[WardFive] FYI April 22

Thanks KPW 

 

Job Fair

http://eventsdc.com/NewsRoom/News/ESA-Job-Fair-2018.aspx

 

 

Mayor Bowser Nominates 25 DC Census Tracts for Federal Opportunity Zone Program

Program Supports Investment in Neighborhoods Most in Need of Jobs, Commercial Activity, and Amenities

(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser nominated 25 census tracts to be Opportunity Zones as part of a new federal program that provides tax incentives for investments in new businesses and commercial projects in low-income communities – with nearly 75 percent of the tracts chosen in Wards 7 and 8.

"With feedback from our residents and stakeholders, we are moving forward with a program that offers another tool for us to drive investment in every corner of DC and put more Washingtonians on pathways to the middle class," said Mayor Bowser. "As we begin the next steps, we will continue engaging residents to ensure the program is beneficial to residents and neighborhoods."

The Opportunity Zones program was established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The Opportunity Zones program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds. The incentive could help to promote investments in new public infrastructure, affordable housing, businesses or capital improvements. In the District, 97 census tracts meet the eligibility requirements, and the District can designate up to 25 for the program.

The census tracts nominated are:

• Ward 1: 3400 (Howard University, LeDroit Park, Pleasant Plains, Parkview)
• Ward 4: 10300 (Takoma), 2101 (Brightwood Park);
• Ward 5: 8904 (Carver, Langston); 9102 (Brentwood) and 9204 (Edgewood);
• Ward 6: 6400 (Buzzard Point)
• Ward 7: 7709 (Twining, Dupont Park), 9602 (Mayfair), 7803 (Central Northeast), 7804 (Lincoln Heights), 6804 (Hill East, Lincoln Park), 7808 (Northeast Boundary, Grant Park), 9601 (Kenilworth, Eastland Gardens), 7806 (Deanwood) and 9603 (Benning), 7604 (Hillcrest, Randle Highlands),7603 (Naylor Gardens, Fairfax Village);
• Ward 8: 10900 (Bellevue), 10400 (Congress Heights), 7601 (Fairlawn), 7407 (Fort Stanton), 7503 (Historic Anacostia), 7401 (Barry Farm, Poplar Point), 7304 (Congress Heights)

The tracts were selected with a focus on bringing new investment to communities most in need of jobs, commercial activity and amenities by leveraging actionable investment opportunities. As the program ends in 2026, census tracts with projects ready for investment were given greater consideration as the sooner funds can be deployed, the greater the value. The effort, led by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, began by identifying areas that met the initial criteria (poverty level and family income) to determine eligible census tracts. Other key factors included unemployment, commercial land, small business opportunities, District development priorities, and public input.

The District conducted a public survey in partnership with the LAB @ DC, that allowed residents and other stakeholders to weigh in on Opportunity Zone priorities. The District identified three clusters of census tracts that reflected economic development priorities. Survey respondents ranked three clusters and provided feedback on census tracts they thought should be included. The three cluster respondents ranked included the following:

1. East of the River: exhibited a higher than average need for investment/commercial and retail amenities.
2. Retail Corridors: contained retail corridors and are distributed across the city; align with Great Streets program objectives.
3. Creative Industries and Manufacturing: contained large amounts of industrial/commercial land; aligned with the Ward 5 Works study and efforts.

The results of the survey were 385 respondents ranked the options and 95 provided written comments. Of the three options, the East of the River option received the most support, with 202 respondents ranking it as number 1, with 103 ranking retail corridors as the top option and 87 choosing the manufacturing option. Additionally, the District sought feedback from the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions and the Council of the District of Columbia. The census tracts nominated included a number from the first option, elements from the other two, as well as a few that were suggested in written comments.

The U.S. Treasury Department must now certify the nominations. In the meantime, the District will begin engaging designated communities, as well as potential fund managers and project sponsors in order to ensure the program is leveraged to achieve our shared goals.

To learn more about the program, find the interactive map, and download census tract data, go to dmped.dc.gov.

Thanks, Hazel Thomas

 

Read:" Dark Money" by Jane Myer. To better understand this group and others who are trying to control this country.

KocK Brother's Network Looking at Buying Democratic Campaigns in Mid-Term Elections

 

Looking forward to the mid-term elections, the Koch Brothers network is eyeing the possibility of making mega contributions to buy Democratic politicians like how they have dominated Republican political campaigns. This would be disastrous for the Democrats and for democracy.  We should keep an eye on the Koch Brothers' maneuvers.

 

The Daily 202: Koch network growing frustrated with the GOP's 2018 agenda

By James Hohmann April 6 at 9:09 AM Email the author

 

Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist from Kansas, participates in his network's summer seminar last year in Colorado Springs. (James Hohmann/The Washington Post)

 

THE BIG IDEA: 

Leaders of the conservative Koch political network are mad about President Trump's tariffs, the failure to protect "dreamers" and runaway government spending. They're frustrated congressional leaders do not feel a greater sense of urgency to pass more ambitious legislation during what could be the final six months of unified Republican control for a long time. And they're worried that squabbling might derail their efforts to roll back financial regulations, expand access to experimental medicines and overhaul the criminal justice system.

 

For now, the network led by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch still plans to spend between $300 million to $400 million on politics and policy during the 2018 cycle. But they're growing impatient, rethinking their approach and signaling a willingness to work more closely with Democrats on areas of common ground.

 

"We're not going to sit back and wait, as we have in the past," said James Davis, a senior official at the network who oversees communications. "We've also pulled punches in a lot of places where we didn't want to upset folks that we were going to be working with on other issues. … So, we're going to have to come out and hold Republicans and Democrats accountable. … If they think they're going to wait out the clock for the rest of this congressional cycle, voters would be right to ask: 'Why should I send these people back to represent me?'"

 

As Congress returns on Monday from a two-week Easter recess, watch for the constellation of groups funded by the network to ramp up pressure on the legislative branch for more action. There will be a paid media component and the mobilization of grass-roots affiliates, such as Americans for Prosperity.

 

"This is now a time for Republicans to call out Republicans and Democrats to call out Democrats and push them to work for the American people," Davis said in an interview on Thursday. "Otherwise they retreat into their corners and wait out the clock and they're more focused on reelection than they are doing the job … That's where we can play a significant role in turning up the heat …

 

"Neither party is really leading with a strong agenda to help the American people here," he added. "There's a lot of rhetoric. People pay lip service to the shared concern about government spending, corporate welfare, a solution for dreamers or, more long-term, a solution for immigration. Yet they're largely absent."

 

Mark Holden, general counsel for Koch Industries, chats with his boss, Charles Koch, in Wichita. (Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)

-- 2017 was a red-letter year for the Koch's at the federal level, perhaps the best in the history of their 15-year-old network. After pointedly declining to support Trump during the 2016 campaign, the Koch network pragmatically embraced large swaths of the administration's agenda and avoided confronting him too forcefully.

 

They not only spent more than $20 million to help pass the tax bill, which brought the corporate rate down from 35 percent to 21 percent, they also successfully torpedoed the border-adjustment tax that was initially the centerpiece of how Speaker Paul Ryan planned to pay for it.

Their massive push to repeal Obamacare failed, but the individual mandate was killed as part of the tax bill.

 

The administration did a great deal to deconstruct the administrative state, repealing and rolling back scores of regulations put in place by Barack Obama. Justice Neil Gorsuch is going to be one of the biggest allies for business, and a booster of outside political spending, during the decades he will likely spend on the Supreme Court.

 

-- But 2018 hasn't gotten off to a great start, especially the two months since the major donors to the network gathered outside of Palm Springs at the end of January.

The Koch's tend to be more libertarian-minded, and the business community typically supports more immigration, so the network has been dismayed by the treatment of the dreamers and the new demands by the administration to reduce the levels of legal immigration into the country. They're also unnerved that a deal couldn't get done to appropriate money for a wall in exchange for protecting the 700,000 beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

 

"These folks are here, and they want to contribute positively to our society, yet they lack certainty," said Davis. "This is a pressing issue. This is one that Congress should have already and could have already tackled. This is a crisis because they've not acted. … The labor participation rate is maxed out right now, and you haven't seen it budge much, while the economy is doing well. … There's a human dignity angle to this, as well."

 

The network opposed the $1.3 trillion package that passed last month to fund the government through September because it busted spending caps and ran up the debt. "Reckless spending has happened under both parties," said Davis. "The American people know that we can't continue this wasteful spending and the trajectory we're on. And if you ask individual members of Congress, they'll all say, 'Oh yes. Spending's a big problem.' And yet they pass a $1.3 trillion omnibus. That can't continue to happen!

 

"What's even more concerning is ideas that have been tremendously beneficial to our country over time, such as free trade, are now under attack," added Davis. "We want to see a more robust defense of those ideas as we move forward. … It's obviously clear we've seen a lot of good positives, but the reality is it's not nearly enough to change the trajectory of the country. … There's a consistent undermining, where Republicans and Democrats alike think they can score political points versus actually solve problems."

 

Charles Koch: 'Unite with anybody to do right' [THIS MEANS DEMOCRATS]

 

Charles Koch spoke about collaboration at a seminar of conservative donors in Indian Wells, Calif., on Jan. 27. (The Seminar Network)

-- Frustrated by these setbacks, Koch's top advisers are signaling an expanding willingness to work more with Democrats on areas where they agree. "We're bringing people together to solve problems where they agree, even if they differ on other issues," said Brian Hooks, the co-chairman of the Seminar Network. "We can do a lot more of this to achieve better public policy … People are looking for bold leadership that puts petty differences aside. We're ready to step up to that challenge."

 

Several Senate Democrats supported the recent Senate bill to water down parts of the Dodd-Frank bill. A Koch-backed bill to overhaul Veterans Affairs by making it easier to fire employees also got bipartisan support.

One of the network's top priorities for years has been changing the criminal justice system. Mark Holden, a longtime top lawyer at Koch Industries who is now the co-chairman of the Seminar Network, worked with the Obama White House and congressional Democrats to come up with a compromise in 2016, but they could never get Republican leaders to bring it up for a vote.

 

"We are going to expand and build on the success of the model we've used in pursuing criminal justice reform," Holden said in an email. "We started with an outcomes-focused vision early on, working with anyone looking to achieve the same outcomes … And we continue to make progress in the same way — we're starting with prison reform and we'll work toward other needed reforms like sentencing."

 

-- Bigger picture, the Koch network wants to become less reactive and more proactive. "We've played too much to the cadence of Washington and the congressional calendar and whichever leader or whichever party held the majority and their agenda," said Davis. "Then we played marginally around … either pushing them to success or fighting them to defeat. … We haven't done enough to set the agenda."