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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, July 31, 2005
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Missouri will receive almost $1.3 billion in new highway funds over the life of the new five-year transportation bill, passed on Friday. Photo above shows construction on Highway 70 outside Kansas City, Missouri.
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Five-Year Highway Construction Bill Passed
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 31, 2005 - With negotiators reaching an agreement on a new transportation bill, U.S. Senator Kit Bond, chairman of the Senate Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee, has announced that Missouri will receive almost $1.3 billion in new highway funds and that he has successfully secured $467.5 million for Missouri transportation projects statewide.
Bond hailed Thursday's conference agreement between Senate and House negotiators on a $286.5 billion federal highway bill, setting the stage for final passage Friday. Bond said the new bill will provide almost $1.3 billion in additional highway funding for Missouri over the life of the five-year bill.
"This is about putting people to work and saving lives," said Bond, who co-authored the legislation. "It has been a long time coming, but all the hard work and time has been worth the wait. Missouri has emerged from this process in a better position than ever. This bill will help build a stronger and safer Missouri for generations."
For years, Bond has fought to increase the return on the dollar that Missourians pay in federal transportation taxes. In the agreement today, Bond successfully fought to increase Missouri's share to 98 cents on the dollar. In 1987, when Bond joined the Senate, Missourians received 76 cents on the dollar.
The new formula ensures that Missouri will receive more than $200 million in new highway dollars each year. Under the bill, Missouri will receive $862 million through the formula programs each year, up from $661 million in the last transportation bill.
On top of the extra funding provided by the new formula, Bond also secured over $265 million in additional new funds for specific Missouri highway projects, bringing the total new highway funding level for Missouri to almost $1.3 billion over five years.
In addition to the highway and bridge funds, Bond secured new dollars for the following projects: $50 million for statewide transit projects; $25 million for a non-motorized pilot project in Columbia; $27.5 million for research; and authorization for two new Metrolink Extensions.
Recent studies show nearly 43,000 Americans lose their lives each year on America's highways and that every $1 billion in new federal investment in highways will create 47,500 jobs.
AG Nixon Establishes Identity Theft Hotline
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 31, 2005 - To help Missouri victims of this rapidly growing crime, Attorney General Jay Nixon has announced his office has established an Identity Theft Hotline.
The hotline, 800-392-8222, will be operated through the Attorney General's Office Consumer Protection Division. Staff will offer expedited information for victims to help them take the steps necessary to report identity theft to local law enforcement and financial institutions, as well as general information for those who want to learn how to protect against identity thieves.
"The Better Business Bureau estimates that 9 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year, and that identity theft cost consumers $5 billion directly and law enforcement, merchants and financial institutions another $47 billion," Nixon said in a statement. "Yet less than three percent of those victims reported the crime to the Federal Trade Commission. We have a huge problem of under-reporting, which makes it harder to stop the identity thieves.
"Consumers need to know they can call my office to receive assistance in how to report this crime to the appropriate authorities and institutions," Nixon said.
Nixon said an estimated 3,900 Missourians reported being victims of identity theft to the FTC last year, with more than 600 of those reports coming from Kansas City and Independence.
"There are a myriad of ways that identity theft takes place, and consumers certainly should protect sensitive personal information when they use the Internet," Nixon said. "That being said, well over half of all identity theft is not committed online, but rather with stolen mail, wallets and purses, and through 'dumpster diving.' People aren't immune from identity theft just because they don't use the Internet."
Nixon offered these suggestions for preventing identity theft:
- Don't give out your personal information unless absolutely necessary.
- Before discarding, shred any paperwork containing your personal information like Social Security number or bank and credit card numbers.
- Use a secure drop box for sensitive outgoing mail, rather than your curbside mailbox.
- Check your bank and credit card statements and credit report for errors or unauthorized charges.
If victimized by identity theft, Nixon said, Missourians should take these steps immediately:
- File a report with local police or sheriff.
- Report the problem to the bank or credit card company involved to help minimize their liability.
- Contact the Attorney General's Office at 800-392-8222.
The Missouri General Assembly last year strengthened laws that define and criminalize identity theft. Legislators also added the crime of trafficking in stolen identities. County prosecuting attorneys have jurisdiction to bring criminal charges in such cases.
Missouri Businesses to Receive Job Training Funds
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), July 31, 2005 - More than $3.5 million in additional state job training assistance has been released to help companies offset costs associated with training and upgrading the skills of thousands more Missouri workers.
The Missouri Department of Economic Development's Division of Workforce Development released a second round of fiscal year 2006 training grants this week through the Missouri Customized Training Program. Funds will be used to facilitate classroom training for more than 9,462 new or existing employees at 63 Missouri companies. Companies will use the funds to pay for training programs customized to their particular industry and local needs.
Earlier this month, the governor announced $2.4 million in state training assistance to facilitate classroom training for more than 6,700 new or existing employees at 81 Missouri companies.
Funds for training were appropriated by the General Assembly to the Missouri Job Development Fund and are administered through the state's Customized Training Program. The Missouri Job Development Fund provides assistance to new or expanding businesses in their efforts to train employees in newly created jobs and to retrain or upgrade skills of existing employees. The purpose of the program is to increase and improve the quality of the state's workforce through training initiatives so that Missouri companies can be more competitive.
The program is offered through DED's Division of Workforce Development in cooperation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Community colleges and area career & technical schools will administer the program locally.
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