I.E. for Change

Listening Tour coming to UCR

2009-04-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

At Listening Tour meetings, you'll get a chance to meet new state staff members, hear about some lessons learned during the general election, and offer your thoughts on how we can organize California going forward. Your ideas will be used to write a California-specific plan for Organizing for America in 2009 and beyond.

The campaign brought an unprecedented number of new voices into the process -- we need to make sure those voices remain at the center of the debate as the President and Congress work on providing solutions for our economy.

But these meetings are not just for folks who were involved in the campaign -- we're hopeful that every Californian will get involved.

We can't stop growing our movement now. We've never had a better opportunity to shape our future -- and just like during the election, we'll do it from the bottom up.

I look forward to seeing you,

Mary Jane

Mary Jane Stevenson
California State Director
Organizing for America

Letter to Congress: Support President Obama's Budget Proposal

2009-03-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

On the weekend of March 21st, Organizing for America hosted a pledge drive, including neighborhood canvass events, and a policy workshop to study President Obama’s budget proposal. We examined how President Obama’s budget can lead to a transformation of the Inland Empire.

The budget presented to congress focuses on three key areas: health care, energy and education. The priorities laid out in his budget are exactly the medicine the doctor ordered for the ailing Inland Empire economy.

This budget will make significant investments in moving the Inland Empire towards a cleaner, greener, and healthier metropolis. It can lay down the foundation for a new green economy by renewable energy production with wind and solar energy. A foundation for a well-educated work force which can compete for the jobs of the 21st Century, and a health care plan which will reduce runaway health care costs which cripple our economy.

Energy independence is the national security issue of our generation. We cannot afford to keep buying petroleum from countries which support global terrorist networks with funds earned by selling us oil.

The president’s budget will make investments in renewable energy.

The trucks moving containers through warehouses in Inland Empire cities like Ontario, San Bernardino, Redlands and Moreno Valley consume large amounts of imported petroleum. So do the millions of automobiles consuming imported gasoline on southern California freeways.

The budget provides investments in a smart grid system which will allow our new fleets of American made electric vehicles to run on electricity produced through rooftop solar panels on top of the acres of empty warehouses, wind farms in our deserts, and biomass conversion plants which will turn waste into energy. The Inland Empire is blessed by abundant sunshine and wind, making it ideally suited to becoming a global leader in renewable energy production and research.

Change in our energy policy must be seen as a local issue because it is our local, poorer communities so common in the Inland Empire which are most affected by global warming, extreme weather and greenhouse gasses. The national energy policy laid out in the budget will create local jobs by employing the local workforce in the manufacturing of solar panels, wind turbines, and weatherization of our buildings and houses.

We spend more on health care than any other nation and yet we are not receiving an appropriate value for our dollars spent. There are many ideas on how to provide health care coverage for all, but we need to stop arguing and really get something done.

We must show more compassion for all because what every man, woman, and child deserves is what a few of us already have.

With the aging baby boomer population, the President understands the current system of Medicare is not able to handle the sky-rocketing cost. Residents of the Inland Empire know it is one of the most under-served areas in California.

Statistics from the Tomas Rivera Institute of USC predict the IE will have he highest population growth rate in the state between 2002 and 2015 at 38.9%. So we cannot delay – action is imperative.

More blue-collar workers are migrating to the Inland Empire. Priorities in this budget will provide funds for facilities like the medical school at the University of California, Riverside, to serve this growing demand.

A good education for every child is necessary if our nation is to remain a global economic and cultural leader.

Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. Yet dropout and achievement data for IE school districts indicate there is a disconnect between the home and the school.

The president’s budget priorities will assist and encourage parents, families, and communities to be actively involved and engaged in their public schools. It will require professional development programs for all educators to include the skills and knowledge required for effective parental and community communication and engagement strategies.

The president’s plan will match up new degree programs in emerging technologies with jobs being created in the health information technology, renewable energy, and other growth areas.

It will create a pipeline to link graduates from community colleges and universities with employment opportunities. Programs like the new nanotechnology program at San Bernardino Valley College are examples of emerging technologies.

The problems facing the Inland Empire with double digit unemployment call for visionary solutions such as presented in President Obama’s “Blueprint for America.”

The President has already reached across the aisle in the spirit of bi-partisanship.

We strongly urge our representatives in congress to vote for speedy passage of the President’s budget proposal.

Shirley Harlan, 3939 Newmark Ave., San Bernardino, CA 92405, (909) 882-4057

Daisy Broady, 1415 Brookside Ave, Redlands, CA 92373, (909) 997-4353

Pamela Arauz, 8439 Mulberry Ave, Fontana, CA 92335, (909) 854-8536

Cong. Calvert: Vote YES on the President's budget

2009-03-27T22:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Congressman Calvert

Your support for the President’s Budget is vital!

As you are aware the budget has many facets including energy, education and health care. These are vital to us in Riverside and the entire Inland Empire.

I don’t need to remind you how, with all its efforts to control costs, the cost of Riverside Utilities is stressing our limited financial resources. The President’s budget will help relieve this stress on all your constituents.

Equally important is the fact that the energy portion of the President’s budget will serve the nations security, help minimize green house gasses, provide a mechanism for technological advancement and reduce the balance of payments by funding alterative energy sources and thus reducing foreign imports from our advisories.

I’m not sure if you walked a campus, incognito, of any of the public schools in Riverside and talked to the teachers who use their own money to have supplies for the students of Riverside and the Inland Empire. Or more importantly talk to those teachers who have been given Pink Slips. The President’s budget will provide needed funds to help raise the quality of our schools.

I’m confident you do not fully understand the plight of most of the people who live in Riverside who are ill and do not benefit from any where near the health insurance you receive as a member of Congress. The President’s budget will provide a starting point, for those at the lower end of the pay scale, to obtain affordable heath care for all your constituents.

Congressman Calvert, the Nation has suffered greatly as a result of deregulation of the banking industry. At the same time the rules, regulations and procedures for many of the things that the average wage earner come in contact with has become more arduous, time consuming and complicated. These include not only the tax code but such things as education, and research grants, biding procedures and the contract language for every day items. These types of forms, procedures, reviews and approvals need to be streamlined while ensuring the fraud waste and abuse is brought to a halt.

The President’s budget as well as the stimulus package has millions of dollars slated for projects that are routine and impose a clause “subject to approval”. These include education loans, road and other infrastructure enhancements. The applications and the review processes need to be streamlined while protecting the public interest.

Consequently, I request you pay particular attention to the portion of the legislation that lays out the requirements for obtaining money. Keep them simple but honest.

The 91/60/215 interchange improvement took 12 years to complete; Boulder Dam was built in 5 years and no one was jailed or even accused of wrong doing or abusing the public trust. That is a model of how things managed by Government ought to be accomplished.

Something is wrong with how we do business. Get it fixed! Please remember there is a fundamental difference between deregulation and streamlining.

The vote on the President’s budget will likely come to a vote next week.

In view of the above discussion I strongly urge you to be present during the call for a vote and cast your vote on the President’s budget in the affinitive. To do otherwise would be a grievous disservice to your constituents and the nation.

Yours truly,

Irv Waitsman

6099 St. Augustine Dr.

Riverside CA 92506

951 788-6159

Congressman Calvert: Vote for THIS budget!

2009-03-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

Candace Hammond
P. O. Box 1465
Riverside, CA 92502
March 24, 2009

Congressman Ken Calvert
3400 Cental Ave. Suite 200
Riverside, CA 92506-2156

Re: President Obama's Budget proposal, Blueprint for America

Dear Congressman Calvert,

I strongly urge you to vote for President Obama's budget. Our country critically needs his reforms in energy, healthcare and education to immediately jump-start new jobs and also build a long-term solid foundation for growth in new areas for our country's security and prosperity.

Here in the Inland Empire, the recession has been devastating. Though unemployment is over 10% in California, it is even higher here. My next-door neighbor lost his forklift job. My other neighbor took an almost 5% paycut as a state employee on Friday furloughs. Even teachers and county education employees are now pink-slipped by the hundreds in the Alvord, Corona-Norco, Jurupa and Riverside school districts. All of us in California suffer from lost revenue to the State due to this deep recession.

Of course our severe unemployment in the Inland Empire, due in great part to the loss of construction work, has fueled our extremely high foreclosure rate. For-sale, foreclosure and auction signs are everywhere in downtown Riverside where I live, three on my block. The house next door to me was foreclosed and the lovely family who rented had two or three weeks to move out. In the Inland Empire, I read that 1 in 60--77 homes are foreclosed in Riverside and San Bernardino counties -- one of the highest rates in the nation.

President Obama's budget directly addresses our needs in the Inland Empire. A new energy economy will create new jobs here, and new green technology industries, by building on our available workforce and infrastructure. We can be a leader in new green, energy-efficient technology because we have plenty of sun and wind to harness! We've already begun. We will also be less dependent on foreign oil, and therefore safer and more likely to preserve our planet's future.

The President's budget also takes on one of the largest contributors to our national debt and foreclosures -- healthcare. Every 11 minutes a person goes bankrupt due to high healthcare costs that cannot be paid. The exorbitant cost of healthcare is also crippling our businesses as they struggle to provide care for their employees. With this new budget, Kaiser will be joined with other healthcare providers in the Inland Empire in providing computerized recordkeeping. This, too, will create more jobs here. The health research funds provided will greatly benefit the smogbelt of the Inland Empire because new research will continually back clean energy efforts for the health and wellbeing of all Inland Empire residents, especially the elderly and children.

President Obama's budget and vision for healthcare reform gives all of us choices to have affordable healthcare -- a right, not a priviledge.
Finally, it all ties in to education. We have to educate our way to a better economy. To pull us out of a recession, build a new clean, green energy technology and create all those new jobs, we must have people with the knowledge to do the work. Please support President Obama's budget to meet the needs of the students in the Inland Empire. I was a teacher for 32 years in Moreno Valley, and tutored those left behind for two years after retiring. I know of what I speak. Classrooms and schools are overcrowded. Many schools are crumbling. We are losing teachers (possibly 6,000 across America), custodians, school nurses, counselors and speech therapists.

As people are cut, our needs are still growing. Our needs are ever greater here because the Inland Empire is home to children of many cultures and languages. Children of English as a second language, and many others, come from a povery culture and especially need early childhood preschool and after-school support programs to be successful in school. Our lower income students in the Inland Empire also need President Obama's plans for loans to students. We will therefore need those funds from the budget for university and community colleges to provide new programs in technology and green jobs so that we will have a knowledge-based job world for all citizens.

I am just one of many, many people who met with Organizing for America last weekend to unite again and support our President's budget. He won on a promise for change. We all helped elect him our president because we knew our country needed his vision of who we can be. We need that change more than ever now to save our economy, and invest in our future. He is keeping his campaign promises, and many, many Inland residents share his vision. Please vote "yes" to pass his budget.

Sincerely,
Candace K. Hammond

Vote For President Obama's Budget

2009-03-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

Senator Diane Feinstein, 750 B Street Ste 1030, San Diego, CA 92101
Senator Barbara Boxer, 201 North E. Street, Ste 210, San Bernardino, CA
92401
Congressman Joe Baca, 210 North “E” Street Ste 103, San Bernardino, CA
92401
Congressman Jerry Lewis, 2112 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington DC 20515

On Sunday afternoon I came together with twenty-five citizens who live in IE sharing the same concern VOTE FOR THE BUDGET PROPOSAL SUBMITTED BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO CONGRESS.

We had passion on three issues; investments in green technologies and research to create new energy economy boost; investment in Healthcare Information Technology and a system that covers everyone with affordable quality healthcare; and education with investments in teacher training.

In IE our citizens, whether workers or small business operators are impacted by the economic downturn, housing problems frequently compounded by healthcare casualties at an all time high. Stories abound and driving down the streets, signs of foreclosures and going out of business expose our town’s uninviting appearance. Our citizens are suffering.

We discussed these downturns and can send supported facts. We acknowledge the complexities of the issues. Our hope is in a vision for the future at the same time to take measures to reverse the economy. We need many creative plays to tackle this crisis.

We ask you to step up to the morality plate. Go for a homer and support a vision for a more healthful, educated people and greener economy. We are in the outfield watching how you pitch your vote.

Shirley Harlan
3939 Newmark Ave San Bernardino, CA 92405(PO Box 2276. SB 92406)
909 882 4057

Letter to Congressman Lewis - support President Obama's Budget

2009-03-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Representative Lewis:

I have always been a fiscal conservative. But if a child is critically ill a conservative will assume dept to save his child. Right now the country is ill: We are dangerously dependent of foreign countries for most of our oil. We have millions who need better health care and cannot afford it. We have generations of students who are going to need education to compete in the world. Many are missing out. We have the threat of global warming threatening the whole world while we, the richest country have draggead our feet hardly working for solutions.

As you know President Obama’s budget addresses all these problems. You may be uncomfortable with the looming debt. So am I. But unusual times require taking unusual risks. The risk of a tight fisted approach is too great right now.

Looking at just one issue creating NEW ENERGY SOURCES, here are some important issues we all need to remember:

First in the name of national security we need to seek green energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal. To do so will not ony reduce our dependence on foreign sources, but will make us safer in the event of natural disasters because these kinds of energy sources are decentralized. As Californians, we are \ familiar with the ever present earthquake threat.

Second, buying less foreign oil will greatly help our balance of payments problem.

Third, green energy sources will directly attack man’s contribution to the global warming problem.

Fourth. Developing, making, installing and marketing all these new energy sources will create sorely needed jobs.

Redlands and the Inland Empire are exceedingly well suited to expedite this effort. We have good schools and universities to provide research and educational back-up. We have a good supply of qualified, but underemployed people at various levels of expertise. We have the climate for harvesting wind and solar energy. The area is ready for area cooperation between various governing agencies, and properly managed funding for this energy effort could catalyze new levels of cooperation. Note that funding of R&D, education, and direct assistance for energy conversions and retrofitting would promote energy solutions and directly help many in the Redlands area.

I urge you to support the President’s budget. This is the time for positive steps.

Yours very truly,

Peter W. Blickensderfer

140 West Pioneer Ave, #121

Redlands, CA 92374

pblick@verizon.net

Green Economy in the Inland Empire

2009-03-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

Senator Barbara Boxer

201 N. E Street, Suite 210

San Bernardino, CA 92401

Re: Inland Empire Green Technology Center

Dear Senator Boxer,

This is a frightening time. The economy is more fragile than I ever would have believed. This recession and financial system failure are causing terrible damage – we are losing jobs, houses, health care, and retirement savings. We are all suffering.

And here, I think, is also opportunity. Looking in a regional way, I and others involved in Organizing for America, see the Inland Empire changing from an area of vacant land for warehouses and housing tracts to one with an integrated, sustainable green economy. I see regional governments, businesses and educational institutions creating green research, design, products and services. The Inland Empire Green Technology Center. And all connected by a state-of-the-art mass transit system.

To realize this vision, we need you, working with your national, state and local colleagues, to join together with us as a council of governments to promote and coordinate a true greening of our regional economy. We aim to be a leader in the nation.

We also want to create a regional education council of schools, community colleges and universities to create and sustain green collar workers of every level of expertise. And in this vision we must be guided by a further goal of “eco-equity,” in Van Jones’ words – economic fairness.

Working together we can create a sustainable life for our people. We would like to meet with you to discuss our vision and to hear your ideas for recovery and development. I’m enclosing an op-ed piece by Jonathan Abraham that appeared in The San Bernardino County Sun recently. Mr. Abraham is one of our wonderful local leaders of Organizing for America.

Work with us as the Inland Empire becomes smarter and greener!

Yours truly,
Nancy N. Sidhu
Redlands, CA

Stimulus bill funds should go towards green recovery

2009-03-12T18:02:00.000-07:00

To the Editor:
(All Inland Empire Newspapers)

I have lived in the Inland Empire for more than 35 years. I would
like to see some of the stimulus package money reaching the average
people of the region. When I look at artwork on old historic buildings
in Colton, and other cities, I'm reminded that the jobs to create this
artwork and indeed the library building itself was part of the WPA.
The jobs were created so that average people would be able to go to
work. People should be put to work on upgrading the library to make it
more energy efficient. In a few weeks, President Barack Obama's
stimulus package will be passed through the senate, and will be signed
into law. I would like to see the funds from the package flowing into
real projects here in Colton and other cities in the Inland Empire, as
part of the green economic recovery.

Mr. Adibi, along with many republican congresspersons from the
Inland Empire, such as Jerry Lewis, David Drier, Ken Calvert, Gary
Miller, Mary Bono-Mack argue that the package should have had more tax
cuts, than the $ 300 billion already allocated in the $819 billion
dollar package. To those who are unemployed, their concern is how they
can get to work immediately on a project that puts money on the table.
The republican congresspersons, by voting "NO" on the stimulus, just
demonstrate how out of touch they have been for years, and continue
with making nonsensical arguments, despite the President asking them
for their votes on the stimulus bill.

Ever James,
Colton, CA

Kristin Washington on Bank Bailouts

2009-03-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

To the Editor:
(All Inland Empire Newspapers)

It was distressing to learn that financial institutions, so
crippled last fall they needed taxpayer-funded money to bail them out,
turned around and paid their employees year-end bonuses. This, at a
time when Inland Empire residents were watching jobs disappear in
record numbers. If the goal of corporate bailouts was to stimulate a
stagnant national economy, did paying bonuses to Wall Street employees
fuel any type of economic recovery in southern California? Did paying
those bonuses enable laid-off San Bernardino County residents fend off
foreclosure or position Riverside County homeowners to refinance their
mortgages?

As President Obama and Congress work together to resolve the
devastating economic crisis, they need to put their fingers directly
on the pulse of American people, and adopt a multi-prong solution.

Area homeowners seek relief in the form of money in their wallets.
Laid-off workers need jobs with wages and benefits equal, if not
better than, those they have lost. The unemployed and underemployed
need training, not just for low-paying jobs that could lead them to
the brink of homelessness again, but training for the well-paying,
robust jobs of the future. Financial institutions, for their part,
cannot be given another chance to use taxpayer money for private
extravagancies without extending credit and approving personal loans
for the public.

An effective, far-reaching stimulus package must be passed which
benefits individuals immediately and directly. If not, losses will
continue to ripple through the Inland Empire and the rest of the
nation to a crippling effect.

Kristin Washington
Redlands, CA

Pamela's letter to Sen Boxer

2009-03-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

February 22, 2009

Senator Barbara Boxer

357 West Second Street, Suite 1
San Bernardino, CA

Re: Economic Recovery in the Inland Empire

Dear Senator Boxer:

I live in Fontana, California and I belong to a local group called “Inland Empire for Change”. We just had a meeting today during which we discussed the changes we are expecting to see at our local communities in the green sector around the Inland Empire, and changes we will be pushing for.

The discussion focused on: food policy, green jobs, green innovation and prevention of foreclosures as part of a sustainable growth in our communities.

The discussion was intense, so I will try to summarize what we discussed from my point of view. First, we want healthier food given to our children at public schools. We are tired of seeing our children get sick and unhealthy because of all the junk foods they are exposed too. We understand that we (parents) need work on this too at home. Thus, we ask you to join us in mutual effort to bring healthier foods for our children at public schools.

Second, we expect green jobs to be coming to the Inland Empire. We hope that a similar program to what Van Jones - founder and president of GreenforAll.com, author of The Green-Collar Economy - is doing in the Oakland area, to be implemented in the Inland Empire for our youth. There are many innovative ideas that we can use to bring green jobs to the Inland Empire. One extremely important aspect to keep in mind is that we cannot waste one dollar on training that will not be used to create real green jobs.

Third, we expect a joint effort to be made among high schools, community colleges, universities, and vocational training programs to get our youth exited about a green economy. We need our youth's innovative minds to move us away from our dependency in dirty fuels. And our youth will need all of our support at getting trained, getting jobs, pursuing green careers and achieving success in a green economy. We expect a big push to be made by your office in this field.

Finally, we expect that construction of new houses in the Inland Empire to be done in a responsible, conscious and sustainable way meaning that homes are not built based on future profits by banks but based on the necessity our communities. If there is no current need for new houses, we expect that no new houses are built. But instead, maybe new parks are constructed and more land for farmers are kept.

As you know and we know, everything is interconnected and all these issues and many more are linked. For example, in our effort to fight global warming, to make our children healthier, and to bring jobs to the Inland Empire, we expect that the food given to our children at public schools to be grown by local farmers. In an effort, to fight global warming, to improve our economy, and to bring jobs to our communities, we expect that our youth be trained in green jobs locally and that no money (not one dollar) is wasted.

We appreciate all the effort that you are making in the green movement. We know we have your support and you have ours. This letter is to reaffirm what our position is, and what we are expecting as citizens.

Sincerely,

Pamela G. Arauz, MBA

Pelosi and the Inland Empire Stimulus

2009-03-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Here's details from Speaker Pelosi's website that apply to cities and
the Inland Empire. Her office has done an excellent job of distilling
down the stimulus from 1000 pages to 10 pages.

The IE has more than 1% of the nation's population, so at a minimum,
we should get 1% of the total appropriation from each allocation. The
amount in reality should be closer to 1.33% of each allocation. This
is based on an assumed population from the last census of 4 million
residents. These should be ballpark figures for totals spent from the
stimulus in the Inland Empire. I've added possible local projects that
will benefit wherever possible.

http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0273

Smart Grid Investment Program:
An unspecified amount to be paid to utilities and non-profits through
a grant process. Any funds paid will go towards demonstration (pilot)
programs that illustrate the functioning of a smart grid.
(There will be an energy hub in the east valley bringing in power from
solar arrays in the desert which will become an net exporter to the
more densely populated valley.)

Battery Techology Research:
Battery Technology (especially for vehicles) for Research and
Development and manufacture.
(Any research done at UCR, CSUSB, SB Valley College, LLU etc towards
battery technology will qualify for grants from DOEnergy and National
Science Foundation)

Green Initiatives for Local Govts:
Funds for state and local governments to adopt innovative best
practices to achieve greater energy efficiency.
(If local governments, say SB county adopt a particular practice that
achieves greater energy efficiency, they will get funds to promote the
initiative)

Renewable Energy Facility construction grant:
Construction grant funds of 30% of the cost of building a renewable
energy facility.
(Grant funds in the millions for construction of solar farms, wind
farms and geothermal facilities in the desert, valley, and mountains)

Production Tax credit extension through 2012 for energy derived from
wind, biomass, landfill gas, waste to energy, and marine facilities
2013.
(An additional incentive for a business to begin production of
renewable energy with wind farms, biomass conversion etc)

Expanded tax credits for weatherization of homes. Double pane windows,
insulation, energy efficient furnaces. Heat transfer pumps etc.
(Will create business opportunities as more households take advantage
of the tax credit to pay for a weatherization program)

Manufacturing tax credit for any industries that produce components
for renewable energy such as battery technology, turbines, solar
panels etc.

Weatherization Program/ Energy Efficient Appliances:
$ 5 billion for weatherization of modest income homes. Roughly breaks
down to $50 million for the Inland Empire. And the money will the
spread over 10,000 homes in the inland empire area.

$ 4 billion for weatherization of publicly supported housing (elderly,
disabled, section 8). Roughly $40 million for the Inland Empire to
improve energy efficiency in public housing.

(Jobs created in both programs should require some basic level of
training in installation of the material, and also facilities to
produce the insulation, windows, doors etc)

Science Research Grants for Green Tech:
$ 3 billion to National Science Foundation, $ 1.6 billion to Dept. of
Energy's Office of Science.
(Univ. of Redlands, Loma Linda Univ, UCR, CSU) can all compete for the
grant money. Using the proportional formula, at least $40 million will
come to grants at the universities.

Rural/Inner city broadband:
$ 7.2 billion for expansion of broadband facilities. Will work out to
about $72 million for the IE for broadband WIFI access in San
Bernardino, Redlands, Fontana, Rialto etc. Emphasis will go to areas
not served well by current internet networks (example . . . downtown
San Bernardino, high desert, Yucca Valley etc.)

Health-care Information Systems:
$19 billion for Health Info Tech in hospitals nationwide. Breaks down
to around $190 million in the IE, mainly in high tech computer and
database fields, including networking and computer technicians to
upgrade the health information systems.
(See contracts being awarded by county hospital systems, Redlands
Community hospitals, Catholic hospitals in San Bernardino , key is
making the local computer grads from CSU, Valley College etc be the
bulk of the workforce doing the upgrades)

Health Research:
$ 1.1 billion for prevention and wellness fund.
$ 1 billion for comparative effectiveness research.
(Loma Linda University Med school can get money from the second pot,
the first will go to existing healthcare providers in some formula
system, with about $10 million coming to wellness programs in the IE)

Public School Modernization:
$ 8.8 billion for modernization and renovation of public school
facilities, including CSU, UC, Community Colleges.
($ 88 million for school facility modernization in the IE)

Childcare for low-income families:
$ 2 billion for childcare development grants.
($20 million for the IE for childcare programs for working parents)

Roads And Bridges:
$ 27.5 billion for modernizing roads and bridges. Monies have to be
obligated to contractors with contracts signed within four months.
($275 million for the IE for road construction. SANBAG and RCTC should
have project lists shortly. Hopefully they and their legislative
analysts are working as hard as ordinary citizens at figuring out this
bill.)

Mass Transit:
$ 8.4 billion for transit, and $8 billion for high speed rail. (So we
should see about $164 million spent in the IE for mass transit
projects. With the current state of sales tax projections affecting
Measure I funds, projects like Redlands Rail should be put forward as
candidates for development using this money. The 120 - 160 day
obligation for shovel ready projects does not seem to apply for mass
transit projects.)

Clean Water:
$ 19 billion for clean water related investments. Clean Water, Flood
Control, Environmental Restoration.
(Since the San Bernardino Valley is water resource rich, we could
easily qualify for the $190 million in funds to invest in water
resources, by way of capital projects, and water research. Water
Resources Inst, and Redlands Institute, UCR's environmental studies
program would all qualify for some funding for research and
development.)

Energy Efficiency in Federal Buildings:
$4.2 billion to make Dept of Defense facilities more energy efficient,
and $ 4.5 billion to make federal buildings more energy efficient. (IE
facilities that will benefit from these expenditures will be Fort
Irwin, Twentynine Palms Marine Base, VA hospital in Loma Linda and any
other federal buildings that fall under the criteria outlined)

Food Assistance:
$19.9 billion increase in funds available for food stamp aid. Should
work out to about $199 million in increased funds for the IE. Roughly
$ 4 million in aid to local community organizations, in the IE, that
provide food aid. (Joseph's warehouse, Salvation Army, etc would be
eligible)

Job Training:
$ 3.95 billion for job training/placement. (Some proportions are
mentioned in criteria where the money should be allocated including
youth, workers with disabilities, and low income older Americans. $
395 million should be the IE's share. A major portion could be spent
through ROP and the Community College Districts to retrain laid off
construction workers and parolees in green building. The job
opportunities would be in the weatherization programs in the other
part of the bill)

Separate from the TARP funds to help homeowners.
$2 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program for communities to
rehabilitate foreclosed properties.
$1.5 billion Emergency shelter grant program. Short term rental
assistance to families who lose homes.
(Should total about $35 million for the IE.)