EDPA projects new image with Birmingham HQ, digital wall
For years, the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama had a bird’s-eye view of the state’s largest city. From its home on top of Red Mountain in the august-sounding World Business Center, EDPA projected an image befitting Alabama’s only statewide private economic development entity. In January, EDPA came down from the mountain, planting its new headquarters at ground zero of Birmingham’s modern renaissance. From the former Merita bread bakery (now the Bakers Row development), EDPA neighbors Railroad Park and Regions Field at the corner of First Avenue South and 14th Street. EDPA is now a street-level organization and everything from the new headquarters’ décor to its 34-foot-long video wall speaks to the change. “Moving down here is as much about image as it is anything,” EDPA CEO Steve Spencer said. “This part of town is becoming the hub of activity.” When EDPA or the Alabama Department of Commerce are hosting a prospective company at a meeting in the new EDPA facility, Spencer said the story of what’s happening outside the building is apparent but so are the multiple successes playing continuously on the video screen. “When companies come here and visit, we want them to get an impression that this is what it’s like,” Spencer said. And companies are visiting and leaving impressed. “We’ve got some great companies looking at the state right now,” Spencer said. “We, of course, work in concert, with (the Alabama Department of) Commerce. We don’t compete. We don’t do the same things. We support them, they support us. We work together very well.” From Innovation Depot on the other side of the railroad tracks to UAB two blocks to the south, EDPA’s new location helps paint a picture for the kind of companies the city and state are looking to attract. “We’ve got two or three companies looking at the state right now that are high-tech companies,” Spencer said. “All it will take is one and that opens the door, just like Mercedes opened the door for the automotive industry. We just get one, and it will open the door for that entire industry, that entire segment to come to Alabama.” As impressive as the location is in Birmingham, Spencer said there are similar hubs of activity in a number of states throughout the state and they can tell that story, too. “This is kind of the way you attract people now. Our objective is to get people to move to the state,” he said. “Now, getting companies to move here is great, but getting people to move here is how you get companies to move here.” By literally projecting success on 320 square feet with more than 1 million pixels, the state’s successes are on full display 24 hours per day. “This was our way of being able to project – in a little bit of a dramatic way – what’s going on in the state,” Spencer said. “And it projects out into the street. You don’t have to be in a meeting in the building to see it. In fact, that’s not what it’s for at all.” Spencer said EDPA is seeking additional footage that helps tell the state’s success stories from manufacturing to research to food and culture. Republished with permission of Alabama NewsCenter.
Alabama connections on display at 2017 Paris Air Show
The 2017 Paris Air Show is ground zero for the aerospace industry, a spectacle whose amazing aircraft demonstration flights are eclipsed by the billions of dollars in new deals announced and the behind-the-scenes negotiations that lead to future projects. This year was no different. Boeing and Airbus – global rivals that both have a major presence in Alabama – announced massive aircraft orders. Boeing, in particular, used the air show as a platform to announce more than $30 billion in new orders. In addition, there are plenty of Alabama connections on display at the industry trade event, reflecting the state’s growing stature in the global aerospace business. Airbus, for instance, showed off its A321neo aircraft, a model that will be added to the production lineup at its Mobile manufacturing center. And Raytheon’s exhibition hall displayed SM-3 and SM-6 missiles, which are produced in Huntsville. The fuel-efficient LEAP engine, produced by a partnership that includes GE Aviation, was spotted on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. A 3-D printed fuel nozzle made by GE Aviation in Auburn is an important feature of the engine. In addition, global aerospace and defense company Leonardo displayed its T-100 trainer jet that will be built in Tuskegee if the company wins a U.S. Air Force competition for a next-generation trainer. Massive draw During the Paris Air Show’s three-day trade show phase, an estimated 150,000 visitors were expected. New French president Emmanuel Macron was among them. He visited the European Space Agency Center, where he spoke with astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who has just spent almost 200 days at the International Space Station. As always, the demonstration flights wowed the crowds at Le Bourget. Highlights included flights by the new U.S. F35 fighter jet, the Boeing 737 MAX 9 and Airbus A350-100S, A400M and A380 aircraft. This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website. Republished with permission of Alabama NewsCenter.
Occupational licensing runs amok in Alabama
Want to professionally wash hair in Alabama? You’re going to need a occupational license. Want to be a massage therapist? You’ll need a license for that too. A bartender? An interior designer? A locksmith? An architect? You get the idea, you’re going to need a license for those jobs as well. Simply put, an “occupational license” is express industry board/government permission to work in a chosen field. To earn the necessary license, an aspiring worker may have to anything from simply registering with the state board, all the way to examinations, or even hundreds of hours of classroom or practical experience. In 1950, roughly one in twenty Americans worked in a job that required a state-approved license or certification. Today, it is at least one in four — a whopping 500 percent increase. In Alabama, more than 140 different occupations require occupational licenses. Meaning over a fourth of the state’s workforce is affected by licensing restrictions. This form of regulation has quickly become one of the most significant and restrictive factors affecting labor markets across the Yellowhammer State. In 2015, the Institute for Justice completed a national study titled License to Work national study, ranked Alabama as being the 24th most extensively and onerously licensed state. Part of the reason for Alabama’s ranking is that the state regulates many professions that aren’t widely licensed elsewhere in the country. For example, Alabama has licensing requirements for auctioneers, tree trimmers, locksmiths, salon hair shampooers, massage therapists, and sign language interpreters, among many other jobs. Here’s what the study found of occupational licenses in Alabama: Number of low-income occupations licensed: 47 Percentage of 102 low-income occupations licensed: 46% Average fees: $328 (which is only exceeded by four states) Average education and experience (in days): 182 days Currently, occupational licensing is carried out at the state level, leaving the state Legislature to decide what occupations to license, as well as the extent of the licensing requirements. While the licenses are intended is “to ensure quality and reputability in specified professions by restricting unqualified or unscrupulous personnel from practicing,” research suggests all of these regulations and red tape are accomplishing little more than creating unnecessary barriers for those who want to work. In our nation’s capital lawmakers have begun to tackle the tackle the issue and are working “to identify and eliminate excessive occupational licensure.” In April, Michigan-Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg introduced the New HOPE Act, to allow governors to use existing federal funds for technical education and do just that. And he’s not alone. Texas-Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has introduced similar legislation in the Senate. “The data has shown that simply adding layers of licensing rules does not yield better safety outcomes in most fields. It’s also important to note that there are other ways to promote safety for workers and the public,” Walberg explained to Forbes. “Through inspections or insurance and registration requirements, states can protect consumers without full licenses. Where licensing laws have become too excessive, it’s time for state policymakers to roll them back to create greater opportunity for aspiring workers and entrepreneurs.” Here’s a look at 47 of moderate-income occupations licensed in Alabama:
Black Belt Community Foundation awarded $1.4 million Head Start grant
Thanks to a new federal Head Start grant, an estimated 307 children in Alabama’s Black Belt will be able to receive critical investment in their early educational development through high-quality program options. The $1.4 million grant was recently awarded to the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to oversee the Head Start programs in Dallas, Choctaw, Marengo, and Wilcox counties in Alabama. “We are excited to be selected as a first-time Head Start grantee and we are eager to expand our education and community development efforts by providing high-quality Head Start services to children and families in the region,” said Felecia Lucky, BBCF President. “With our programs, we have served over 50,000 children and families. Like Head Start, our programs emphasize the importance of starting early and working closely with families to improve academic outcomes.” Founded in 2004 with the idea that those living and working in the Black Belt best knew the area’s challenges and opportunities, the BBCF actively puts needed resources into the region that make a lasting impact. Since its inception it has granted in excess of $3 million to nonprofit organizations throughout the 12-county region it serves to bolster programs primarily in the arts, community and economic development, education, and health and wellness. “This is outstanding news for children and families in the Black Belt region. It is so important that our children are supported at an early age with educational programs such as Head Start so that their learning capabilities can be cultivated throughout their formative years,” said Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell. “With this grant, the Black Belt Community Foundation will be able to bring valuable program offerings to children in the state that need this support the most.” The Community Foundation will be hosting information sessions in the upcoming weeks to introduce its programs to the community and prospective families and staff.
Governors wary of Medicaid cost shift in Senate health bill
Governors in several states that opted to expand Medicaid under former President Barack Obama‘s health care law are wary of the Senate Republican plan to end the added federal funding for it within seven years. The proposal released Thursday calls for a slower phase-out of the Medicaid expansion than a bill adopted earlier by the House. Yet it still would force those states to figure out what to do about the millions of lower-income Americans who used it to gain health coverage. The doubts about the latest plan from Washington came from Republicans, Democrats and the nation’s one independent governor. “I have deep concerns with details in the U.S. Senate’s plan to fix America’s health care system and the resources needed to help our most vulnerable, including those who are dealing with drug addiction, mental illness and chronic health problems and have nowhere else to turn,” Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, said in a Twitter message. Kasich was part of a group of Republican and Democratic governors who wrote a letter last week to Senate leaders calling for them to work in a bipartisan way to revamp the nation’s complex health insurance policies. Another was Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, also a Republican. His decision to expand Medicaid has provided health coverage to more than 210,000 Nevada residents. “It appears that the proposed bill will dramatically reduce coverage and will negatively impact our future state budgets,” he said in an emailed statement. Part of the Obama law was an offer to the states: If they would expand Medicaid, a joint federal-state insurance program for low-income people, to a group of slightly higher-income adults, the federal government would pick up the entire tab in the initial years. The federal share drops to 90 percent after 2020. The expansion has provided coverage to 11 million people in the 31 states that accepted it. The Senate bill calls for phasing out the enhanced federal support for the expansion by 2024. The House calls for doing it by 2020. In both plans, states could keep coverage for the higher-income adults, but federal taxpayers would not continue to pay a larger share of the bill. The Senate bill also calls for a tighter cap on federal spending in Medicaid overall than the House bill did. Currently, there is no limit on how much the program will pay for care for those enrolled. In addition, it calls for extra federal funding to be awarded to states for addiction and mental health treatment, services covered by Medicaid. Both chambers would have to agree on details for the bill to be sent to President Donald Trump. Trying to keep the expansion without added federal help could blow a hole in state budgets. In Oregon, lawmakers this week passed a health care tax intended to fix a $1.4 billion, two-year budget deficit attributed largely to Medicaid expansion costs. Those costs are rising there and elsewhere even with the federal government paying for most of the expansion, largely because more people signed up than originally expected. “We anticipate it will be hundreds of thousands of Oregonians that will be stripped of health care under this proposal in order to get a tax break for wealthy Americans,” said Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat. That was a reference to other provisions of the Republican plan that would cut taxes by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, mostly for corporations and America’s wealthiest families. In Montana, 20 percent of residents didn’t have medical insurance in 2013. By last year, that was down to 7 percent. Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, attributes the higher coverage rates to the Medicaid expansion and said the Senate bill would undo that. Charlie Baker, the Republican governor in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, and Tom Wolf, a Democratic governor in Pennsylvania, had similar concerns. Governors also said the bill could hurt rural hospitals and senior citizens who have nursing home care covered by Medicaid. Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican who surprised her party when she decided to expand Medicaid four years ago, is urging Congress to save the expansion, which has provided coverage to 400,000 Arizonans. Brewer said cutting Medicaid eventually will cause private insurance premiums to rise because people losing coverage will seek treatment in hospital emergency rooms. “We’re going to pay for it one way or another; there are no free lunches,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press. A spokesman for Arizona’s current governor, Republican Doug Ducey, said the governor was studying the GOP bill. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, a Republican-turned-independent, said in a statement Thursday that he is still reviewing the Senate plan, but had some worries about how it might affect his vast and sparsely populated state, where health care costs are high. “I am deeply concerned about the potential effects of a one-size-fits-all approach,” he said. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Roy Moore weighs in on Senate Republican’s Obamacare repeal bill
Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice and current U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore weighed in on the newly unveiled Senate GOP health care proposal, saying he opposes it as it does not fully repeal Obamacare, suggesting that is only a repeal “in name only.” “As I stated over a month ago, I will oppose any bill that does not fully repeal Obamacare,” Moore said in a statement Thursday night. “We knew from day one that the concept of Obamacare was doomed to fail just as socialized medicine has failed in every country where it has been implemented.” Moore continued saying the GOP leadership shouldn’t try to “hoodwink the American people.” “Majority Leader McConnell and the Senate Republicans should not hoodwink the American people into thinking that Obamacare has been repealed by doing it in name only. We need to keep our word to the people who elected us last November.” Read Moore’s full statement below: As I stated over a month ago, I will oppose any bill that does not fully repeal Obamacare. We knew from day one that the concept of Obamacare was doomed to fail just as socialized medicine has failed in every country where it has been implemented. Majority Leader McConnell and the Senate Republicans should not hoodwink the American people into thinking that Obamacare has been repealed by doing it in name only. We need to keep our word to the people who elected us last November. Federal intrusion into our healthcare system has reduced choices for consumers, lowered our quality of care, and has set our nation on a course to bankruptcy. The Senate should put forth a plan to repeal Obamacare and also repeal the McCarren-Ferguson Act of 1945. There is no place for the federal government to regulate private insurance plans. If we truly wanted to improve the system of healthcare insurance in this country, we should permit insurance companies to sell policies across state lines and encourage the creation of larger pools of coverage that would address the unique health issues faced by every individual. America’s healthcare system is the best in the world for a reason: free enterprise. Private sector competition improves consumer choice, quality of service, and innovation in every part of our economy. There is never a time to reject the time-tested power of freedom to improve life for everyone.
Donald Trump’s bright idea: a solar wall at the US-Mexico border
President Donald Trump wants to add solar panels to his long-promised southern border wall – a plan he says would help pay for the wall’s construction and add to its aesthetic appeal. “We’re thinking about building the wall as a solar wall so it creates energy and pays for itself,” Trump said at a rally Wednesday night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money. And that’s good, right?” Trump had previously floated the solar panel idea during a closed-door meeting with Republican members of Congress earlier this month, but this was the first time he’d discussed the idea publicly. “Pretty good imagination, right?” Trump said at the rally, framing the plan as “my idea.” Not quite. The notion of adding solar panels to the border wall was explored in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in March. Vasilis Fthenakis, director of the Center for Life Cycle Analysis at Columbia University, and Ken Zweibel, former director of the Solar Institute at George Washington University, concluded it was “not only technically and economically feasible, it might even be more practical than a traditional wall.” They said a 2,000-mile solar wall could cost less than $1 billion, instead of tens of billions for a traditional border wall, and possibly become “wildly profitable.” The writers were studying a concept laid out by Homero Aridjis and James Ramey in the online World Post in December. The idea also was proposed by one of the companies that submitted a design to the government as a border wall prototype. The bid by Las Vegas-based Gleason Partners LLC proposed covering some sections of the wall with solar panels to provide electricity for lighting, sensors and patrol stations along the wall. Gleason said sales of electricity to utilities could cover the cost of construction in 20 years or less, and suggested that power could also be sold to Mexico. Managing partner Thomas Gleason said he wasn’t sure whether his company was still in the running for the contract, but added, “We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish, and that’s to make the president realize there was such a possibility.” Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan said nobody from the department had shared the submitted proposals with the White House, though several have been made public by the bidding companies. But Trump’s comments could raise questions about whether he was attempting to interfere with what is intended to be a regimented contracting process. The government has selected the finalists for contracts to build wall prototypes in San Diego and is expected to announce the winners soon. During his campaign, the president vowed to build an impenetrable wall along the length of the U.S.-Mexican border out of concrete and steel. But since his inauguration, he has faced resistance, with Congress unwilling to finance the plan. Trump has long maintained that Mexico will pay for his wall, even though Mexico has flatly refused. Trump insists that even if U.S. taxpayers have to cover the costs upfront, Mexico will eventually be forced to reimburse the U.S. in some way. On Thursday, Trump tweeted: “Mexico was just ranked the second deadliest country in the world, after only Syria. Drug trade is largely the cause. We will BUILD THE WALL!” Trump was apparently referring to a report released in May by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think tank. However, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, whose latest figures are from 2015, indicates there are at least nine countries with higher homicide rates than Mexico. And that does not include rates for conflict-torn countries like Afghanistan and, Syria and others, for which the UNODC had no figures. Trump repeatedly described solar power during the campaign as “very, very expensive” and “not working so good.” But he told his audience Wednesday that the U.S.-Mexico border is one of the rare places that “solar really does work” because of the sun and heat. “I think we could make it look beautiful, too,” he added. “That would be nice.” Gleason said he has no problem with Trump claiming credit for the idea. “He can have full credit for it as long as they do a solar wall,” he said. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Senate GOP health bill prescribes tax cuts for the rich
Senate Republicans’ new health bill cuts taxes by nearly $1 trillion over the next decade, mostly for corporations and the richest families in America. It uses a budget gimmick to comply with Senate rules against adding to the federal government’s long-term debt. Senate Republican leaders unveiled a draft of their bill to repeal and replace President Barack Obama‘s health care law on Thursday and argued it would eliminate job-killing taxes enacted under the 7-year-old health law. Democrats countered that the bill is a giveaway to the rich at the expense of middle- and low-income families who will lose health insurance. And in a Facebook post, Obama said: “The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill. It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class and poor families to the richest people in America. It hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by cutting health care for everybody else.” Senate Republicans released only a draft of their bill, with no analysis and no cost estimates. However, the tax cuts are very similar to those in the House bill passed last month, though some would be delayed to pay for more generous benefits. The major tax provisions in the bill would: -Delay a new “Cadillac” tax on high-cost health insurance plans until 2026. This is a budget gimmick to ensure that the bill complies with Senate rules that forbid the legislation from adding to the federal government’s long-term debt. The tax was part of Obama’s health law, and it has long been unpopular among Republicans, as well as business groups and labor. On paper, the tax would take effect in 2026, generating billions of dollars in revenue every year after. However, Congress has already delayed the tax once, until 2020, making it unlikely lawmakers will ever let it take effect. Of course, in 2026, it will be somebody else’s problem. – Repeal a tax on wealthy investors, saving them about $172 billion over the next decade. Obama’s health law enacted an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income for married couples making more than $250,000 a year and individuals making more than $125,000. The Senate bill would repeal the tax this year. About 90 percent of the benefit from repealing the tax would go to the top 1 percent of earners, who make $700,000 or more, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. -Repeal a new Medicare payroll tax on high-income families, saving them about $59 billion over the next decade. Obama’s health law enacted an additional 0.9 percent payroll tax on wages above $250,000 for married couples and above $125,000 for individuals. The Senate bill would repeal the tax in 2023. -Repeal a new annual fee on health providers, based on market share, saving them about $145 billion over the next decade. -Repeal a 2.3 percent excise tax on companies that make or import medical devices, saving them around $19 billion over the next decade. The Senate bill would repeal the tax in 2018 – a year later than the House bill. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
