The Political Bridge

Report of the Kentucky Poverty Task Force; Issued December, 2009 from Rep. Reginald Meeks, Member

 

One of the most persistent issues facing the Commonwealth is that of poverty.  Many questions have been raised from the work of the Kentucky Poverty Task Force:  how do we acknowledge and recognize poverty as it manifests itself in different communities across the state; what safeguards are in place to help Kentucky families break the cycle of poverty; and how do we realize the policy decisions needed to adequately respond to the many ways poverty impacts each of us.

Speaker Greg Stumbo and House Leadership understood the need for an in-depth study of poverty in the Commonwealth.  I was honored to be asked to serve on this important task force, which included 25 members of the House. We studied, reviewed data and information, and heard testimony throughout the summer and fall on five (5) key areas of impact.  Our purpose was to examine national and regional efforts -- current and emerging -- which might be effective in fighting poverty in Kentucky. The task force was also to report on recommendations for legislative actions.  We met four (4) times in the 2009 Interim to gather information and formulate recommendations.

The key areas of impact we examined included (1) an overview of poverty in the state; defining it and putting it in a national context. We also made several policy recommendations; (2) a look at children in poverty in the state, and programs that are available to these children; we heard from a number of offices and agencies providing services to this vulnerable population; (3) financial literacy and bank financing along with available programs and policy recommendations in these areas; (4) transportation issues in both rural and urban communities and issues related to access to transportation in these areas; and finally (5) addressing the issue of homelessness in the Commonwealth and the related mental health issues accompanying this population; and having a special emphasis on the homeless veteran population in the state.

Please see a copy of our work at http://www.lrc.ky.gov/lrcpubs/rm504.pdf

As always, your feedback is encouraged.

[email protected]

502.564.8100

 

The Congressional Financial Service Committee Dillutes the Bank Regulation Bill

by Matthew Rothchild in the Progressive, October 23, 2009

Originally, the (Bank regulation) bill would have granted wide authority to the states to regulate banks more vigorously than the federal government has been doing.

A few (bank-friendly) Democrats and Republicans (on the Congressional Finance Service Committee) tried to outlaw entirely the rights of states to impose stiffer regulations.

The House ultimately compromised by allowing the Comptroller of the Currency to override the state regs if they are “significantly” at odds with the federal regs.

Well, what does “significantly” mean?

Senator Olympia Snowe's Next Step for Main Street Credit Availability Act of 2009 (Introduced in Senate)

From Thomas.com

A BILL

To amend the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to stop the small business credit crunch, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Next Step for Main Street Credit Availability Act of 2009'.

SEC. 2. MAXIMUM AMOUNTS FOR 7(a) LOANS.

Section 7(a)(3)(A) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)(3)(A)) is amended by striking `$1,500,000 (or if the gross loan amount would exceed $2,000,000' and inserting `$4,000,000 (or if the gross loan amount would exceed $5,000,000'.

SEC. 3. REFINANCING EXISTING 7(a) LOANS.

(a) In General- Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(34) REFINANCING EXISTING LOANS- A borrower that has received a loan under this subsection may refinance the balance of the loan by applying for a loan from the lender that made the original loan or with another lender.'.

(b) Technical Amendment- Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) is amended by striking `(32) INCREASED' and inserting `(33) INCREASED'.

SEC. 4. MAXIMUM LOAN AMOUNTS UNDER 504 PROGRAM.

Section 502(2)(A) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 696(2)(A)) is amended--

(1) in clause (i), by striking `$1,500,000' and inserting `$4,000,000';

(2) in clause (ii), by striking `$2,000,000' and inserting `$5,000,000'; and

(3) in clause (iii), by striking `$4,000,000' and inserting `$5,500,000'.

SEC. 5. MAXIMUM LOAN LIMITS UNDER MICROLOAN PROGRAM.

Section 7(m) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)) is amended--

(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(iii), by striking `$35,000' and inserting `$50,000';

(2) in paragraph (3)(E), by striking `$35,000' each place it appears and inserting `$50,000'; and

(3) in paragraph (11)(B), by striking `$35,000' and inserting `$50,000'.

SEC. 6. ONLINE LENDING PLATFORM.

It is the sense of the Congress that the Administrator of the Small Business Administration should establish a website that--

(1) lists each lender that makes loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration and provides information about the loan rate of each such lender; and

(2) allows prospective borrowers--

(A) to compare rates on loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration; and

(B) to apply online for loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration.

 

Former Federal Reserve Chief, Paul Volcker, Wants to Break Up the Big Investment Banks: The Obama Administration is Saying NO

(Former Fed Chief Paul Volcker is another hero of mine. I believe that it was he not Ronald Reagan that safe the American economic system during the 1970s and 1980s period of stagnation, DrTed)

From the NY Times, October 20, 2009

The aging Mr. Volcker (he is 82) has some advice, deeply felt. He has been offering it in speeches and Congressional testimony, and repeating it to those around the president, most of them young enough to be his children.

He wants the nation’s banks to be prohibited from owning and trading risky securities, the very practice that got the biggest ones into deep trouble in 2008. And the administration is saying no, it will not separate commercial banking from investment operations...

Inverting the Nation's Economic Order by Wendell Berry

I would put nature first, the economies of land use second, the manufacturing economy third, and the consumer economy fourth.

A properly ordered economy, putting nature first and consumption last, would start with the subsistence or household economy and proceed from that to the economy of markets. It would be the means by which people provide to themselves and to others the things necessary to support life: goods coming from nature and human work.  

 

To read more of Mr Berry's dream click towards a new America