Will result in contracting opportunities for construction, consulting, technology

Kathleen Sebelius

Eleven states have been awarded a total of $1.5 billion in Exchange Establishment Grants by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help them build affordable insurance marketplaces. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted that starting next year, Americans in all states will have access to "quality, affordable health insurance." She said these grants "are helping to make that a reality."

The states in line for this round of grant funding are California, Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Vermont. The Affordable Care Act provided for these marketplaces  as one-stop shops with private health insurance choices similar to those offered to members of Congress.

Among the states that will be receiving Level One Exchange Establishment Grants - one-year awards to build their marketplaces - are Delaware, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Vermont. The remainder of the states qualified for Level Two Exchange Establishment grants, which are multi-year funding to help further develop already initiated marketplaces. Once these marketplaces are established, consumers in every state will be able to buy insurance from qualified health plans from them and may be eligible for tax credits to help pay for their insurance. The result is expected to be more competition and lower prices while offering more choices for consumers.

The projects will open up contracting opportunities for construction, technology, marketing and more. Some of the projects funded include:

• The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) will use its grant of more than $30.6 million to conduct additional analysis on the impacts of the Exchange and the Affordable Care Act in Michigan, including additional insurance market analysis; acquire contractual services to assist the State and the Exchange with legal matters, technology planning, education and outreach, financing and policy issues; and, support the State of Michigan as it works toward establishment of this new entity.
• Some of the projects California will use its more than $673 million award for include building the marketplace administrative and operational infrastructure, including a multi-site customer service center; bring online an information technology system that will serve as consolidated support for marketplace programs and referrals to counties for the state's Medicaid program; and implement comprehensive outreach, marketing, public education and consumer assistance programs.
• New York will use its more than $185 million for a variety of projects including outreach and marketing, development and operation of a call center and purchase of an accounting system and for IT, privacy and security consultants.

More information on the amount of awards to the states and how the funding will be used is now available.

Gas tax revenues no longer enough to meet state's road work demands

Ananth Prasad

Florida transportation officials are in the same boat as transportation officials throughout the country - revenue sources for infrastructure construction and maintenance are drying up. Officials are looking for new revenue sources other than the state's gas tax revenue. Department of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad declared during a recent speaking engagement that the gas tax is "not sustainable" as a funding source.

As more fuel efficient cars are making their way onto the nation's highway and people are driving fewer miles because of high gas prices and the general economy, Prasad noted that revenue is dwindling. He even said that if new revenue sources are not found, the state within 10 years could face a "gas tax cliff."

One of the solutions Prasad suggested was providing incentives to counties that will partner with the state to fund transportation projects. He also said he supports more user-financed infrastructure such as toll roads and plans to propose that state legislators form three new tollway authorities. He also urged the use of new financial tools to help finance necessary transportation improvements.

O'Malley supports $336 million in funding for state schools

Proposed budget would include construction funding, money for upgrades

Martin O'Malley

If Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has his way, the FY 2014 state budget will include $336 million for school construction funding and upgrades for the state's public schools. Not only will the funds help ensure safe and progressive schools, officials say, but it will also lead to the creation of more than 8,000 jobs.

O'Malley's budget proposal includes $325 million for the Public School Construction Program, including adding air conditioning to all schools at a cost of $25 million. Another $6.1 million would go into the Aging Schools Program and $4.5 million in Qualified Zone Academy Bonds. Those bonds provide investors with federal tax credits instead of tax free interest payments for school improvements, particularly those that serve low-income families. O'Malley has pledged to support the transformation of the state's schools to state-of-the-art learning centers to the tune of $2.4 billion.

O'Malley credited a "balanced approach of cuts and targeted investments" for allowing the state to build a better school system. Since being sworn in as governor, he has continued his commitment to public education, resulting in the state's public schools being certified #1 in the nation by Education Week Magazine for four years in a row.

Mississippi school district seeks bids for renovation, expansion

Wayne Rodolfich

The Pascagoula, Mississippi, School Board will advertise for bids on projects that include both renovation and expansion. Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich said the district has the funding available for the five projects. Included are $8 million in projects at Trent Lott Academy, Colmer and Gautier middle schools and Gautier and Pascagoula high schools. At Gautier High School, the funding would add six classrooms, two computer labs, a work room, a storage room, hall restrooms and more support space. Also included is a project to build a new football field house and training facility with a dressing room, lockers, restrooms and showers, an equipment room, laundry room, strength and conditioning room and offices for coaches. That project carries a price tag of between $2.2 million and $2.5 million. At the Pascagoula High School, a new field house is on tap with the same ancillary facilities as at Gautier, and at a cost of $1.9 million to $2.2 million. The Trent Lott Academy would get two new classrooms, a work room, storage room, band hall with office and storage space, hall restrooms, renovation of two existing classrooms and support spaces. That project will cost between $1.4 million and $1.6 million.

New Mexico village looking at $2 million bond vote for school repairs

Residents of the village of Loving, New Mexico, are heading to the polls on Feb. 5 to decide the fate of a $2 million bond issue and a capital improvement tax to benefit the Loving Municipal Schools District. School officials point to the community's support of bond issues in the past to benefit the schools as reason for feeling positive about a bond vote outcome. The schools are facing the need for maintenance of the district's aging facilities. The district has a high school, middle school and elementary school. Among the necessary repairs and replacements are HVAC systems, flooring, ceiling tiles, improved cooling for the high school gym, plumbing upgrades in restrooms and compliance issues relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some school furniture needs to be replaced and shade structures are being sought for playgrounds. The district also needs upgrades to its communications system and also needs surveillance equipment in all of its schools.

SUNY Chancellor seeks to unify campuses through technology

Nancy Zimpher

State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher is hoping to unite the system's 64 college and university campuses through technology. Zimpher recently announced her latest proposal along those lines, which would have all of the system's colleges using the same data systems to compare academic outcomes and award funding to campuses that are improving their performance. New technology would also be used to track financial aid and student debt across the colleges. Zimpher said the goal of that proposal is to help educate both students and their parents regarding how to pay for college and to give school officials some advance notice if a student is at risk of defaulting on his or her loans. Zimpher said this technology could help decrease SUNY student loan defaults by 5 percent over five years. The chancellor also is seeking to expand its online offerings throughout the system, and she hopes to extend those offerings to 10 bachelor's degree programs. She predicted that increasing online services would result in enrollment of nearly 100,000 online students within three years.

Indiana high school gets federal grant for health center

The Round Lake High School in Lake County, Indiana, will get a new health center, thanks to a $500,000 federal grant. The next step will be to decide what services will be provided at the health center. 

Public money sought for renovations to North Carolina stadium

A request for public money to help fund renovations at Bank of America Stadium has the backing of the Charlotte, North Carolina, City Council. The stadium is home of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. The council agreed to ask the North Carolina General Assembly to also back the proposal. It would also have to be approved by Gov. Pat McCrory. The city has proposed increasing its 1 percent tax on prepared food and beverages to 2 percent, with the increased revenue to help fund renovations of the stadium the Panthers have called home since 1996. The team is seeking $125 million in public funds toward the project. If approved by the General Assembly, the issue would go back to the City Council for a final vote.

Fort Hood earns funding for training facilities, drone complex

Brian Dosa

Fort Hood in Texas has been awarded more than $50 million for FY 2013, which will be used to build two training facilities and a drone complex. Brian Dosa, director of Fort Hood's Directorate of Public Works, said the amount allocated is smaller than in recent years, usually averaging $80 million to $100 million. "The Army has said we're going to build much, much less new and work on renovating our old facilities and taking care of what we have," said Dosa, calling that strategy a "reflection of our country's fiscal realities." The $22 million drone, or unmanned aerial system complex, will be built at West Fort Hood near Robert Gray Army Airfield and will be used by drone units operating within the 1st Cavalry Division's 1st Air Cavalry Brigade. A nearly 15,000-square-foot administrative building and a motor pool are also part of the funding in the budget, as is widening one section of Mohawk Road from two to four lanes. The first training center is a $24 million, 160,000-square-foot facility. The master plan for Fort Hood divided the post into campuses. The aids center will be built at the training campus with more than $4 million allocated to modify the Pilot Knob range nearby to a record fire range.

Fallin will consider all options to help pay for needed Capitol repairs

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has indicated everything is on the table as the state looks for sources to raise the estimated $160 million necessary to repair the State Capitol. After recently touring the building with the state architect and building maintenance supervisor, Fallin said she would even, as a last resort, consider the use of a bond proposal to come up with the funding. However, she said she is also open to considering tapping the state's Rainy Day Fund or making a state appropriation. "The longer we let it go, the more expensive it's going to be, plus the more damage we have, which makes the job even bigger to repair," said the governor. She described the condition of the Capitol as both a health and safety issue for those who work at the Capitol, as well as those who visit. The south side of the building is suffering from falling chunks of limestone. While lawmakers recognize the need for upgrades, finding an acceptable way to pay for the needed repairs is still a matter of discussion. Officials estimate the repairs could cost upwards of $160 million.

Check out these recent awards: 

Maryland officials pushing for modification of current P3 legislation

Anthony Brown

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is pushing to modify legislation passed last year that will help the state revamp its model for public-private partnerships (P3s). The newly proposed legislation would be a little more business-friendly in that it would allow the state to accept unsolicited proposals from the private sector.

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown said the state needs to be innovative and creative. "We are no longer in a day and age when we shouldn't be considering all options." Brown recently chaired a task force that estimated that public-private partnerships could pay for up to $315 million in projects in the state while creating up to 4,000 jobs. He projected that the state soon could be involved in as many as five P3 projects per year. He also estimated that P3s could contribute between 6 and 10 percent of the state's annual capital budget.

Two recent successful P3s in the state include a 50-year partnership with the Ports America Chesapeake that upgraded Seagirt Marine Terminal to accommodate some of the world's largest cargo ships and a 35-year partnership last year to rebuild travel plazas on I-95 north of Baltimore. Together, they provided $1.5 billion for the state.

The proposal also ensures fairness for bidders, wage protections, environment and minority business standards and confidentiality for proprietary information. If the proposal passes, a committee would be named to identify needs of the state and then to seek public sector partner input. Officials point to the things the private sector can bring to the table - such as business experience and contacts in the business world. 

Free listings offered for RFPs to public sector entities, nonprofits

Illinois

• The Illinois State Police is seeking bids for construction of a new headquarters building in Springfield in Sangamon County.
• The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services is seeking bids for care coordination services to children with complex medical needs enrolled in HFS Medical Programs.

Arkansas

• The Arkansas Educational Television Network is seeking bids for television equipment.
• The Arkansas Department of Education, Child Nutrition Unit is seeking bids for conference services for four days in July, to be located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and to provide sleeping rooms, meeting rooms, storage rooms, meals and break refreshments and registration area.

New Mexico

• The New Mexico, Public Education Department is seeking bids for the establishment of 21st Century Community Learning Centers statewide that serve students who attend high poverty and low performing schools. Community learning centers will provide students a broad range of exceptional school-linked learning and developmental opportunities, designed to complement the students' regular academic program. Community learning centers must also offer participating students' families literacy and other educational services.
• The New Mexico Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is seeking proposals to establish a contract through competitive negotiations for the purchase of 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week traditional relay service and captioned telephone service for the statewide Telecommunications Relay Service.

 Washington State

• The Washington Department of Corrections has issued a request for proposals from firms interested in participating on a project to assist the Department in identifying business and technical requirements that can be used to contract for a private cloud service provider.
• The Washington Department of Natural Resources has issued an invitation for bids for parts that will be used for the installation of communication equipment.

Pennsylvania

• The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue is seeking bids for the design, development, installation, operation, maintenance and management of a fully functional central control computer system for slot machine gaming linking up to the maximum number of slot machines as permitted by law at licensed facilities across the Commonwealth.
• The Pennsylvania State Police is seeking janitorial services three times per week for its facility in Warren, Pennsylvania.

 Are you a government official who has moved into a new position or to a new agency? Did you recently retire? Were you recently named to an executive-level position at a state-supported college, university or community college? Have you secured a new job as superintendent of a public school? If so, we'd like to hear from you - and so would your friends and colleagues - for our "Where Are They Now" column. Just drop us a line at editor@spartnerships.com and let us know about your previous job and where you are now. This week we feature Michael Cockrill.

Michael Cockrill

Michael Cockrill earned his bachelor's degree in computer science and math from the University of Puget Sound (UPS) in 1987. He completed three and a half years at UPS then studied in New Zealand on a Rotary Foundation Fellowship and finished his degree at the University of Otago in New Zealand. Cockrill is described as a technology entrepreneur. He has been involved in a number of technology start-ups. He began his technology career with Microsoft in 1989 and left nearly 10 years later as Group Program Manager. From 1998 to 2002, he held management positions with Qpass Corp. From 2002 to 2004, Cockrill was vice president of Solutions Architecture. He left that post to return to Qpass to become chief technical strategist, a post he held until 2005. From there, Cockrill spent a year as co-founder, CTO and VP Product for Mixxer and went on to become managing partner for Atlas Accelerator from 2007 to 2010. The technology expert spent seven months after that as Entrepreneur in Residence at University of Washington Technology. He was CEO of PhotoRocket, founder and chairman of Atlas Networks and  Associate Partner in Auxin Partners, LLC. Cockrill eventually became associate partner at Auxin Partners, a Woodinville, Washington, firm that works to commercialize intellectual property portfolios. Cockrill recently was tapped by Washington Gov.-elect Jay Inslee as the state's new CIO, beginning Jan. 23. He will oversee the state's strategic vision for IT, and will be responsible for evaluating state agencies' IT spending, establishing IT standards across state government and evaluating major technology projects.

Michael Locatis (top left), assistant secretary for the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications in the Department of Homeland Security, has resigned, and Deputy Assistant Secretary Bobbie Stempfley will fill in until a permanent replacement is found. Renee Byas (top center), general counsel for Houston Community College, will serve as interim chancellor for the college while Chancellor Mary Spangler is on medical leave. University of California President Mark Yudof (top right) is stepping down from the position he's held for the last five years on Aug. 31 and has taken a new job teaching law at UC Berkeley. Scott Spurgeon, former superintendent of Belleville Township High School High School District 201, has been named to lead the Riverview Gardens School District in St. Louis County, Illinois. Jeff Palen, former treasurer of Columbia, South Carolina, and former deputy treasurer and deputy auditor for Lexington County, has been named by new city manager Teresa Wilson as the city's new chief financial officer. Dan Yancey, currently Owasso, Oklahoma, police chief, has been named the first city manager of the city of Skiatook, which recently changed from a town to a city, requiring a city manager. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar (middle right), has announced that he is stepping down in March, with news outlets reporting that outgoing Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire is a possible successor. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has appointed his former chief of staff, Stephen Waguespack (middle center), a Baton Rouge lawyer, and Judy Miranti (middle left), director of the Division of Education and Graduate Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans, to the state's Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, replacing Penny Dastugue and John Bennett, who stepped down. Redwood City. California, Police Chief J.R. Gamez has promoted Gary Kirby, whose law enforcement career spans 26 years and began his career with the San Jose Police Department in 1986, to fill the position of Deputy Chief. Florida A&M University has selected Bryan Smith, who holds a master's degree in public management and a law degree from John Marshall Law School, as the new special assistant to the president for anti-hazing. Lt. Liam Carroll, who has been with the police department in Lincoln Park in Chicago for 20 years as a firefighter, engineer, sergeant and lieutenant, has been named the department's new chief. Eugene White (bottom left), superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools, is retiring and stepping down after seven years with the school district. East Allen County (Indiana) Superintendent Karyle M. Green (bottom center) has submitted her resignation after four years, after having worked in education since 1985, including eight years as assistant superintendent of South Bend schools. Peter Giarrizzo (bottom right), assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and personnel at the Pelham Union Free School District in New York, has been named the school's next superintendent. Ron Teachman, former police chief in New Bedford, Massachusetts, will be sworn in as the South Bend Police Chief at the end of this month. Jamie McNeal stepped down this month as chief of the Easton (Maryland) Volunteer Fire Department after a two-year stint and after serving the department since 1976 and will be succeeded by Sonny Jones as the next chief. Officials in Waukee, Iowa, have named Tim Moerman, former assistant city manager in Ankeny, as the city's new administrator, effective Feb. 18. Jackson (Michigan) Community College has chosen Dale Dopp, who has been serving as interim financial officer since last summer, as its new chief financial officer, which is now the combined jobs of vice president of administrative services and controller.