Eastern Region

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IMPROVING SCHOOLS

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 1558 into law, which issues improvements to state public schools. The legislation provides safety guidance, access to behavioral health resources and training programs, updated policies on discipline and suspension, brain injury recovery, sexual abuse prevention training, multi-tiered systems of support for behavioral wellness, change of school assignment, reporting violence in schools and criminal history background checks of school bus drivers and attendants. It also gives school districts across the state greater flexibility to address fiscal concerns when budgets and revenues are uncertain, increases reserve limits, provides funding to districts transitioning to full-day kindergarten and creates a clearer pathway for businesses to participate in economic revitalization zones and graduate retention incentive partnerships.

COVID EXPOSURE APP

Pennsylvania launched its COVID Alert PA app to significant success, with 165,000 Pennsylvanians downloading the exposure notification mobile app in the first week. This free, voluntary mobile app was developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in partnership with Near Form, UPenn and MIT Lincoln Laboratory using the Apple and Google Exposure Notification System. The app’s features include an interactive COVID-19 symptom checker, alerts of potential exposures to the virus, updates on the latest public health data about COVID-19 in Pennsylvania and public health guidance for what to do if you have a potential exposure.

PINK TAX

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new reforms prohibiting businesses from charging a “pink tax,” otherwise known as the practice of charging different prices for similar consumer goods or services that are marketed to different genders. The new law mandates that any individual or entity, including retailers, suppliers, manufactures or distributors, are prohibited from charging a price for two “substantially similar” goods or services, if the goods or services are priced differently based on the gender for whom the goods or serves are marketed. It also seeks to empower consumers by giving them the right to receive, upon request, a written prices list from any business that provides a service.

ELECTRIC BUSES

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont unveiled the first two battery-electric buses entering public service in late September. The buses feature zero tailpipe emissions and will use 125 kilowatt-hour electric bus chargers installed at the Greater Bridgeport Transit bus maintenance facility. Each replacement of a diesel bus with an electric bus will avoid 230,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year, the equivalent of planting 5,000 trees. These are the first buses to enter service under the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s electric bus initiative and will be a gradual transition at first that will accelerate as the costs for battery electric buses and facility upgrades become more affordable at scale.

COVID-19 MICRO-SUMMITS

The Council of State Governments Eastern Regional Conference Council on Communities of Color (CCC) organized a series of micro-summits — conversations called “CSG East on COVID-19.” The discussions offer insights, analysis and solutions on numerous challenges communities and governments face as the COVID-19 crisis ensues. This series narrows the lens on communities of color. These unique convenings bring together state and local policymakers, experts and thinkers concerned about the massive equity gaps exposed and worsened by the global coronavirus pandemic. These one-hour panel discussions explore the gaps in public policy and the ways in which districts, policymakers and communities can creatively collaborate and address them now. Learn more at https://csg-erc.org/ccc-covid-19-micro-summit-project.

STATES AND LOCALITIES GRANTED FUNDS FOR AIRPORT IMPROVEMENTS

The Airport Improvement Program (AIP) airport grant program funds airport infrastructure projects such as runways, taxiways, airport signage, airport lighting and airport markings with the goal of strengthening U.S. aviation infrastructure. To supplement the funding that AIP provides to airports each year based on passenger volume, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can award additional discretionary funding.

This year, the FAA will aware more than $1.2 billion in additional airport safety and infrastructure grants. More than $1 billion is from the AIP and another $152 million is in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding with a 100% federal share. Awards will be made to 405 airports in 50 states as well as Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Palau and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In the East, four Connecticut airports will receive funding, as well as New Castle airport in Wilmington, Delaware, 11 airports in Massachusetts, eight airports in Maryland, 11 airports in Maine, one in New Hampshire, two airports in New Jersey, 15 airports in New York, 10 airports in Pennsylvania, three airports in Puerto Rico, Theodore Francis Green State airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, two airports in the Virgin Islands and two airports in Vermont. To learn more about the funding allocations, visit https://csg-erc.org/2020-airport-improvement-program-grants/.

For more on CSG East, visit capitolideas.csg.org and csg-erc.org.