Money that once flowed from the federal government to states has diminished significantly. In 2013, states faced more than $85 billion in cuts from federal grant programs. That includes $37.8 billion in education grants, $32.5 billion in social services, $3.5 billion in community development and $3.6 billion in employment and job training, according to research by the Rockefeller Foundation.

 

That money represents a huge majority of what states spent on social programs. Most of these programs will simply fall by the wayside. If the public sector is unable to fund them, what happens next? The answer could lie in an innovative funding mechanism that's gaining steam around the nation.

 

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Strategic Partnerships, Inc. provides opportunity

identification for all 50 states.

Click here for more information.

May join more than three-dozen other states with legislation allowing P3s

Kentucky could be the latest to join almost three-dozen other states to pass legislation allowing public-private partnerships (P3s) in the state. Legislation was recently filed by Rep. Leslie Combs (pictured) of Pikeville that would allow both state and local governments to engage with the private sector in these types of partnerships.

Combs said her legislation will allow for the best possible return on tax dollars and will "create a way to enhance those returns by increasing the involvement of the private sector in public projects, and in effect, promote job growth." The proposal has seen widespread support - from the state's chamber of commerce, the Kentucky Association of Highway Contractors, the Associated General Contractors of Kentucky (AGC) and nearly 20 local chambers of commerce.

Among the provisions of the public-private partnership legislation are: encouraging competition for private-sector investments in state and local projects, establishing policies and procedures that would encourage the use of P3s and promoting both transparency and accountability during the life of a contract.

Calling P3s "a tool in their toolbox" for local and state governments, AGC of Kentucky President Ellis Hefner

said the legislation "will provide public entities an opportunity to engage the private sector for their construction expertise and financing availability." Others in the construction industry say P3s will create jobs and show how the state is open to new and creative funding solutions.

More than 30 other states, including those surrounding Kentucky, have approved P3 legislation and in many cases for both state and local government. Most P3s save the government entities both time and money. 

Funding will complete necessary projects, sustain 43,000 jobs in state

With more operating railroads than any other states, Pennsylvania recently approved funding for 33 rail freight improvement projects. Gov. Tom Corbett (pictured) said not only will the funding complete necessary projects, but it is also expected to sustain more than 43,000 jobs throughout the state.

"Investing in our rail freight network keeps these invaluable assets in prime position to generate economic growth and jobs," Corbett said of the rail projects. "Improving rail networks not only spurs our economy, it also increases safety by helping to ease traffic on our highways."

Three Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) programs provided the millions of dollars in funding. The Rail Transportation Assistance Program will provide $33.4 million for 15 of the projects. Another 14 will be funded by the Rail Freight Assistance Program. And, $1.3 million was approved for four projects from Marcellus Shale impact fees designated for distribution through PennDOT's Bureau of Rail Freight, Ports and Waterways.

Some of the rail projects and the amount of state funds appropriated to these projects include:

• $1.2 million in Allegheny County for the Allegheny Valley Railroad Co., to build 4,500 feet of track for a new interchange siding with the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway at Bruceton;
• $700,000 in Schuylkill County for the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, to rehabilitate track in the Buck Mountain tunnel, including replacing 2,478 ties;
• $4 million to the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County to build a 7,000-foot unit train loop track and a 400-foot industrial track siding for a new tenant in the Keystone Regional Industrial Park;
• $732,200 in Lancaster County for the Columbia and Reading Railway Co. LLC to add five new tracks, five new turnouts, realign 390 feet of mainline track, add four new turnouts and 1,350 feet of new track;
• $1.1 million to the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation for phase one of three phases for a project replacing 2.4 miles of worn rail with rail that will eliminate joints; and
• $25 million in Clinton County for South Avis Realty, to reconstruct the existing rail yard and construct additional track.

To view the complete list of projects and appropriations, click here.

Tennessee school district issues bonds for new school construction

The city of Jacksonville, Tennessee, has more than $12 million in hand to build a new elementary school. That includes $8.6 million from a recent bond sale as well as $4 million that city officials set aside last year for school construction. An investment banker working on the school's behalf said school officials were expecting between $1 million and $2 million less money from the bond deal. The school system's new bond debt will be paid back in $270,000 annual payments. About $170,000 of that amount will be paid by the city, and about $100,000 will be paid with state money the schools receive for construction and repair projects.
 

Check out these recent awards:

• Apex Paving Co. won a $1,730,618 contract from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for resurfacing Route Z from Route 25 to Route 153 in Stoddard County, resurfacing route H in New Madrid County from the beginning of state maintenance to Route 61, resurfacing Route E in Stoddard County from Route 25 to Route N and resurfacing Route AF in Stoddard County from the beginning of state maintenance to Route 25.

• PNCI won a contract for just over $1 million from Rifle City, Colorado, to build a new concession stand, press box and restroom facility and elevated bleachers at Cooper Field in Deerfield Park.

• Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Corporation won a $31.6 million contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Miami Harbor Deepening Project, which will result in dredging of one million cubic yards of material to deepen the channel and berthing area.

• McMenamy Ventures LLC has won a contract from the Missouri Office of Administration in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Revenue for the Crane License Office management. Nearly 14,000 transactions were conducted at the Crane office last year generating more than $45,000 in agent processing fees McMenamy Ventures' contract includes an annual commitment to return 1 percent of future processing fees to the state.

• Leidos has been chosen for a $1 million contract with the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Simulation, Training and Instrumentation for developing a live virtual and constructive integrated training environment to be performed in Orlando, Florida.

• GetInsured and Accenture have won contracts totaling $40.8 million from the Idaho Insurance Exchange to build and operate a state enrollment system to replace the federal software in place now. GetInsured gets $37.4 million to build and run the exchange through 2018 and Accenture gets $3.4 million to oversee the project.

• Manhattan Road & Bridge Co. won a nearly $10.8 million contract from the Oklahoma Transportation Commission for emergency repairs to the bridge linking the towns of Lexington and Purcell.

• CH2M Hill Engineers was awarded a $339,000 contract from the city of Amarillo, Texas, for engineering work on three projects for improvement at the River Road Wastewater Treatment Plan. The work includes lining an existing storm water basin, replacing rakes in three water clarifiers and piping improvements.

• Rolls-Royce has won a $182.7 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to support the C-130J by supplying sustainment services for its AE 2100 engines, nacelles and propellers on the U.S. Air Force C-130J fleet.

• Apex Paving Co. has been awarded an $8,911,025 contract from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for grading, paving and adding shoulders to Route 34 from Route 51 in Marble Hill in Bollinger County to the Route 72/34 intersection in Cape Girardeau County.

Live Oak in negotiations with partner for hotel, convention center

Officials with the Live Oak (Texas) Economic Development Corp. have executed a memorandum of understanding with the Phoenix Hospitality Group to allow the private-sector firm to begin moving toward building a five-story hotel with a convention center in the city. City officials set aside the $1.62 million garnered from the sale of the former Live Oak Civic Center property and held it back in anticipation of partnering with a private-sector developer for a hotel-convention center. The city will also include some hotel occupancy tax (HOT) funding in the deal. The new hotel will be full-service and include a bar, restaurant, room service, catering and more, according to Assistant City Manager Scott Wayman. "It's all HOT money, money from the industry, going back into the industry, to promote the industry," Wayman explained.

 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 Dr. Eric Barron.        

Dr. Eric J. Barron (pictured) earned his bachelor's degree with honors in geology from Florida State University and holds both master's and doctoral degrees in oceanography from the University of Miami. From 1986 to 2002, Barron was employed by Penn State University as a professor of geosciences, director of the Earth System Science Center, director of the EMS Environmental Institute and dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. From 2006 to 2008, Barron was dean of the newly formed Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin. From 2008 to 2010, he was director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. In 2010, Barron was named president of Florida State University. While at Florida State, he oversaw a $1 billion dollar capital campaign, and spearheaded efforts to accommodate student-veterans with the establishment of a veterans center. During his time as president, the university was named one of the two pre-eminent universities in the state of Florida, as well as earning a U.S. News & World Report ranking as the most efficiently operated university in the nation. Barron was recently chosen to become president of Penn State University, Pennsylvania's largest university. Barron will replace current President Rodney Erickson, who is set to retire by June 1.

Ed Zuercher (top left), who has worked for the city of Phoenix for more than 20 years, starting as an intern in 1993 and working his way up to assistant and then interim city manager, has been named the city's next city manager, replacing former city manager David Cavazos. Jim Weinstein (top center), executive director at New Jersey Transit, has announced his resignation, effective March 2, when Veronique "Ronnie" Hakim, head of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, will replace him. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has named Maya Wiley (top right), a civil rights lawyer and a co-founder of a nonprofit group called the Center for Social Inclusion, which advocates for racial equality, as his chief legal adviser. Patrick D. Gallagher, acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, will become chancellor and chief executive of the University of Pittsburgh, succeeding Mark A. Nordenberg, who will step down on Aug. 1. John Nixon, director of Michigan's Department of Technology, Management and Budget for the last three years, will step down at the end of this month to take the post of chief business officer for the University of Utah. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry appointed Gorden Eden, the former U.S. Marshal for New Mexico who more recently headed the state Department of Public Safety, to be the city's new police chief. Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton (bottom right) is returning to Maryland, where he will take over as head of the Baltimore City Public Schools, effective in July. Caltrans Chief Deputy Director Richard Land (bottom center), who has been with the agency for 36 years, has announced his retirement, effective around April 4. Kathryn Mallon (bottom left), head of New York City's Build It Back program and former assistant commissioner at the city Department of Environmental Protection in charge of capital projects, has announced her resignation. The executive director of Nevada's beleaguered health insurance exchange, Jon Hager, has announced his resignation, effective March 11, to pursue other opportunities. Durant, Oklahoma, Superintendent Jason Simeroth has announced his resignation to accept the superintendent job in Yukon, near Oklahoma City, effective July 1. Eric Metzger, who has served the Flower Mound, Texas, Fire Department for 28 years, the last 22 as chief, has announced his retirement.