teacher pay.

    Read more about the truth of North Carolina’s voucher program here.

    ###

    Sep 20, 2024

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Justice Department Secures Relief from Morningstar Storage to Resolve Alleged Violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

    Source: US State of California

    The Justice Department announced today that Morningstar Storage, which manages and operates a network of self-storage facilities in the southeast area of the United States, has agreed to pay $130,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) by failing to obtain court orders before auctioning the contents of at least three storage units owned by active-duty servicemembers.

    According to the complaint, an Air Force Staff Sergeant stationed at MacDill Air Force Base rented a unit at a storage facility located in Tampa, Florida. On the storage agreement, the Staff Sergeant indicated that she was in active military service, provided contact information for her military unit and authorized rent payments to be made automatically. Shortly thereafter, before being deployed overseas to Jordan, she stored nearly all of her household goods at the Tampa facility, including her military awards and coins, and her children’s toys and keepsakes. While the Staff Sergeant was still deployed to Jordan, Morningstar acquired the Tampa facility, stopped her automatic payments and auctioned all the contents of her unit for $390.

    “We all know that servicemembers endure many hardships and make great sacrifices as a result of their service to the nation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our servicemembers should never have to worry that their property, including their most prized keepsakes and personal treasures, will be sold out from under them while they are on duty. The Justice Department will continue standing up for servicemembers to ensure basic respect for their property, their rights and their dignity.”

    “The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida is deeply committed to protecting the civil rights of our Nation’s servicemembers,” said U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. “The brave individuals who selflessly sacrifice to serve our country deserve the respect and peace of mind of knowing that what they leave behind during their service will be treated with the utmost care. Today’s consent decree reminds us that the companies who take on this responsibility do not always exercise the care that our servicemembers are entitled to under the SCRA, but the department remains committed to ensuring companies like Morningstar follow their obligations under the law.”  

    The SCRA provides financial and housing protections and benefits to military members while they are in military service. One of the SCRA’s protections requires anyone holding a lien on the property of a servicemember to obtain a court order prior to auctioning off, selling or otherwise disposing of that property. Under the consent order, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Morningstar will pay the Air Force Staff Sergeant $80,000 in damages and will pay $5,000 each to two additional servicemembers. Morningstar has also agreed to pay a $40,000 civil penalty to the United States and must also implement new policies to prevent future violations of the SCRA.

    This lawsuit resulted from a referral to the Justice Department from the U.S. Air Force. The department’s enforcement of the SCRA is conducted by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout the country. Since 2011, the department has obtained over $481 million in monetary relief for over 147,000 servicemembers through its enforcement of the SCRA. For more information about the department’s SCRA enforcement efforts, please visit www.servicemembers.gov.

    Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under the SCRA may have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office. Office locations can be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Job Training and Support for Careers in Manufacturing

    Source: US State of New York

    September 20, 2024

    Albany, NY

    Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the launch of her signature One Network for Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships program, a $200 million investment to help fund and realize a network of four new workforce development centers in strategic high impact locations in Upstate New York first announced as part of her FY25 Enacted Budget. The Centers will bring together industry, academia, social services, and community organizations to provide high quality, in demand skills training and wraparound supports necessary to empower New Yorkers with the skills they need to take on careers in high growth advanced manufacturing industries like semiconductors. Empire State Development developed and will manage the program.

    “New York’s economic competitiveness is the result of our extraordinary workforce, striving every day to innovate, create and push the boundaries of what is possible,” Governor Hochul said. “My ON-RAMP program marshals resources to our Upstate communities to catalyze investments in manufacturing – and it’s already delivering for New Yorkers with tens of thousands of new jobs in the industries of the future coming right here to our state.”

    Applications for regions to be selected for three additional ON-RAMP centers and receive planning grants to develop a full business and implementation plan are now open on the ESD website.

    [embedded content]

    [embedded content]

    Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said, “Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, Empire State Development is making smart, high-impact investments designed to expand the opportunity economy to all New Yorkers. The innovative ON-RAMP program partners the needs of the growing industries that we are successfully attracting to New York with a workforce we are ‘ramping up’ – with skills and training – to be successful in the jobs of tomorrow.”

    State Senator Sean Ryan said, “New York is home to a growing advanced manufacturing industry and we must ensure that we have the workforce needed to fill these good-paying jobs. Job training for these workers will ensure New York continues to move our economy forward and keep up our efforts to attract established businesses and start-ups from around the world.”

    Assemblymember Al Stirpe said, “The rapid growth of New York’s advanced manufacturing sector underscores the critical need to equip our Upstate workforce with the skills necessary for success. The ability to reach into previously disregarded communities by providing wraparound supports, not only increases the number of potential workers, but provides the opportunity to lift individuals out of generational poverty. I am deeply appreciative of the effort behind Governor Hochul’s $200 million ‘ON-RAMP’ program, which will make a significant investment in job training to support these careers and strengthen our region for years to come. With Micron’s arrival in the district, this focus on advanced manufacturing education is more essential than ever as we embrace the opportunities within the semiconductor industry.”

    Assemblymember Harry Bronson said, “I am proud to say that thanks to the advocacy and partnership of my colleagues in the Greater Rochester Majority Delegation, the Governor has identified Rochester as one of the high-impact, strategic locations for the ON-RAMP program’s new workforce development training centers. As Assembly Labor Chair, I believe we must prioritize workforce development as a means to reduce poverty and uplift our families. Critically, ON-RAMP will also address barriers to employment such as transportation, childcare, education and other social supports by providing wraparound services alongside job training. This is how we truly increase equity in our economy.”

    President and CEO of CenterState Robert Simpson said, “Governor Hochul understands that for our companies to be successful and communities to succeed, investments are needed to ensure advanced manufacturing jobs are accessible to more Central New Yorkers. The ON-RAMP program will bring job training for high-growth industries right in to our neighborhoods, meeting people where they are and ensuring that job creation translates in to more equitable prosperity in our communities.”

    “My ON-RAMP program marshals resources to our Upstate communities to catalyze investments in manufacturing – and it’s already delivering for New Yorkers with tens of thousands of new jobs in the industries of the future coming right here to our state.”

    Governor Kathy Hochul

    ON-RAMP will establish four new workforce development centers, including three chosen competitively, and a flagship location in Central New York, based in Syracuse. For the three competitively selected centers, ON-RAMP grant funding will cover:

    • a planning grant for development of a business plan for a regional ON-RAMP center;
    • a portion of operational expenses related to curriculum development and provision of trainee support services; and
    • a portion of capital needs for renovations, expansions, and/or construction costs related to the delivery of advanced manufacturing training.

    ON-RAMP centers are expected to be established as fully sustainable entities that will not require ongoing support from ESD within five years of a center’s implementation funding.

    Among other principles, each of the four regional training centers must:

    • develop accessible and equitable pathways for priority populations;
    • provide a curriculum and training models that reflects industry projections for advanced manufacturing job growth within the region;
    • prove flexible to adapt services to meet changing industry needs and a dynamic global market;
    • create career pathways for both entry-level and mid-skill workers for long-term sustainable employment;
    • offer wraparound support for program participants;
    • and track outcomes to help measure programmatic success.

    Governor Hochul’s Commitment to Growing New York’s Semiconductor Industry
    Governor Hochul has maintained a strong commitment to building a modern economy in New York State by growing a dynamic and innovative semiconductor industry. In 2022, the Governor signed New York’s historic Green CHIPS legislation to make New York a hub for semiconductor manufacturing, creating 21st century jobs and kick-starting economic growth while maintaining important environmental protections. As part of the FY24 Enacted Budget, Governor Hochul secured a $45 million investment to create the Governor’s Office of Semiconductor Expansion, Management, and Integration (GO-SEMI), which leads statewide efforts to develop the chipmaking sector. In December 2023, Governor Hochul announced a $10 billion public-private partnership – including $9 billion in private investment from IBM, Micron, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron and other semiconductor leaders – to bring the future of advanced semiconductor research to New York’s Capital region by creating the nation’s first and only industry accessible, High NA EUV Lithography Center at the Albany NanoTech Complex. All of these efforts are positioning New York as an innovation leader ready to support one of three National Semiconductor Technology Center facilities that will be established under the U.S. CHIPS & Science Act.

    New York is home to a robust semiconductor industry which supports more than 150 semiconductor and supply chain companies that employ over 34,000 New Yorkers. Thanks to Governor Hochul’s efforts, the industry is continuing to grow with major investments from semiconductor businesses and supply chain companies like Micron, GlobalFoundries, AMD, Edwards Vacuum, MenloMicro and TTM Technologies to expand their presence in New York. In fact, in the last two years, chip companies have announced over $112 billion in planned capital investments in New York – more than any other state – and one in four U.S. made chips will be produced within 350 miles of Upstate New York. No other region in the country will account for a greater share of domestic production.

    Semiconductors are vital to the nation’s economic strength, serving as the brains of modern electronics, and enabling technologies critical to U.S. economic growth, national security, and global competitiveness. The industry directly employs over 300,000 people in the U.S. and supports more than 1.8 million additional domestic jobs. Semiconductors are a top five U.S. export, and the industry is the number one contributor to labor productivity, supporting improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of virtually every economic sector – from farming to manufacturing.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Federal Funding Secured for Baylor University

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Pete Sessions (32nd District of Texas)

    WACO- Congressman Pete Sessions (TX-17) announced that the Arctic Acclimatization & Sleep Optimization (ARKTOS) Research Center at Baylor University received federal funding under the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024. Congressman Sessions was the sponsor of this Congressional Community Project. These funds will support the development of rapid acclimatization protocols and technologies, human-machine teaming, and group dynamics in multi-stressor arctic environments. The purpose of the project is to solidify the dominance of the United States military in complex, multi-stressor environments such as arctic climates. 

    Congressman Sessions said, “As the lead sponsor in the House of Representatives, I am proud to have played a pivotal role in achieving funding to improve the scientific endeavors of Baylor University. These funds will allow Baylor’s excellent researchers to optimize the performance of our military through rapid acclimatization.”

    “We appreciate Congressman Sessions and his staff for their hard work supporting the impactful research being conducted at Baylor University as a Research 1 institution,” said Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D. “Leading-edge research tied to rapid adaptation to extreme environments is greatly needed and critical for our state and country to remain ahead.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: This Week at Justice – September 20, 2024

    Source: United States Department of Justice (video statements)

    #ThisWeekAtJustice

    • Justice Department Awards Over $600M to Hire Law Enforcement Officers, Keep Schools Safe, and Improve Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Services
    • Justice Department Announces Five Cases Tied to Disruptive Technology Strike Force
    • Justice Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development Secure Over $15M from OceanFirst Bank to Resolve Redlining Claims in New Jersey
    • Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Owner and Operator of the Vessel that Destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge
    • Suspect at Trump International Golf Course Charged with Firearms Offenses

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGRCk_SUVW8

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Commerce and Industry Minister Shri Piyush Goyal co-chairs 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers meeting in Lao PDR

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 20 SEP 2024 9:25PM by PIB Delhi

    Shri Piyush Goyal, Commerce and Industry Minister during the 1st day of his visit to Vientiane, Lao PDR co-chaired the 21st ASEAN-India Economic Ministers (AEM-India) meeting alongwith H.E. Malaithong Kommasith, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Lao PDR. The Economic Ministers or their representatives from all the 10 ASEAN countries viz. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the meeting. Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste joined the Meeting as an observer.

    The Ministers reviewed the trade and investment relations between India and ASEAN and reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen the relations. India and ASEAN registered a bilateral trade of USD 120.9 billion in 2023-24 with ASEAN accounting for 10.9% of India’s global trade.

    The Ministers in particular took note of the progress in negotiations for the review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA). Minister Goyal in his intervention stressed on the need for addressing injury to industries from the existing FTA and the inequitable tariff liberalisation during the review. He also cited India’s ongoing efforts of integrating with other economies through FTAs and highlighted the urgency in upgrading AITIGA which otherwise may lead to diversion of bilateral trade to other regions.

    The Ministers reiterated the commitment to ensure that the outcome of the review should be mutually beneficial and commercially meaningful and will make the AITIGA more effective, user-friendly, simple, and trade facilitative for businesses. The Ministers encouraged the AITIGA Joint Committee to expedite the negotiations to conclude the review in 2025. 

    The review of the AITIGA is a long-standing demand of Indian industry and India is looking forward to an upgraded AITIGA which will address the current asymmetries in bilateral trade and will make trade more balanced and sustainable.

    Minister Goyal reiterated India’s request for setting up of Joint Committees under the two separate Agreements on Services and Investment, signed in 2014, to review the implementation of these Agreements.

    On the sidelines of AEM-India meeting, Minister Goyal had a productive bilateral meeting with Mrs. Helene Budliger Artieda, Secretary for Economic Affairs, Switzerland. Both sides discussed the progress in ratification of India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement signed on 10th March 2024 and discussed the way forward in facilitating US$100 billion FDI commitment by the EFTA States under the FTA.

    Minister Goyal also interacted with the FICCI led industry delegation from India which was visiting Vientiane, Laos to brief the ASEAN-India Economic Ministers on the activities of ASEAN-India Business Council (AIBC). FICCI serves as the AIBC Secretariat from the Indian side. The delegation from AIBC ASEAN also met Minister Goyal separately. Industry from both sides briefed the Minister on their perspective of bilateral trade and their expectations from review of AITIGA.

     

     ***

    AD/VN

    (Release ID: 2057216) Visitor Counter : 25

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –