Plugged In @ Hinman Straub
July 26, 2024
What’s Inside
- Governor Hosts Regional Roundtables on Smartphone Use in Schools
- Governor Announces Health Care Workforce Training Grants
- Governor Announces ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program Awards
- Funding Awarded for Climate Smart Communities Projects
- In the News
- Coming Up
Governor Hosts Regional Roundtables on Smartphone Use in Schools
The Governor continued her statewide listening tour focused on addressing smartphone use in schools with stops in both the Southern Tier and Western New York. The Governor held roundtable discussions with stakeholders at Windsor High School and Kenmore Junior/Senior High School.
According to a Pew Research poll released in June, 72 percent of high school teachers nationwide say that students being distracted by cell phones is a major problem in their classroom. As part of her commitment to addressing this issue and creating more positive outcomes for students, families and educators, Governor Hochul stated this spring that she plans to propose a statewide policy to tackle excessive smartphone use in schools.
Governor Hochul said:
Governor Announces Health Care Workforce Training Grants
The Governor announced that 28 health care facilities statewide will receive $22.5 million in awards during the next year for training to help rebuild and grow the health care workforce and help strengthen the health care system. The Increasing Training Capacity in Statewide Healthcare Facilities awards were issued by the State Health Department’s Office of Healthcare Workforce Innovation, to increase training in the health care workforce.
Twenty-eight contracts have been awarded to 13 hospitals and 15 nursing homes and will provide up to $1 million per year for two years to each health care facility. Awardees may use their funding to cover various eligible expenses, such as costs related to developing training programs and curriculum and compensating staff attending training.
Governor Hochul said:
Governor Announces ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program Awards
The Governor announced more than $70 million in awards through ConnectALL’s Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program as part of a $228 million federal investment to help connect New Yorkers to high-speed broadband internet. The projects include multimillion-dollar commitments to transform public broadband infrastructure in the Central New York, Southern Tier, Finger Lakes, and North Country regions, offering symmetric service options – where the download and upload speeds are the same – at price points below local averages. Together, the projects will result in the construction of more than 800 miles of public broadband infrastructure and connect more than 25,000 homes and businesses.
Funding for ConnectALL’s Municipal Infrastructure Program has been awarded through the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund. Broadband infrastructure in the Municipal Infrastructure Program will be owned by a public entity or publicly controlled and Internet Service Providers will use the new broadband infrastructure to provide New Yorkers with affordable, high quality service options.
A complete list of awards can be found here
Funding Awarded for Climate Smart Communities Projects
The Governor announced more than $7.3 million to municipalities across the state as part of New York State’s Climate Smart Communities grant program. The projects help New York advance the emission-reduction targets under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and support local projects to reduce flood risk, increase resilience, and improve critical infrastructure.
Established in 2016, the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Climate Smart Communities (CSC) grant program supports municipalities seeking to implement climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas mitigation projects, as well as undertake certain actions toward becoming certified Climate Smart Communities. The grant program for municipal climate action supports the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act), which requires New York to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Since the program’s inception, DEC has awarded more than $69 million to municipalities in support of local climate mitigation and adaptation projects. More information about the grant program can be found here.
A full list of awards can be found here
In The News
City & State NY’s Weekly Winners and Losers here.
F.B.I. Searches $3.5 Million Home of Former Aide to Gov. Hochul.
Governor Hochul is a Guest on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Governor Hochul is a Guest on MSNBC’s Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell.
Adams’ Charter Revision Commission announces ballot proposals.
Erie County prosecutor arrested for allegedly sharing information about cases.
What to know about NYS climate goals as state says it will miss the first one.
Study: Climate bill could save three-quarters of a trillion dollars.
Commission to study reparations in N.Y. to convene for first time.
NY senators push to add ‘abortion,’ ‘LGBT‘ to Equal Rights Amendment language.
Opinion: Five years in, we’ve got to stay the course on our green-energy goals
Editorial: Speed it up, DEC.
Summer of Kathy Hochul: Halting congestion pricing, election pressures.
Local state Senate candidates speak on youth crime after fights at East Rochester carnival.
Up to 2,000 gallons of diesel spilled at scene of Niagara Falls train derailment.
A DNC delegate who’s backing a winner (for the first time).
Coming Up
The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on August 15.
The Board of Regents will hold their next meeting on September 9 and 10.
The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government will hold their next meeting on September 18.