Corvallis, Eugene score $3.9 million for transit - Portland Business Journal:

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Corvallis city leaders announced in Maythat they’ll collecgt $1 million in federal moneyt to improve the Corvallis transit Among other endeavors, the money will fund thre 35-foot buses and bus shelters that will help the city meet requirementsd of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Corvallis received its funds fromthe $8.4 billion transit capital improvements pot established by the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The award is the fourtyh major stimulus grantCorvallis received. Other awards: A stimulus-driven for An “Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block for $511,600. $1.8 million for street improvements.
Corvallis leaders have built a Web site to help contractors who want to bid forstimuluzs projects. Visit www.ci.corvallis.or.us and click on the “Stimulux 2009” button for details. Corvallis was awarde its money at the same time the LaneTransit Eugene’s transportation authority, collected $2.9 million in stimuluw funds. The money will help the $41 millio EmX line extension, which links the area’ds Emerald Express dedicated transit line from Eugene through The extension creates a loop that takes riderszaround Springfield’s Gateway area. The $41 million projectg will create 400 jobs duringits two-yead construction phase.
About 93 percent of the cost will be fundedf by federal and state construction including $5.4 million from the state’d ConnectOregon transportation program. “This has been very since opening inJanuaryh 2007, said Lisa VanWinkle, an EmX program communicationsd coordinator. “We have more than doubled the ridershipp using that route than we had on the regularr bus service lineit replaced.” Rep. Peter a Lane County Democrat, called the stimulus award “the kindas of concrete investments in our infrastructure that put people back to work and producwe a product for generationsxto come.
” Construction of the Gateway EmX Extension begahn this spring and will continue through fall 2010. A left-leanin think tank and an Oregon Republican party leadert both back plans that wouldlet non-workingg Oregonians collect their first $2,400 of unemployment benefits tax-free. Statde law currently prohibits Oregonians from receivingthe benefit. and Sen. Jasonb Atkinson, a Central Point want to change The issue arose after the Obams administration included a series of tax reliefcmeasures — including the one related to unemploymenf benefits — in the federalk stimulus bill. Other tax breaks include letting businessesz write off the costs of new equipmenrtmuch quicker.
Oregon Democrats blocked the enactment of the measure in fearing that it woulxd lead to as muchas $100 millionb in lost tax revenue and an even bigger statew budget shortfall. The Oregon Center for Publivc Policy and Atkinson differ on how to reinstatr theunemployment benefit. Atkinson supports Senate Bill 975, whichb would allow unemployment beneficiaries to forego payinyg taxes on thefirst $2,400 they collect. Atkinsob believes it’s foolish that 255,000o out-of-work Oregonians must pay taxes on theifunemployment benefits. “It’s like kickingy someone when they’re down and it’s wrong.” Atkinsoj said.
“Oregon’s government can’t say we are serious with a straightg face about creating jobs and putting people back to work when it taxesathe unemployed.” The Oregon Center for Public Policy supports House Bill 2914, an omnibud reconciliation measure that among other thingzs would reconnect Oregon to the unemployment tax relie provision. While stimulus-funded construction projects have captured most of the social services are also receiving stimulus The federal governmentawarded $1.9 million in stimuluxs money to the Oregon Department of Justicwe to fund programs that help domestifc violence, sexual assault and stalkinvg victims earn or retainm jobs.
The grant come s from the federal Office of ViolenceAgainst Women. The Oregobn Department of Justice will distribute the grant moneyt through a competitive process to local nonprofit victi mservices organizations, prosecutors, law enforcement and the The stimulus grant is one of several that Attornegy General John Kroger and a coalition of Oregonb prosecutors, sheriffs, police chiefs and advocates hope to capture. The groups believe the grant’x benefits include keeping more officers on the street and more prosecutorx inOregon courtrooms. Qualified applicants include state, local, and tribal law enforcementf bodies, prosecutors, court agencies and nonprofit victimadvocacg programs.
The state’s Crime Victims’ Services Divisiobn will award the grants based on whether the proposals preserve or creatre jobs and promoteeconomic recovery. The moneyt will be distributedas one-time only grantz for 18-month projects starting Sept. 1. The state will awarc the money intwo parts, one for projectz benefiting law enforcement, prosecution and courtg programs, the other for victim advocacy For more information about the grant process, visiyt www.doj.state.or.us/crimev/vawa.shtml#recoveryact.