#federal-funding

#federal-funding

Branford Public Schools has signed a 10-year, $60 million (€55 million) transportation contract with California-based Zum, marking the first agreement of its kind in Connecticut and setting the district on a path to a fully electric school bus fleet within five years. The Branford initiative aligns with Connecticut's legislative goal of deploying zero-emission school buses in environmental justice communities by 2030. The project is supported by federal and state funding programs, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Rebate Program, with allocations exceeding $6 million (€5.6 million) for vehicle and infrastructure costs.

Last night, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Commerce Department was in talks with "several" quantum computing companies over equity stakes in those firms in return for federal funding. Specifically, the Journal said D-Wave, IonQ, and Rigetti were in discussions with the federal government about the matter. The report stated that Quantum Computing Inc. and the privately held Atom Computing were "considering similar arrangements."

RAND Corp., a Santa Monica-based think tank highly dependent on federal government funding, shed more than 11% of its global workforce on Tuesday, Oct. 21, a spokesman for the nonprofit said late Monday. Just under a third of the layoffs are effective Nov. 2 at the nonprofit's headquarters, according to a filing with the state's Employment Development Department. The layoffs were first mentioned publicly by RAND on career networking website LinkedIn.

Soon after Donald Trump returned to the White House, his administration gutted the federal government's central education data collection and research funding agency, the Institute of Education Sciences. Researchers say the move jeopardized the nation's ability to figure out how to improve K-12 and higher education and its capacity to hold publicly funded schools, colleges and universities accountable. But the president didn't fully erase IES-which Congress created, and continues to require to exist, through the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002.

Nearly two dozen states are suing the Trump administration over its cancellation of a $7bn grant program aimed at expanding solar energy in low-income communities, according to court papers. In a statement on Thursday, California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, announced two lawsuits by a group of states that received grants under the Environmental Protection Agency's Solar for All program. The EPA's administrator, Lee Zeldin, announced the termination of the program in August.

It's empowered the organization to now be more self-sufficient like so many other organizations are doing,

Trapped under pressure from the presidential administration, the city council for Arlington, Texas, is struggling to find a way to avoid rolling back LGBTQ+ protections without losing vital federal grants. Last night, they bought themselves more time. Pointing to pressure from the current administration, Arlington's city council took a vote in September to suspend the anti-discrimination section of the city code, pending review.

The MTA's budget is currently balanced, but out-year gaps persist as the Authority faces substantial fiscal uncertainties, led by funding threats from the federal government, DiNapoli said. It's imperative that the MTA stay focused on improving the system and bringing riders back, which is one of the surest ways it can help stabilize its fiscal outlook at the farebox, and by following through on its savings initiatives.

We worked on rescissions, and there'll be more of that, we expect, in the days ahead,

I am pleased to advise that I reversed the cuts made to Homeland Security and Counterterrorism for New York City and State. It was my Honor to do so,

Speaking inside the Second Avenue Subway Community Information Center on 125th Street, Espaillat stressed that the community has waited over 100 years for the project and vowed to keep pressing for federal support. We've got to continue the fight for the funding to be there, he said. And again, I think the main and most important thing is that the project that we've been waiting for for over 100 years continues to move forward.

The $17.2 billion Hudson River tunnel project -- which received more than $11 billion in federal grants -- is repairing an existing tunnel, and building a new one for passenger railroad Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan. Any failure of the current Hudson tunnel, which was heavily damaged during 2012's Superstorm Sandy, would hobble commuting in the metropolitan area that produces 10% of the country's economic output.

Trump on Monday warned New York City residents not to vote for Mamdani, whom Trump called a "self proclaimed New York City Communist," and said if Mamdani wins in November, "He is going to have problems with Washington like no Mayor in the history of our once great city." Trump continued: "Remember, he needs the money from me, as President, in order to fulfill all of his fake communist promises. He won't be getting any of it, so what's the point of voting for him?"