California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new law that requires the state to use 33% renewable energy by the end of 2020. Calling for a substantial shift away from coal and natural gas, the Governor supports creating jobs through the use of new technology and renewable energy sources. Prior to this bill, the stateRead… Read more »
The Vermont Senate is working to advance broadband in the state with new legislation. The bill would fulfill a long standing goal of making broadband internet and cellular phone service available statewide and would begin looking at ways to upgrade the state’s electrical grid through smart grid technology. The state laid out these initiatives fourRead… Read more »
President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden today launched Joining Forces, a national initiative to support and honor America’s service members and their families. Joining Forces is spearheaded by Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden, who created the initiative to address the unique challenges and needs of militaryRead… Read more »
Connecticut is creating a new Busway designed to decrease congestion along I-84. The project was given a boost by the Federal Transit Administration (ATA) which awarded the state a $6.3 million grant. The grant will allow the state to acquire property and contract engineers. The Connecticut Department of Transportation proposed to construct the New Britain-HartfordRead… Read more »
The USDA’s expansion of rural broadband appears to be on the chopping block, according to information contained in the newest budget deal out of Congress. Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee seek to cut the full $700 million in funding USDA had allocated to use this year on rural broadband expansion projects. The $700Read… Read more »
NRG Energy is bringing electric cars to Texas with a new program that will create a network of 70 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. An additional 50 stations are also slated for the Houston area as well as another network along the Interstate 45 corridor, by the end of nextRead… Read more »
Oklahoma passed a set of bills designed to bring tort reform to the state. The bills were a central part of Governor Mary Fallin’s campaign, who claims that tort reform is critical to job-creation. The bills provide for caps to damage awards and also determine degrees of fault in a case. Awardees will also beRead… Read more »
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton struck a unique agreement with health care providers in his state today. Under the terms of this agreement BlueCross BlueShield, HealthPartners, Medica, and UCare will place a voluntary 1% cap on profits for 2011 managed care contracts. The one-time cap will keep earnings at 1% of revenue and return any amountRead… Read more »
Illinois is expanding broadband statewide by deploying regional groups called eTeams. According to Broadband Illinois, the partnership that manages broadband deployments statewide three regional eTeams have been established to manage specific areas of the expansion in a more manageable way. Each eTeam will be responsible for planning their local broadband deployments and developing a growthRead… Read more »
Georgia is launching a $19.4 million education innovation fund to award grants to partnerships between local education entities businesses and nonprofit organizations that develop innovative programs for students. The fund was created with the help of a federal grant awarded through Georgia’s Race to the Top (RT3) plan. The Innovation Fund will provide competitive grantsRead… Read more »