The National League of Cities (NLC) has recently announced $100 million in local partnerships to expand America's innovation economy. These investments come at a critical time when there is a growing need for resources to create startups and train the next generation of science and engineering talent in communities across America. Currently, 80 percent of venture capital goes to just five metropolitan areas, and computer science is not offered in 75 percent of American high schools.
See the full list of the partnerships here .
USDA Announces Funding Opportunities under the (1) Rural Economic Development and Grant Program and (2) Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantee Program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published two notices regarding the availability of funding under two programs.
Rural Economic Development and Grant Program:
November 15 Federal Register Notice: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-11-15/pdf/2018-24938.pdf
Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantee Program:
November 15 Federal Register Notice: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-11-15/pdf/2018-24860.pdf
HUD Outlines Family Self-Sufficiency Performance Measurement System
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published a November 15 notice that describes and responds to comments on a performance measurement system that it plans to implement for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) that receive HUD Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program coordinator grants.
HUD published a notice in the December 12, 2017 Federal Register
(https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/12/12/2017-26696/family-self-sufficiency-performance-measurement-system-composite-score) that described and requested comment on a performance measurement system that HUD plans to implement for public housing agencies (PHAs) that receive HUD Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program coordinator grants.
Through the November 15, 2018 notice (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-11-15/pdf/2018-24949.pdf) , HUD is implementing the FSS performance measurement system as proposed in the 2017 notice.
In response to its call for public comments in 2017, HUD has revised the methodology it uses to compute FSS Performance Scores under the new system
Beginning with Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 appropriations, HUD intends to use the performance measurement system in the determination of FSS funding awards. The complete, updated methodology can be found on HUD's website at: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/fss.
PHA's FSS performance score will be calculated based on three measures, weighted as follows:
- A. Earnings Performance Measure (50 percent);
- B. FSS Graduation Rate (30 percent);
- C. Participation Rate (20 percent).
HUD has selected these measures because they are important indicators of program performance and are verifiable using the data HUD collects through the PIC data system. No outside or additional reporting will be required, which ensures that the system will not increase the reporting burden of PHAs. No new Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Information Collection will be required for the scoring, as proposed.
Expanding Employment, Training, and Apprenticeship Opportunities for Youth in Health Care Occupations under FLSA: Department of Labor Extends Comment Period for NPRM to December 15
Through a notice in the November 15 Federal Register, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has extended the period for submitting written comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) entitled "Expanding Employment, Training, and Apprenticeship Opportunities for 16- and 17-Year-Olds in Health Care Occupations under the Fair Labor Standards Act."
The comment period now ends on December 11, 2018. The Department is taking this action to provide interested parties additional time to submit comments in response to a request for extension, as some supporting documents for the proposal may not have been originally fully visible in the docket.
See: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-11-15/pdf/2018-24945.pdf