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Patrick Proposes Plan for Infrastructure Investment

Massachusetts – Gov. Deval Patrick announced a $3 billion bond proposal to repair deteriorating bridges throughout the state over the next eight years, a scaled-back version of an initiative he announced last month. “It’s a very robust program that will enable us to get to somewhere between 250 and 300 bridges over the next several years and create an awful lot of very good jobs along the way,” Patrick said.
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CO – Ritter to Reorganizes School Curriculum. Gov. Bill Ritter is set to sign a landmark education bill designed to streamline Colorado public school curriculum and better prepare children for graduation. He plans to sign the bipartisan Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids. The measure will completely reorganize content and assessment standards in public schools. The goal is to provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a global economy. Ritter says too many Colorado children fail to graduate and the state needs to take a bigger role in education.
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IA – Culver Expands Health Care Access. Iowa could become the nation’s first state to offer health care to all its children under a package signed into law by Gov. Chet Culver. The new law increases spending by $25 million over the next three years to extend health care to more than 50,000 Iowa children who now lack coverage. The plan also sets a goal of ensuring universal coverage for all Iowans within five years.
“We will invest $25 million over the next three years to allow us to insure every child in Iowa,” Culver said. “Because of this investment it’s likely that we will become the first state in the nation to do so.”
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MD – O’Malley Signs Bills to Improve Public Safety. Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law bills aimed at improving public safety, including an expansion of the state’s DNA database, as well as dozens of other measures such as legislation to prepare the state for growth that’s expected from a nationwide military base realignment. O’Malley said that he made public safety a priority in a state that boasts some of the largest average personal incomes in the nation but also one of the highest violent crime rates, especially in Baltimore City.
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NY – Paterson to Sign Internet Safety Bill. Gov. David Paterson will be signing a bill into law aimed at keeping your kids safe on the internet. The E-stop bill which was introduced back in January requires sex offenders to provide their online screen names to the state. That information would then be passed along to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. The new legislation will also limit use of the internet by some offenders.
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OK – Henry: State Earns National Praise. In a column published yesterday, Gov. Brad Henry praised the recognition of Oklahoma City as a metropolitan area with strong growth and a stable housing market. He wrote, “Business and community leaders in Oklahoma City and throughout the state received some good news recently when Forbes Magazine named Oklahoma City the most recession-proof metropolitan area in the country. Forbes examined the nation’s 50 largest metro areas and considered employment figures, home prices and foreclosures. Oklahoma City, due to a strong and stable housing market and a boom in both the energy and agricultural sectors, outperformed every other major city in the country.” Gov. Henry continued, “We’ve long known about and enjoyed Oklahoma’s affordable cost of living, great travel opportunities and sensible housing market. Now, the rest of the country is catching on.”
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VA – Kaine Announces Water Quality Grants. Gov. Tim Kaine says $7 million in grants will be used to help improve water quality in the state’s southern rivers. Kaine says the 11 grants announced will connect nearly 800 households to public wastewater services and help install more than 45,000 linear feet of sewer line. They also will help expand or construct wastewater treatment facilities and reduce the amount of sewage flowing into several waterways that have been deemed impaired by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
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WI – Doyle to Lead India Trade Trip. Gov. Jim Doyle says he’ll make his first trade mission to India soon after the November elections. Doyle announced the trip at the Wisconsin International Trade Conference in Milwaukee. Western interests are drawn by the country’s massive growth in research and engineering.
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