Originally published by Army Times
October 23, 2009
By Rick Maze
Two freshman lawmakers who crossed party lines to collabnorate on a military mental health screening bill that is about to become law are now working on their next joint venture.
Reps. Michael McMahon, D-N.Y., and Thomas Rooney, R-Fla., don’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues, but they teamed up in March to sponsor legislation requiring mandatory and confidential one-on-one mental health screening for all returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. They saw this as a response to the increasing rate of suicides and attempted suicides among service members.
“We cannot afford to keep losing the brave young men and women to suicide,” said McMahon, a former New York City Council member who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and its Coast Guard subcommittee. McMahon said that in the Army alone, about 120 soldiers have killed themselves this year, a figure he called “frightening.”
Rooney, a former Army judge advocate who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said face-to-face mental health assessments are more likely to discover issues that might not be caught by the written assessments now used by returning troops.
“If there ever were an issue where there should be bipartisan backing, this is it,” Rooney said. “We have a lot of work to do. We are not completely where we want to be in making sure combat veterans get the help they need.”
“There is a lot of potential for us to work together,” said McMahon, noting that he has experience working on mental health issues and Rooney has experience serving in the military.
The two lawmakers, who really don’t have much in common, got together on the issue of mental health when Rooney walked in cold, without an appointment, asking to see McMahon because he had heard they were both working on similar legislation.
McMahon, who said he worked with Republicans on the New York City Council, didn’t see any reason not to work together. “It isn’t as if this is a Democrat or Republican issue,” he said. “It is in the interest of everyone to get this done.”
Under the provision to the 2010 defense authorization bill that they sponsored, the Defense Department has six months to set up mandatory mental health screening. The bill, HR 2647, received final approval from Congress on Thursday.
McMahon and Rooney continue to work together. Their new joint effort is a bill introduced Oct. 15 that would give Tricare beneficiaries direct access to mental health counseling without requiring a referral from a primary care doctor. For this bill, HR 1308, they include active-duty service members among Tricare beneficiaries even though most service members receive their medical care and counseling directly from military providers rather than from the private sector.
Rooney said turning to Tricare to help with mental health coverage has advantages in that the military doesn’t have all of the mental health professionals it needs and some service members may prefer to get help from nonmilitary sources, believing that would have less impact on their career.
But Rooney said Tricare rules are cumbersome and need to be changed to make this happen. In particular, Tricare requires referrals for mental health counselling and supervision of the counseling, restrictions that would be dropped under the bill.
Called the Counselor Accessibility Reform and Expansion for Soldiers Act, or CARES Act, the bill would allow anyone covered under Tricare to have the same access to mental health care professionals that many people covered under private insurance enjoy today. Rooney said this addresses another key issue in suicide preventiion — access to professional counselors.
“We cannot overstate the need for adequate, efficient mental health services for our men and women in the armed forces,” McMahon said.
Mike in the Media
Bipartisan Mental Health Bills Move Forward
More Staten Islanders eligible for energy efficient program
Program makes homes more energy efficient, including new heating systems, appliances
Originally published in the Staten Island Advance
August 03, 2009
By Karen O'Shea
Federal stimulus dollars double the amount of Staten Island families eligible this year for a program that makes homes and apartments more energy efficient and reduces utility bills.
Thanks to the $4.7 billion being funneled to the Department of Energy for home weatherization, New York State will get four times the money to install new heating systems and more energy efficient appliances in low-income households.
On Staten Island, that means the nonprofit Northfield Community Local Development Corp. will get $2.6 million to weatherize 314 housing units in the borough.
Under President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, all homeowners are eligible for tax credits of 30 percent for purchasing and installing energy efficient products or solar energy systems.
But some are raising questions about how the government will be able to monitor direct spending to municipalities around the country and how the average individual will know to tap such resources on their own.
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is taking direct aim at the amount of money going to the weatherization program. Funding for the program, which is administered by the Department of Energy, jumped from to $227 million in 2008 to $4.7 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"That's a massive increase and it's all being funneled through the states and to the communication networks," said Leslie Paige, spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based council. "How do you track this money?"
"It doesn't seem to me that there's been a huge amount of rigorous oversight of this program," she claimed.
"New York has a successful weatherization program in place and is well-equipped to handle this influx of funding," countered Emily Pethic, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), which administers the weatherization funds.
The state agency will be charged with distributing $395 million to local municipalities for weatherization. That's up from $98 million last year.
Port Richmond-based Northfield is getting double from the state what it got last year to weatherize homes for low-income families.
"It's an exciting time for sure," said Joan Catalano, Northfield's executive director. "But just like any other time of growth, you have to be up to the task."
Ms. Catalano said Northfield expects to hire more workers for their in-house weatherization team, as well as subcontractors to do additional work. She said her organization has been doing weatherization for 25 years and the program, which has a waiting list, is audited by the state.
Eligible families include those with incomes at or below 60 percent of the state median income. To qualify, for example, a family of four can't make more than $45,312 a year.
Joe Tori's 88-year-old mother, a Port Richmond resident who lives on a fixed income, recently tapped the program. Tori said Northfield replaced her heating system, an old refrigerator and replaced some doors and cracked windows. He said they also sealed and caulked all the drafts in the house.
"This is definitely a program that's worth the money," he said. "Not only does it help the elderly, but it saves energy and energy costs, and the government is screaming, 'Let's save energy.'"
The office of Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) said the congressman is helping get the word out about incentives available under the stimulus package by including a Recovery and Reinvestment Act guidebook on his Web site. The guidebook shows government Web sites that provide funding and tax credits for various programs, including the home energy efficiency tax credits.
$46.7M in stimulus funds will free up city money for much needed improvements
Staten Island Advance, August 03, 2009
Some $46.7 million in federal stimulus funds have been directed to the Staten Island Ferry to assure the upkeep of its fleet of boats, lawmakers announced yesterday.
Nine million dollars will pay for maintenance programs, sparing possible ill effects of budget cuts down the road and ensuring the continuance 21 jobs which otherwise could have been in jeopardy, according to city Department of Transportation officials.
The stimulus funds account for more than 10 percent of an $82-million, 3-year maintenance budget that lets ferry workers to perform such preventative care as changing engine oil, readying boilers for heating during the winter and changing out pump components on schedule. Another $38 million allocated by the Transit Capital Assistance Grant funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go toward assuring an already-funded dry-dock maintenance program will not be diminished.
By using federal stimulus funds to pay for the dry-dock project, the city freed up $38 million for other much-needed ferry infrastructure upgrades in the city, lawmakers said.
"This new funding will provide for upgrades to our ferry boats and piers so that all those who live and visit our city can travel safely," said Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), noting maintenance suffered during the 1980s fiscal crisis and with the city facing a potential $5 billion deficit next year, it could have been in jeopardy again.
"That is good news for Staten Island Ferries. There is certainty the boats will be running and there will also be safer conditions."
The decision to direct federal dollars toward maintenance of the boats comes after an awkward landing July 1 of the Sen. John J. Marchi jolted riders and caused damage to the vessel, prompting the borough's trio of councilmen to ask the Council's Transportation Committee to take a closer look at ferry service.
Before this most recent allocation, the Staten Island Ferry had already received more than $180 million in stimulus funds, including $6 million for upgrades to the retail space and $175 million for the rehabilitation of the bus ramps at the St. George terminal -- representing the largest single slice of stimulus funding in the state.
Several other city projects benefited from the redirection of the $38 million in federal transportation funds that had been previously earmarked as part of an $71.5-million program that brings Staten Island Ferry ships in the Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk, Va. for regular, dry-dock check-ups.
Access for people with disabilities will be increased at the ferry landings at East 90th Street, East 34th Street, Pier 11 (Wall Street), Brooklyn Army Terminal Pier 4, St. George Slip 7, Battery Maritime Building Slip 5, Yankee Stadium, and Pier 79 (West 39th Street).
"The city's ferry system is a vital link in our mass transit system, and the stimulus dollars will allow us to move four ferry projects forward that would have otherwise suffered due to funding shortfalls," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Stimulus funds directed to Staten Island Ferry
$46.7M in stimulus funds will free up city money for much needed improvements
Originally published in the Staten Island Advance
August 03, 2009
By Deborah Young
Some $46.7 million in federal stimulus funds have been directed to the Staten Island Ferry to assure the upkeep of its fleet of boats, lawmakers announced yesterday.
Nine million dollars will pay for maintenance programs, sparing possible ill effects of budget cuts down the road and ensuring the continuance 21 jobs which otherwise could have been in jeopardy, according to city Department of Transportation officials.
The stimulus funds account for more than 10 percent of an $82-million, 3-year maintenance budget that lets ferry workers to perform such preventative care as changing engine oil, readying boilers for heating during the winter and changing out pump components on schedule. Another $38 million allocated by the Transit Capital Assistance Grant funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will go toward assuring an already-funded dry-dock maintenance program will not be diminished.
By using federal stimulus funds to pay for the dry-dock project, the city freed up $38 million for other much-needed ferry infrastructure upgrades in the city, lawmakers said.
"This new funding will provide for upgrades to our ferry boats and piers so that all those who live and visit our city can travel safely," said Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), noting maintenance suffered during the 1980s fiscal crisis and with the city facing a potential $5 billion deficit next year, it could have been in jeopardy again.
"That is good news for Staten Island Ferries. There is certainty the boats will be running and there will also be safer conditions."
The decision to direct federal dollars toward maintenance of the boats comes after an awkward landing July 1 of the Sen. John J. Marchi jolted riders and caused damage to the vessel, prompting the borough's trio of councilmen to ask the Council's Transportation Committee to take a closer look at ferry service.
Before this most recent allocation, the Staten Island Ferry had already received more than $180 million in stimulus funds, including $6 million for upgrades to the retail space and $175 million for the rehabilitation of the bus ramps at the St. George terminal -- representing the largest single slice of stimulus funding in the state.
Several other city projects benefited from the redirection of the $38 million in federal transportation funds that had been previously earmarked as part of an $71.5-million program that brings Staten Island Ferry ships in the Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk, Va. for regular, dry-dock check-ups.
Access for people with disabilities will be increased at the ferry landings at East 90th Street, East 34th Street, Pier 11 (Wall Street), Brooklyn Army Terminal Pier 4, St. George Slip 7, Battery Maritime Building Slip 5, Yankee Stadium, and Pier 79 (West 39th Street).
"The city's ferry system is a vital link in our mass transit system, and the stimulus dollars will allow us to move four ferry projects forward that would have otherwise suffered due to funding shortfalls," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Stimulus $$ to spruce up highway signs
July 01, 2009
By Maura Yates
Federal stimulus funding will go toward sprucing up old highway signs across the five boroughs, Gov. David Paterson announced yesterday.
Approximately 150 overhead and 11 ground-mounted sign panels will be replaced citywide, as part of $3.1 million set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The new signs will replace deteriorated ones that have lost their reflectivity or don't meet federal standards.
On Staten Island, the new signs will go up on the Martin Luther King Expressway, Staten Island Expressway and the West Shore Expressway.
"Yet another win for Staten Island and Brooklyn," was the verdict of Rep. Michael E. McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn). "This is just one more step in the direction of repairing our roadways and easing the commute of all New Yorkers.
Hello to Carbon Trading (but With Smog?)
June 26, 2009
By Carolyn Cui
Carbon trading may get a long-awaited lift Friday, but perhaps with strings attached.
The House is expected to vote on a sweeping climate-change package being championed by President Obama: the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
On Wall Street, passage could breathe life into a market, carbon-emissions trading, that has failed to take off in a big way. The idea of carbon trading is to limit the amount of carbon that companies can emit and allow them to buy and sell carbon credits if they exceed or don't meet the caps. In recent years, banks, insurers and commodity brokerages set up carbon-emission trading desks in anticipation of a robust U.S. market.
[Global Carbon Market]
But trading didn't gain momentum because the government didn't pass regulation setting national caps. Meanwhile, where there was regulation and markets, in Europe, carbon prices tumbled amid the global financial crisis. Global carbon markets contracted 16% to $28 billion for the first quarter.
U.S. legislation creating a cap-and-trade system would "be a big step" toward greater investment and a full-fledged market, said Anthony D'Agostino, director of the emissions markets at Royal Bank of Canada.
Still, traders aren't universally thrilled with some parts of the bill. One provision would require all carbon derivatives to executed on or through an exchange, an approach that would essentially restrict over-the-counter activity, or deals between private parties.
Banks maintain an exchange approach will increase costs for emitters and reduce product flexibility. Currently, most carbon products are tailored and traded off-exchange.
More broadly, some are worried that the restriction will be applied to other products such as commodities and credit derivatives. "I think it's an overreaction to the AIG mess," said Rep. Michael McMahon (D., N.Y.), a member of the New Democratic Coalition, in an interview. "When a car accident happens, we don't ban automobiles."
The coalition is trying to "knock [the provision] out or change it by amendment," said Rep. McMahon on Thursday afternoon. One possible approach would be an amendment allowing the provision to be superseded by subsequent financial-reform efforts, say people on Capitol Hill.
Derivatives Regulation Fight Lurks in US Climate Bill
June 26, 2009
By Dawn Kopecki
The fight over regulating the $592 trillion over-the-counter derivatives market spilled over into climate-change legislation being debated in the U.S. House of Representatives today.
A derivatives provision tucked inside the 1,201-page measure to limit greenhouse gases is intended to spur Congress to enact new laws reining in a largely unregulated swath of U.S. financial markets, according to Representative Bart Stupak of Michigan. He added to the bill a measure that would regulate over-the-counter derivatives, accepting a stipulation sought by other Democrats that those rules would be repealed if Congress adopts broader market regulations.
“Assuming this stays in the climate change bill, this will be law until broader regulatory reform is passed,” said Nick Choate, a spokesman for Stupak.
Stupak’s proposal sets clearing and capital requirements and bans “naked” credit-default swaps. The rules would subject end users “to onerous terms, primarily the provision mandating the use of collateral to secure the majority of over-the-counter derivative trades,” said Ted McCullough, a managing director at Chatham Financial Corp. in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
“If no other legislation gets put in place to override the Stupak provision, it puts a lot of pressure on responsible businesses,” said McCullough, whose company specializes in currency and interest rate derivatives, in a telephone interview yesterday. Chatham advises clients with about $350 billion in contracts.
“It’s definitely more onerous than what’s on the table” from President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, McCullough said.
Naked Swaps
Obama is pushing Congress to move most derivatives trading to regulated exchanges and impose oversight over all dealers as part of an overhaul of the U.S. financial regulatory system. The plan would require standardized contracts to trade on an exchange or “other transparent trading venues,” subjecting them to collateral and margin requirements. It would impose capital rules on all customized over-the-counter contracts, which are privately negotiated deals.
Stupak’s measure would expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s power to regulate all energy commodities, including coal, crude oil, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, heating oil, propane, electricity and natural gas. It would also repeal the 2000 regulatory exemption for energy swaps and other derivatives that let energy traders such as Enron Corp. operate outside federal supervision. It would ban so-called naked credit-default swaps, where the investor doesn’t actually own the underlying debt on the contracts being purchased.
Opposed Fundamentally
“That’s something we oppose fundamentally,” Representative Michael McMahon of New York said yesterday in an interview, referring to Stupak’s provision. McMahon was one of 18 Democrats who opposed the derivatives measure in a June 17 letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, the primary sponsors of the climate change legislation.
Democratic leaders are still working today to win enough support to pass the climate bill, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina said before the debate began. “We’re not there yet,” he said.
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association and three other trade groups that would be affected said in a letter to House leaders yesterday that Stupak’s proposal “would disrupt the risk management capabilities of businesses and strip liquidity from important price discovery markets.”
Measure ‘Superseded’
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, said Stupak’s measure will be “superseded” by derivatives legislation he is drafting with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, as part of the broader regulatory overhaul.
Derivatives are financial instruments derived from stocks, bonds, loans, currencies and commodities, or linked to specific events such as changes in interest rates or weather. Credit- default swaps were created initially as a way for banks to hedge their risk from loans. They became a popular vehicle for hedge funds, insurance companies and other asset managers to speculate on the quality of debt or on the creditworthiness of companies because they were often easier and cheaper to trade than bonds.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro and CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler are seeking a dual regulatory structure for derivatives. Primary responsibility for derivatives tied to securities, such as credit-default swaps, should go to the SEC, Schapiro told a Senate subcommittee in Washington on June 22. Other derivatives, including those related to interest rates and commodities, should be regulated by the CFTC, Gensler told the same panel.
Harkin’s Proposal
In the Senate, Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, is pushing legislation that would require all over-the-counter derivatives trades be traded on a regulated exchange, not just standardized ones as the Obama administration is seeking.
“Obama’s proposal is still fairly vague, there’s still a lot up in the air,” McCullough said. “We know what his principles are. But how that gets accomplished, we still don’t know.”
McMahon votes for veterans-aid bills passed by House
June 25, 2009
By Judy L. Randall
Four bills aimed at improving health services and other benefits for veterans and their families have passed the House with the support of Rep. Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn).
One, the Veterans Health Care Budget and Transparency Act of 2009, permits Congress to provide advanced funding to the Department of Veterans Affairs for up to a full year in order to plan for the most effective way of delivering medical care.
McMahon noted the V.A., like other federal agencies, often has its budget approved late, and as a direct provider of services, that can have a detrimental affect.
Another bill, the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act, would expand services for some 2 million female vets, who represent 7 percent of U.S. veterans. It includes a comprehensive study of the barriers female veterans face dealing with the V.A., as well as enhanced medical care for their infants.
A third bill, the Veterans' Compensation Cost of Living Adjustment Act of 2009, increases the amount paid in disability compensation to veterans and their survivors.
Lastly, another bill directs the V.A. secretary to include information about scholarships available to veterans and their survivors on the Veterans Affairs Web site.
Said McMahon: "If there is one thing we cannot short-change, it is the health care we provide to our veterans ... And the best way we can honor our service men and women is to properly care for them when they return home."
Mr. McMahon's stand
Reprinted from Staten Island Advance
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
By Staten Island Advance Editorial
The sound and the fury over the AIG bonuses seems to have subsided -- mercifully -- after one of the noisiest weeks in national politics in a long time.
Another extension for Island Liberians
Obama signs a bill offering those displaced by African nation's civil war to remain here for a year
Reprinted from Staten Island Advance
Sunday, March 22, 2009
By Tevah Platt
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- President Barack Obama has signed an executive order that will allow thousands of Liberians living in the United States to remain in the country for another year.
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