The House and Senate conferees have reached a deal on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The agreement was reached late last night and has cut the total value of the bill to US $789 billion. The bill will be a boon for the renewable energy industry. All of the provisions that were contained in the Senate version of the bill were retained. In addition, the grants in lieu of tax credits clause that the House version of the bill contained made the final package.
Washington - Years from now, when Nevadans wonder why their state and others abandoned coal plants in favor of renewable energy, they are likely to remember these days.
Washington is moving aggressively if sometimes in unseen ways to remake the nation's energy landscape. Intricate pieces of legislation are unfolding on Capitol Hill that would radically alter the nation's energy policy, one bill at a time.
The big-ticket items are well known: cap-and trade legislation, for example, which would put a price tag on carbon emissions; a bill requiring that more of the nation's energy come from renewable sources, as President Barack Obama promises.
The Sun reported last week on growing doubts among state and local politicians about the need for another quarter-cent sales tax increase sought by Metro Police to pay for more officers.
State Sen. Terry Care believes running Clark County is no longer part-time work.\n\nThe region's growth has brought a bigger bureaucracy to oversee and issues too complex to be dealt with by a part-time County Commission, Care says.\n\nThe Las Vegas Democrat will introduce a pair of bills during the 2009 legislative session to make commission seats in Nevada's most populous counties full-time positions and to give commissioners more say over taxes.
Carson City - The federal stimulus package includes $38.8 million to weatherize 6,500 homes in Nevada, but legislators are fighting over whether only union members will be eligible for the jobs.
As part of his "green" initiative, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, is pushing a bill that would require the prevailing union wage be paid to these workers and that the contractor provide insurance for the workers and their families.
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