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BREAKING NEWS
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On May 16, 2013, the Senate approved the nomination of Ernest Moniz as Secretary of the Department of Energy.
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On May 16, 2013, the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee voted, by a partyline vote of 10-8, to approve the nomination of Gina McCarthy to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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On May 15, 2013, the Senate Finance Committee released an “Economic and Community Development White Paper” that is critical of tax-exempt municipal bonds.
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On May 15, 2013, the House Energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote passed H.R. 271, the Resolving Environmental and Grid Reliability Conflicts Act of 2013.
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On May 15, 2013, the Senate passed S. 601, the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) by a vote of 83-14.
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On May 09, 2013, the House Energy & Power Subcommittee held a hearing on grid reliability challenges in a shifting energy landscape. APPA submitted a statement for the record for the hearing.
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The May Public Power Vodcast is now available.
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On May 10, 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the Senate had reached an agreement to vote on the nomination of Ernest Moniz to be Secretary of Energy
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On May 9, 2013, the Republican members of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee boycotted a vote on Gina McCarthy’s nomination to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
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On May 8, 2013, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee marked up and passed the following hydropower and energy efficiency bills, all of which APPA supports: S.306, S. 545, H.R. 267, H.R. 678 and S.761.
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On May 6, 2013, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) issued a report summarizing leading proposals to reform the federal income tax system.
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On May 1, 2013, President Obama nominated Tom Wheeler to head the FCC.
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On April 29, 2013, APPA submitted comments on the Department of Commerce's Notice of Inquiry on Incentives to Adopt Improved Cybersecurity Practices.
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On April 25, 2013, Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released a discussion draft of the “Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2013.”
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On April 25, 2013, Senate Finance Committee staff released a white paper providing options for reforming federal tax laws related to infrastructure, energy and natural resources.
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On April 24, 2013, the Utility Air Regulatory Group (UARG), of which APPA is a member, released a white paper on how the states could regulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing fossil-fired power plants under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act.
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On April 24, 2013, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing on four hydro-related bills and an energy efficiency bill.
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On April 23, 2013 APPA released its latest Public Power Vodcast. In this edition: highlights of the latest public power news and Desmarie Waterhouse, APPA Director of Government Relations and Counsel, discusses climate change legislation in the 113th Congress.
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On April 23, 2013, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, announced he will not seek reelection in 2014.
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On April 18, 2013, the House voted passed H.R. 624 the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act by a vote of 288 to 128
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On April 18, 2013, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 21-1 to approve Ernest Moniz’s nomination for Energy Secretary.
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On April 16, 2013, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water & Power held a hearing on the Department of Energy’s budget request for the PMAs, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the US Geological Survey.
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On April 16, 2013, APPA submitted statements on the importance of municipal bonds in the context of tax reform to the House Small Business Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee’s Tax Reform Working Groups.
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On April 11, 2013, The Senate Environment and Public Works committee held a hearing on Gina McCarthy’s nomination to the Administrator of the EPA.
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On April 10, 2013, President Obama submitted its FY 2014 budget to Congress. [Factsheet] [Power related excerpts from treasury “Greenbook”]
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On April 10, 2013, the House Intelligence Committee passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protecting Act.
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On April 10, 2013, APPA, along with other members of the electric sector cybersecurity coalition sent a letter to in support of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.
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On April 10, 2013, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 678, the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs act by a vote of 416 to 7.
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On April 9, 2013, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held hearing on the nomination of Dr. Ernest Moniz to be Secretary of the Department of Energy.
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On April 9, 2013, the electric sector cyber coalition, joined by APPA; the non-profit electric sector cyber coalition, joined by APPA; EEI; and Bonneville Power Administration submitted comments in response to the National Institute of Standards and Technology request for information on the administrations cyber security executive order
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On April 4, 2013, Senator Begich (D-AK) and 13 other Democratic Senators sent a letter to President Obama urging him to preserve the current income tax exclusion for municipal bonds.
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On April 2, 2013, APPA, LPPC and TAPS submitted a joint statement for the record to the House Ways and Means Committee on tax reform and federal tax provisions affecting state and local governments.
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On March 23, 2013, the Senate passed the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2014 by a vote of 50-49.
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On March 22, 2013, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski announced he is resigning from the Commission. FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell is also resigning.
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On March 20, 2013, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 678, the “Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act,” by a bipartisan vote of 17-12.
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On March 19, 2013, the House Energy & Power Subcommittee held a hearing on the role of regulators and grid operators in meeting natural gas and electric coordination issues.
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On March 19, 2013, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on tax reform and federal tax provisions affecting state and local governments, including tax-exempt municipal bonds.
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The March edition of the Public Power Vodcast is now available. In this edition: highlights of the latest public power news and Seth Voyles, Director of Government Relations at APPA, discusses hydropower legislation in the 113 th Congress.
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On March 12, 2013, Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) released a draft carbon pricing bill and solicited feedback from stakeholders and the public.
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On March 11, 2013, Representatives Lee Terry (R-NE) and Richard Neal introduced a House resolution supporting municipal bonds.
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On March 11, 2013, House Agriculture Committee member Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) introduced the Public Power Risk Management Act of 2013. This bipartisan legislation would put public power and gas utilities on equal footing with other utilities in entering into operations-related hedges with non-financial entities.
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On March 8, 2013, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) sent a letter to the House and the Senate in support of tax-exempt financing.
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On March 7, 2013, the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGAC) held a joint hearing on cyber security.
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On March 7, 2013, Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) announced this evening that he will retire at the end of his term in 2014.
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On March 7, 2013, APPA released the talking points on APPA’s key legislative priorities in 2013 in advance of the Legislative Rally.
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On March 5, 2013, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Wyden sent a letter FERC on Order No. 1000.
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On March 5, 2013, the House Energy & Power Subcommittee held a hearing on the role of a diverse electricity portfolio.
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On March 4, 2013, President Obama announced that he would nominate EPA air chief Gina McCarthy as the agency’s next administrator, MIT physicist Ernest Moniz to head the Energy Department and Wal-Mart Foundation president Sylvia Mathews Burwell to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget.
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On March 1, 2013, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget will ordered federal departments and agencies to begin making across-the-board spending cuts. These cuts will total roughly 9% of the amount projected to be spent in the remaining 7 months of fiscal year 2013 for non-defense programs, including Treasury payments to issuers of Build America Bonds (BABs).
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On February 27, 2013, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), along with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Hoeven (R-SD), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), introduced S. 394, the Metal Theft Prevention Act. Companion legislation, H.R. 867, was introduced in the House by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) the same day.
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On February 26, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) pole attachment rate order.
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On February 22, 2013, APPA released a summary and relevant timeline for the presidential executive order on Cybersecurity.
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On February 21, 2013, the Department of Energy announced a cost-sharing cybersecurity funding initiative to develop ways to protect the electric grid control systems.
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On February 20, 2013, APPA sent a letter to Senator Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative Waxman (D-CA) regarding climate change
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On February 14, 2013, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced S. 332, the Climate Protection Act of 2013. [Summary]
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On February 13, 2013, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 267, the Hydropower Regulatory and Efficiency Act of 2013.
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On February 13, 2013, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Ranking Member Sandy Levin (D-MI) announced the formation of 11 Tax Reform Working Groups.
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On February 12, 2013, the President signed an Executive Order “Improving Critical Infrastructure and Cybersecurity”. Also released was Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21 “Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience.”
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On February 12, 2013, APPA sent a letter to Representatives Markey (D-MA) and Waxman (D-CA) regarding cybersecurity policies.
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On February 12, 2013, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing titled “Opportunities and Challenges for Natural Gas.”
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On February 12, 2013, the President gave the State of the Union address.
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On February 6, 2013, President Obama announced the nomination of Sally Jewell to be Secretary of the Interior.
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On February 1, 2013, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Ranking Member David Vitter (R-LA) and 23 other Republican Senators sent a letter to the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regarding the proposed changes to economic impact analyses under the Endangered Species Act
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On February 5, 2013, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing to adopt their oversight priorities for the 113th Congress.
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On February 4, 2013, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) released her “Energy 20/20” blueprint. [Fact Sheet]
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On February 1, 2013, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced his intention to resign once a successor has been confirmed by the Senate.
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