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Beshear Announces Initiatives to Help State Workers.

Recognizing the financial burden imposed by escalating gas prices, Gov. Steve Beshear announced two initiatives designed to help state employees and their families with rising costs. Beshear introduced a new carpooling web site that will link commuting state employees, and he encouraged a more aggressive push toward flexible work hours throughout state government. “Families across Kentucky are looking for relief. We must be responsive and we must be innovative,” Beshear said. “These two initiatives are creative and cheap. They will not only help our employees cut costs, but also by reducing driving time, they will help decrease fuel consumption, carbon emissions and highway congestion.”Read more

CAMPAIGN NEWS

MO – Nixon Reports Outstanding Second Quarter. Attorney General Jay Nixon’s campaign for governor raised $1.41 million in the second quarter of the year and received an additional $351,788 in in-kind contributions, the campaign reported. A Nixon spokesman said the fundraising showed that Missourians were looking for their leaders to take the state in a new direction: “As Missouri families look at the candidates in this race, they see that Jay Nixon is the only candidate offering new, fresh ideas to move our state forward. Meanwhile, our opponents want to stay the course with the same failed policies of Matt Blunt and George W. Bush. With gas at $4 a gallon, jobs leaving the state and health care premiums skyrocketing, Missouri families simply can’t afford more of the same. It’s time for a change.” Read more

IN – Long Thompson Fundraising Hits All-Time High. Jill Long Thompson has stepped up her fundraising pace considerably since winning her party’s nomination for governor two months ago. State campaign finance reports filed show Long Thompson raised nearly $1.6 million between April and the end of June and spent a little more than $1 million, leaving the former congresswoman’s gubernatorial campaign with about $1 million on hand at the end of last month. “We are extremely happy with these figures,” said Travis Lowe, Long Thompson’s campaign manager. “Not only are Jill’s numbers on par with other nationally targeted races, the fact that we nearly matched an incumbent governor’s fund-raising says a great deal about the strength of this campaign and Mitch Daniels’ vulnerability.” Read more

GENERAL NEWS

AZ – Napolitano, Coalition Push for Science, Math Education Center. Gov. Janet Napolitano took another step to boost the number of math and science teachers in Arizona, which political and business leaders see as a critical step toward diversifying the state’s housing-based economy. Napolitano told education leaders that she is teaming with a coalition of private and public partners to create the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Center. “It’s all about making sure our students are educated in such a fashion that they are able to succeed,” Napolitano said. Read more

MD – O’Malley to Embrace Hybrids. The Maryland Transit Administration will put up to 500 fuel-saving hybrid-electric buses on the street by 2014 in an effort to reduce harmful emissions and noise, Gov. Martin O’Malley announced. “We are not purchasing any more diesel buses,” he said. The MTA’s plans would convert 75 percent of its fleet to the hybrids – which it says use 20 percent less fuel and cut particulate emissions by up to 90 percent – within six years. The announcement signals a commitment to leave what the governor called “diesel dinosaurs” in the past and rely on technology in which engines alternate between electric battery power and diesel fuel. Read more

NM – Richardson Pledges Tax Rebate. The eyes of Las Crucens gathered around gas pumps opened wide upon hearing the news that Gov. Bill Richardson wants to put more money back in their pockets. Taxes and fees from the state’s oil and natural gas industries have helped generate almost $400 million in “new money” for the state this year. And Richardson said he wants to share some of that revenue with residents. “It’s being developed right now, a rebate for all New Mexicans,” Richardson said. “It’s going to be part of a broader economic relief package that is going to be comprehensive. I want to return some of that surplus to the taxpayers.” Read more

NY – Paterson Announces IBM Investment, New Jobs. International Business Machines Corp, the world’s biggest computer-services provider, has agreed to invest $1.5 billion for computer-chip manufacturing and research in New York, creating 1,000 new jobs aided by $140 million in government subsidies. The agreement, announced by company and state officials, also calls for IBM to retain more than 1,000 existing jobs at its East Fishkill research and manufacturing facilities, which are to be upgraded. “New York is the world leader in nanotechnology,” said Paterson. The partnership with Armonk-based IBM, founded in New York 97 years ago, “will be the catalyst for other high-tech business development throughout upstate New York,” he said. Read more

NC – Easley Welcomes New Jobs. Gov. Mike Easley announced that Stanley Furniture, a leading employer in Graham County, will expand Robbinsville plant, investing $1.5 million and adding 205 jobs during the next three years as well as saving 315 current jobs. “Furniture is one of the foundations of North Carolina’s economy and we are proud to see that tradition carried on with Stanley Furniture’s continued commitment to our state,” Easley said. “Whether traditional industries or high tech, our state will continue to work to provide business climate that helps companies stay here, prosper and grow.” Read more

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