Category Archives: Fiscal Freedom

The Estevan Legion Hall was nearly full Wednesday night as Souris-Moose Mountain candidates in the federal election made their stances heard on a range of issues.

Three of the five candidates that appear on the ballot were present for the All Candidates Forum put on by the Estevan Chamber of Commerce.

Much of the conversation revolved around the pandemic and the energy sector.

Each candidate had two minutes to make opening remarks. They thengaveprepared answers to a trio of questions from the Chamber, answered a few questions submitted to the Chamberthey hadn't already heard, fielded questions from the floor, and gave one-minute closing statements.

Conservative incumbent Robert Kitchen, Maverick candidate Greg Douglas, and People's Party of Canada hopeful Diane Neufeld attended the forum, which was moderated by Jeff Richards. Liberal candidate Javin Ames Sinclair and NDP candidate Hannah Duerr could not be reached by the Chamber. (The Green Party representative had previously announced a candidate, Richard Reed, for the riding. But the representative confirmed Reed is no longer running.)

Opening Comments - Conservative - Robert Kitchen

Opening Comments - Maverick - Greg Douglas

Opening Comments - People's Party of Canada - Diane Neufeld

When asked about what each candidate would do to help small business, Kitchen hit on reducing the national debt while spending money in certain areas to stimulate the economy. He said the $60,000 the Liberals gave to small businesses during the pandemic through the Canada Emergency Business Account loan wasn't enough, and spoke of how the Conservative Party would have looked for up to $200,000. Kitchen said his government would have consulted small businesses at the offset of the pandemic as they tried to balance the economy with safety.

Douglas said they would not have implemented lockdowns. He said masks and social distancing would have been utilized instead. Douglas also said the Canada Emergency Response Benefit was "too long and lucrative" and harmed small business as employees didn't want to return to work.

Neufeld said the PPC wouldn't have implemented any mandates if they were government, as it should be up to individual businesses to determine how they'd want to handle things.

When discussing vaccines, Douglas, the former chief veterinarian of Ontario, and Kitchen, a chiropractor, both talked about how vaccines are the best defence against COVID-19. But they both said vaccines should be a personal choice, and not one imposed on the people by the government.

All candidates spoke in favour of the oil sector and the coal sector and said those forms of energy are a priority for the economy.

Another topic was the cost of homeownership being so high for millennials, whose portion of the provincial population is highest in Saskatchewan.

Kitchen said making sure more homes are built is key to drive their prices down, and making sure it's affordable for younger people to invest.

Douglas said it boils down to "sound fiscal policy." He said the NDP, Liberals, and Conservatives would all have similar fiscal policies that would make it harder for millennials in the future. He added that the current equalization formula would need to be scrapped.

Neufeld said Ottawa should stop taking money from the private sector and lower taxes for business. She also said millennials need help purchasing their homes beyond just dollars; they need to "learn how to balance their finances."

"Our freedoms have been annihilated in the last 18 months," said Neufeld in her closing remarks. "We have to have freedom of expression. If we don't have that, we have nothing. Our economy has to flourish once again, and by this we have to have the small businesses, the family farms, and no more capital gains. That's got to go, because that's just biting the hand that feeds you."

"Our first choice is to work with Canada, and opening up the Constitution as we discussed would be our first choice," Douglas said in his final comments. "Imagine on election night if we sent a Maverick to Ottawa. That would get everybody's attention."

"This election is about recovery," Kitchen said in closing. "Recovery from the mounting economic debt of Justin Trudeau. Over $500 billion in two years, or like $424 million each day. It's also the recovery out of the pandemic. Let's not make a mistake here. My friends here have talked about the freedoms, and I agree this country needs to preserve freedoms. But we have no freedoms or no need for freedoms without a functioning or thriving society."

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Energy Sector and the Pandemic Were Primary Topics at All Candidates Forum - Discoverestevan.com - DiscoverEstevan.com

Without question, this road back will demand a renewal of New York State governments focus on and commitment to economic growth, job creation and fiscal responsibility in short, to opening the doors to a brighter and stronger future for workers.

Labor Day has always been a meaningful and steadfast day of tribute across this region, a region that has been built on and where we have long honored a deep-rooted respect for so many of the foundations of this nation: agriculture and craftsmanship, manufacturing and small business, tourism and hospitality, outdoors and recreation, education and health care, and on through the anchors of the modern high-tech economy in research and development, and technology.

It is a remarkable local history of working men and women, and a great source of pride for all of us.

We do well every year to recall and pay tribute to all of the workers across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes who day after day, year after year, generation after generation, build, care for, educate, grow, manufacture, protect and serve and strengthen our communities in so many different ways through so many different walks of life.

We are grateful for your dedication, your perseverance and your excellence.

In 1887, New York was one of the first four states to establish a Labor Day holiday.

In its overview, the U.S. Department of Labor frames the historical significance of Labor Day this way, The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pays tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nations strength, freedom, and leadership the American worker.

This tribute is especially true this year, at a time which has taken and continues to take an enormous toll on workers in so many fields but where American workers, here at home and across this land, have kept us going.

For me, as a legislator, it means that government faces a particular challenge and responsibility moving forward to help our workers and our local economies rebuild and recover. I know that I share this sense of responsibility with so many of the men and women I workwith in government, at every level, to pursue the goals wesharefor the future of the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes.

This work of recovery and rebuilding is underway at the moment in many places and numerous ways. I look forward to seeing it through. It will be a challenging road back, to say the least. Together, however, I fully believe we can and we will find solid ground again.

Without question, this road back will demand a renewal of New York State governments focus on and commitment to economic growth, job creation and fiscal responsibility in short, to opening the doors to a brighter and stronger future for workers.

This commitment and focus has lost its way in recent years in New York -- and remains at risk -- however the pledge continueson this Labor Day to keepworking to ensure that it finds its place again in this government in the months and years ahead.

My best wishes to all of you.

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On this Labor Day, a commitment to recovery and rebuilding - The New York State Senate

A permanent display housing replicas of Americas founding documents will be located on the grounds of the new courthouse facility in Carthage. The Moore County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the proposed site Tuesday.

Chairman Frank Quis said the selected site is very appropriate, noting similar settings where replicas of the Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution and Bill of Rights are displayed have primarily been located at or near courthouses around the state. The site will also benefit the town by providing additional visitor and resident foot traffic to the area, Quis added.

The initial concept was presented to county leaders in April. As the sponsoring organization, Foundation Forward aims to install what it terms Charters of Freedom settings in all 100 North Carolina counties and, eventually, all 3,142 jurisdictions across the country.

Commissioner Catherine Graham reiterated during discussion there will be no public funding. The setting will be installed on county-owned land but the actual material and construction costs will be raised entirely through private donations.

County Manager Wayne Vest said a letter of intent with Foundation Forward has not yet been formally reviewed or approved by county leaders. Speaking to The Pilot following the meeting, he anticipated that would likely be a next step in the process.

Earlier this summer, Quis said he hoped the project would receive bipartisan interest and support; however, local Democratic leaders have expressed concern whether there has been adequate due diligence of the project.

In an open letter published by The Pilot in June, Maurice Holland, Jr., chair of the Moore County Democratic Party, said the proposed Charters of Freedom setting lacks a full recounting of the story of the creation of the United States by omitting the Colonial period and pathetically attempting to whitewash the heinous stain of slavery.

The Constitution does not specifically mention race but the original document did not recognize the rights of Native Americans and it counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of voting apportionment. Slavery was not abolished until the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865.

I value bipartisanship and would welcome the opportunity to work with the Moore County Republican Party to improve Moore County, but so far, I and my fellow Democrats have not been given a seaworthy vessel with which to sail the stormy waters, Holland wrote.

Lowell Simon also submitted an open letter to The Pilot questioning Foundation Forwards financial backing and its apparent ties to conservative causes. He also expressed concern whether local leadership had access to or had reviewed the free educational materials the organization has offered to provide to area schools as part of the overall project.

In addition to replicas of the nations founding documents, typically each semi-circular Charters of Freedom setting also includes permanent pavers recognizing individuals and sponsors. In addition, a donors plaque is placed prominently at the setting and a time capsule is also sealed at each project site to be opened on Constitution Day, Sept. 17, 2087, which is the 300th anniversary of the Constitution.

In other action on Tuesday, the Moore County Board of Commissioners:

Proclaimed September as National Recovery Month and recognized the contributions of Drug Free Moore County. The organization works to prevent and combat substance abuse by increasing awareness, providing information and encouraging support for various recovery initiatives and programs.

Heard a presentation on The Tides, a Wilmington-based nonprofit agency that serves pregnant and postpartum women with opioid use disorder

Received a quarterly fiscal report for Sandhills Center for Mental Health/Developmental Disabilities/Substance Abuse Services

Appointed Roland Gilliam and Tom McPherson to the Airport Authority

Appointed Silva Porter Deal and Edmund Kielty to the Nursing and Adult Care Home Community Advisory Committee

Reappointed Matthew Rothbeind to the Sandhills Center Board of Directors

Reappointed Frank Thigpen and Kathy Liles to the Board of Adjustment

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County Commissioners Approve Location for Charters of Freedom - Southern Pines Pilot

Rather than a spoonful of sugar, this canny performance-art duo are serving up free booze and well-honed comedy to help their political theatre go down a treat. Beginning as a likeably chaotic dispatch from Malta, complete with multimedia and vulgar vocabulary lessons, their latest work stealthily shifts into darker territory: corruption, migrants and murder.

In 2018, Rebecca Biscuit and Louise Mothersole, aka Sh!t Theatre, were invited to create a show to mark Vallettas year as European City of Culture by their friend Charlie (who looks like a dictators wife, who has just poisoned him). Semi-joking that they were attracted by the cash and a free holiday, they originally planned to theme the piece around their last year of being Europeans, ahead of Brexit.

Their Maltese base of operations, re-created on stage, is The Pub, a dingy expat watering hole where Oliver Reed died in 1999 while filming Gladiator. The venue sells stomach-churning merchandise inspired by this morbid brush with fame, including T-shirts emblazoned with Reeds final order: eight pints of lager, 12 double rums, 14 whiskeys. Those shirts are part of the performers costumes, along with naval jackets with epaulettes, the Brits-abroad classic socks with sandals, and faces painted with a mix of the St Georges and Maltese crosses.

The show, which began at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019, originally had plenty of audience interaction necessarily rejigged here because of Covid, and with mixed results; theres the odd longueur. Otherwise, this is a slick operation that merely feints at anarchy, thanks in part to director/dramaturg Adam Brace. There is remarkable fluency between the two performers, who either trade off lighting-fast lines (punctuated by shots of rum) or speak in unison, supported by well-timed and creative use of video and audio clips, photographs, illustrations, news reports and repurposed sea shanties.

Their, and our, initial tourist introduction to Malta is wryly comic as we encounter absurdities like the roundabouts that no local driver understands, or, courtesy of a deeply religious society, Virgin Mary statues guarding the eggs in supermarkets. But the chatter about why Brits love living here sea, sun and fiscal freedom becomes more loaded as they discuss the semantic difference between expat and immigrant. Why does the government criminalise those desperate refugees making an often-fatal journey across the Mediterranean, but allow anyone to buy citizenship for 650,000? The journalist asking those uncomfortable questions, Daphne Caruana Galizia, is brutally silenced.

The brilliance of this production is its absurdist juxtaposition, flipping between cat videos and car bombs, cheese platters and torture, while seeded motifs, like dogs and passports, gain new significance. It interrogates how we consume news, which stories were allowed to tell, and our inescapable interconnectedness: this is as much about our own island, too.

Yet even as the show becomes increasingly topical (including up-to-the-minute script additions) and blazingly confrontational, its still playful, personal and thoroughly entertaining theatre that never feels like a lecture. Both horror and humour linger long afterwards.

Until Sept 11. Tickets: 020 7478 0100; sohotheatre.com

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Sh!t Theatre, Drink Rum with Expats, review: sharp comedy that flips between cat videos and car bombs - Telegraph.co.uk

Published by Madisson Heinl on Sep 7, 2021

By Sarah Steimer

George S. Tolley, the noted economist who led groundbreaking research on resource use, farm labor migration, urban economics, and environmental economics, died Aug. 31 at the age of 95.

The professor emeritus in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics was a pioneer in environmental, urban, and energy economics, working in higher education, civil service, and private consultancy. His research covered a broad range of topics, including migration and agricultural policy, water allocation, water investments in depressed areas, international trade in agriculture and economic development, social costs and rural-urban balance, resource allocation effects of environmental policies, fiscal externalities and suburbanization, road capacity and city size, tax rates and national incomes, and freeing up transit markets.

Tolley was part of a group of very distinguished economists at Chicago, says James J. Heckman, the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics. They created an atmosphere that has been accurately described as really thinking the purpose of the economics department was a serious one and there to solve the problems of the world and to do it in a way that was lasting and empirically grounded in understanding a wide range of public policy questions. George was in that group and was a very active player a student of that environment who kept it alive and helped it flourish.

Born in Washington, D.C., Tolleys early life particularly living through the Great Depression shaped his interest in economics. I was going to devote my life to make sure it didn't happen again, Tolley said in a 2018 interview. If I want to do something useful, that's what I should do.

But he also had an inside look at the world of economics through his father, Howard R. Tolley, who served as chief of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics (subsequently consolidated with other USDA units) during the New Deal and World War II. The younger Tolley recalls summers spent at a desk in his fathers outer office.

Tolley attended American University for undergraduate studies before heading to UChicago for graduate school, earning his PhD in economics in 1955. He said he rejected the idea of going to an Ivy League school, instead preferring the idea of rough and tumble Chicago where he found more intellectual freedom without the confines of being proper.

It was here he encountered some of the best-known minds in economics and mathematics: Theodore Schultz, Milton Friedman, Frank Knight, Harry Markowitz, Jacob Marschak, Tjalling Koopmans, D. Gale Johnson, and Oskar Lange, to name a few. (He was also good friends with fellow student Mike Nichols, who went on to direct classic movies including The Graduate.) Tolley was part of Schultzs agriculture group at UChicago, studying problems of agricultural modernization in the U.S. and worldwide. The primary paper from his dissertation was published in the Journal of Farm Economics and received the cash prize for excellence from the American Farm Economics Association.

After receiving his PhD, Tolley spent 11 years as a faculty member at North Carolina State University as associate professor of agricultural economics before returning to UChicago as a professor in 1966. He shifted his focus from agriculture to urban economics, establishing urban economics as an area in the UChicago graduate program by the early 1970s a rare offering in economics departments at the time. But his approach remained in the Chicago tradition in that it drew on price theory to analyze urban problems. Tolley served as director of the Center for Urban Studies at UChicago from 1978 to 1985. More recent work in the field of urban economics is often based on Tolleys city bigness framework.

Tolley was particularly compelling for his ability to move across economic fields and subjects, which also gave his work deep policy relevance. He was an internationally recognized leader in the development and application of techniques for measuring costs and values that are determined outside of conventional markets. He used such techniques to bring a modern lens to the field in addressing urban and environmental economics. For one example, Tolley developed a practical benefit-cost framework for dealing with pollution in the Chicago area with funding from the National Science Foundation.

George Tolley hired me as his research assistant when he was a young assistant professor in the economics department. He was a very patient teacher of his young helper, says Lester G. Telser, professor emeritus in Economics. At the end of the summer I had to decide whether I would return to Harvard. I made an appointment with Theodore W. Schultz, head of the economics department. Given my experience with George, T. W. did not have a hard sell. I switched to the University of Chicago.

Beginning in the 1960s, Tolley consulted for federal, state, and municipal agencies on urban and environmental problems. His research and expertise helped with the design of such policies as the Clean Air Act, and his techniques have helped determine the valuation of urban and environmental amenities and improvements in health and medical treatments. This included his seminal work on health economics, Valuing Health for Policy: An Economic Approach, which moved the field to a broader view of the economics of wellness.

His work on public policy questions was very influential when it was written and remains so now, says Robert E. Lucas, the John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Economics.

Tolleys work outside of academia included his time as director of the Economic Development Division of the Economic Research Service of the USDA from 1964 to 1965 the direct descendant of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics that his father once led. In 1974 and 1975, he served as deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Tax Analysis of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Tolley also served on the President's Task Force on Urban Renewal, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Automotive Pollution, and the Energy Engineering Board at the National Research Council.

Tolley was elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2003 and founded the journal Resource and Energy Economics, which published a special issue in his honor in 2001. He held visiting professorships at the University of California at Berkeley, Purdue University, Nankai University, and Guelph University. He was the recipient of the Honor A Colleague award by the Society for Benefit Cost Analysis in 2018. His published works include 22 books and more than 50 articles. He also served as CEO of RCF Consulting his own firm where he directed mail volume forecasting work for the U.S. Postal Service and helped the USPS develop approaches to postal volume forecasts.

Many in the UChicago community also recall Tolley as a mentor. He directed 69 PhD dissertations as committee chair, one each year in his 12 years at North Carolina State and 57 at UChicago. In the 2001 special issue of Resource and Energy Economics, University of Kentucky economist Glenn C. Blomquist made note of Tolleys ability to educate students, colleagues, and policymakers:

George S. Tolleys gentle but probing questions have influenced his colleagues and generations of graduate students to think more clearly about how to use their economic tool kit to answer policy questions. He has been equally able to influence the broader group of social scientists and public administrators who develop and implement public policy. As a member of multidisciplinary academic committees and while working with and in government, he has been able to focus attention on basic economic questions. How will individuals react to this policy? How will achieving this policy goal affect the attainment of other policy goals? While many economists can tell noneconomists these things, Georges great talent is in getting them to believe that they had discovered these issues on their own.

Tolley gave his time generously to others, whether exchanging ideas, offering advice, or establishing collaborations. Numerous economists received his guidance, many of whom also rose to prominence in public service, financial institutions, and universities across the globe.

His students were fiercely loyal to him, Heckman says. He was very active on PhD theses and working with students. Hes got a big legacy of producing people and producing ideas and his students are continuing that.

Economist Vinod Thomas, AM74, PhD77 and currently a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore, studied under Tolley and eventually collaborated with him on research for the World Bank. He says Tolley had a highly respected global presence and was a low-key but forceful leader in applying empirical economics to vexing country problems. But locally on the UChicago campus, Thomas remembers Tolley giving liberally of his time, including his personal time.

I recall putting the finishing touches to my PhD thesis while going with him to pick up some items at the supermarket for a late meal that Alice Tolley with their daughter Catherine in our midst would graciously host at their home in Hyde Park.

George is survived by his wife Alice, his daughter Catherine, son-in-law Bill, and two grandsons. The Tolley Family requests that gifts in memory of Prof. Tolley be directed to the George S. Tolley Prize. The prize was initiated by Thomas to recognize and reward a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Economics whose research paper demonstrates the potential for the impact of economic analysis on policy. A memorial gift may be made online. Please email Yasmin Omer for more information. Plans for a memorial service will be forthcoming.

Pictured above:

Photo 1: Prof. Tolley at his desk with a picture of the US Treasury, where he worked, behind him.

Photo 2:Prof. Tolley early in his career at UChicago

This story was originally published as a news article by the Division of the Social Sciences at UChicago. The original article can be found at socialsciences.uchicago.edu.

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George S. Tolley, pioneer in environmental, urban, and energy economics, 1925-2021 | Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics | The University of...

Dave Ramsey is a faith-based financial expert and multi-media personality who started his career in real estate. By his mid-20s, Ramsey had accumulated a real estate portfolio worth $4 million. However, a change in banking laws required several outstanding loans to be called. He was unable to pay, and Ramsey, in a reversal of fortune, subsequently filed for bankruptcy.

Since then, he developed a debt-reduction system based on common sense and sound financial principles that he followed to regain his own fiscal footing. His debt-freedom and slow-growth approach to financial security are the core elements of his multimedia empire.

Ramsey's website claims that 23 million people follow his daily radio show, podcasts, and weekly videos. His team has also published 19 national bestselling books. Most importantly to him, Ramsey states that 6 million families have fixed their financial foibles with his wealth-building plan. His message is one of discipline and hope for individuals, families, and small businesses.

While he promotes a positive posture regarding money management and fiscal freedom, Ramsey is an outspoken critic of cryptocurrencies as an asset class. Is he right? Let's take a look.

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During an April 2021 segment from his radio program, Ramsey said Bitcoin and Dogecoin are "stupid investments" and compared cryptocurrencies to cocaine and gambling. And in a separate radio excerpt from May 2021, he likened Bitcoin to the Lotto, calling both "a dumb idea" and said that he doesnt encourage anyone to invest in "highly volatile, unpredictable investments."

Hyperbole aside, Ramsey encourages a "boring, methodical approach" when building wealth. He bases that on results from his survey of 10,000 millionaires. Ramsey believes that "get rich quick" schemes most often result in "going broke fast" realities. His personal net worth is approximately $200 million, so hes doing something right.

However, there are some fundamental claims about cryptocurrencies on his website that are not accurate. Specifically, the following four points are misrepresentations of the cryptocurrency asset class:

Each of Ramsey's claims needs to be addressed using the cryptocurrency with the longest track record -- Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a useful surrogate for the entire industry because cryptocurrencies came into being back in 2009 after the Bitcoin white paper was published, introducing the idea of Bitcoin and its use in the real world.

Bitcoin is volatile but its not "unstable" the way mainstream media tends to portray it. Ramsey reinforces that negative narrative when he continues to compare Bitcoin to gambling, betting on football, and the lottery.

While cryptocurrency can be characterized as a speculative asset class, its not Three-Card Monte. In fact, a new study by Fidelity found that seven out of 10 institutional investors plan to buy crypto within the next five years. This validates cryptocurrency as a viable investment. You dont see the "smart money" chasing Powerball.

Every aspect of life -- including investing of any kind -- has "unknown" elements, so Ramseys not completely wrong here. However, his website goes over the top regarding this second claim when it states, "Only a small percentage of people in the world really understand the system and know how to operate it. Ignorance makes you vulnerable." This seems a bit hyperbolic, fear inducing, and unnecessary. Just because something is complex doesnt mean its not worth trying to learn about.There are many valuable and informative resources about crypto available to help you do your research and make your own investment decisions.

Cryptocurrency fraud is nowhere to be found on the FBIs list of the top-30 types of most common scams.This is a tired media trope thats frequently cited to spur fear, uncertainty, and doubt -- a crypto phrase commonly referred to as "FUD."

In actuality, cryptocurrency transactions occur on an open digital ledger that anyone can see and track by IP address. Law enforcement officials can visit websites that post all blockchain transactions in the past and present. They can see where funds move and the countries where individuals -- most notably criminals -- make the deposits. Because of this, portions of those funds are often recovered or frozen. Anybody with an internet connection can view these blockchain transactions by Googling "Bitcoin blockchain," which makes it tough to hide crypto funds. Blockchains are great for moving crypto funds, but those movements are not hidden or completely autonomous.

Bottom line, cryptocurrencies dont make fraud easier.

Bitcoin has a 12-year track record of return on investment (ROI) performance. Over the past 10 years, the constant annual growth rate (CAGR) for Bitcoin has exceeded 130% -- thats 6 times more than the next-closest asset class. Heres the comparison with other investments, courtesy of casebitcoin.com:

Despite my disagreement with Ramseys claims against cryptocurrencies, I agree that no one should invest more than 5% to 10% of their net worth into any type of speculative asset. Prospective investors must also do their own research before doling out a dime.

Having said that, the underlying fundamentals supporting Bitcoin as a long-term store of value have never been stronger. Thats because central banks are authorizing the creation of more "real" money than ever before to supposedly stimulate growth. Treasury departments are printing trillions of new dollars, and legislatures are spending it.

This artificial currency cascade is flooding markets and floating inflation higher. The U.S. Labor Department reported a 5.4% inflation increase in June, and that was on top of a 5% increase in May. Neither of those numbers include double-digit percentage increases in the price of gasoline, used cars, or existing home values since the start of the year.

Not only does inflation drive up the cost of goods we buy every day, it erodes the value of what youre trying to save for a rainy day. Due to Bitcoins fixed amount of coins capped at 21 million, it is a truly scarce resource thats arguably a better inflationary hedge than gold.

While Ramsey may believe investing in Bitcoin is a gamble, its a much riskier bet to dismiss cryptocurrencies outright as a viable investment option and store of value for a small part of your portfolio.

More here:

Heres What Dave Ramsey Says About Crypto Investing - Motley Fool

The farmers agitation in India has attracted worldwide attention and support. This is as it should be. Farmers are our annadata. During the Covid-19 pandemic, while all the sectors were thrown into a tailspin, the farm sector has sustained us.

The post-Independence history of Indian agriculture has few parallels, due to the unique success of the Green Revolution. Within 12-15 years, the country achieved food self-sufficiency. Ending food imports helped us save vast fiscal resources which could be used for development and welfare. Unprecedented rural prosperity ensued.

However, national-level food self-sufficiency did not result in household-level food security. Poverty co-existed with prosperity due to inequitable resource distribution and concentration of land. Its alleviation and eradication necessitated welfare intervention through the Food Security Act, MGNREGA, etc. The absence of effective and equitable land reforms, thus, accounts for the persistence of poverty.

The story of land reforms in India is a dismal one. Being a state subject, various states implemented reforms with varying degrees of effectiveness and equity. But everywhere, the objectives were the same: Abolition of feudal landlordism, conferment of ownership on tenants, fixing land ceilings, distribution of surplus land, increasing agricultural productivity and production, etc.

Many of the objectives were achieved, many were not. Feudal land relations were abolished; tenants got ownership rights. However, owing to manipulations in land records, much surplus land was not available for distribution among the landless tillers of the soil, the majority of whom were the former untouchables and todays Dalits. Less than one per cent of the total land in the country was declared as surplus. The programme was implemented in a country where non-agricultural sectors and activities were fast developing, absorbing increasing numbers of the rural population. The relevant criteria for land entitlement should have been employment and main source of income.

The ex-tenants, after getting land, became tenant-turned-capitalist-farmers who effectively made use of several programmes Green Revolution technology, bank nationalisation and priority sector lending, urbanisation and expanding urban markets. They dominated the small and marginal farmers, and landless farm labourers. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was an interlocking of land, labour, credit and product markets. Those who controlled land, controlled water, which later promoted water trade, including drinking water trade. They cornered a disproportionate share of various subsidies. Many members of rich farm households moved into industry, business and professions. Many migrated abroad for quality higher education and employment. Others returned to India and occupied important positions.

The tenant-turned-capitalist farmers formed political parties, which produced strong state-level leaders, who controlled state-level planning, fiscal policies and politics. In place of a strong Centre and weak states, came a weak Centre and strong states. Now, dismissing a state government under Article 356 is not easy. Regional satraps are democratically elected authoritarians with the power to block pro-poor changes. Bureaucracy and police have unprecedented powers. Individual freedom is often curtailed by rulers at the Centre and states.

Rich farmers have formed strong power blocs, with unquestioned clout and bargaining power, not only in north-western India but also in states like Maharashtra. Agriculturally rich states still attract large numbers of migrant workers; in some, the bonded labour system persists (with bonded labourers invariably being Dalits and Adivasis) to circumvent peak season labour shortage. The migrant workers were the worst hit by the pandemic. Atrocities against Dalits are rising practically in every state. Caste discrimination and prejudices persist.

Social restructuring needs agrarian reform, in the form of a land reforms programme, in addition to the measures that farmers are agitating for. Farmers are seeking legal safeguards against market fluctuations, especially against any downward pressure on agricultural prices. They are not anti-market. While they welcome every rise in prices, they demand legal protection against price falls, a legitimate stance.

Even as agricultural prosperity must be promoted,it should not be just shared between farmers (especially rich ones) and urban consumers, but by all. Farm workers, in particular, must benefit from it.

The relation between land and caste, between caste and labour has not been broken yet. Consider the social composition of agricultural labourers, scavengers, rag-pickers et al. Indisputably, agricultural wage rates have risen progressively. But farm workers deserve more than a rising wage rate. They deserve access to resources.

This calls for a programme of radical land reforms. Agricultural land should be pooled and equally distributed among farm households, based on the two afore-mentioned criteria. Non-farm households should not be permitted to hold farmland. The land reforms programme should not be left to the states, as it is likely to be sabotaged by regional satraps. Land reforms should be a central subject; while agriculture can remain a state subject. Such a programme will empower and enrich marginalised and excluded individuals and social groups. It should be the kernel of a justiciable universal property right that must form an integral/inalienable part of Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution. The right to life is hollow without a right to livelihood. Through an effective land reforms programme, lets build a prosperous India based on equity and justice.

This column first appeared in the print edition on August 28, 2021 under the title The land question, and answer. The writer retired as professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tuljapur campus.

Continued here:

Why agrarian reforms should go beyond meeting demands of the agitating farmers - The Indian Express

Secretary of the Army tours installation

During her first trip to Redstone Arsenal, the Armys top civilian applauded the installations synergy, chemistry and teamwork.

Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, who was confirmed May 28, visited Redstone to learn more about the work being done to advance the Armys priorities of people, readiness and modernization, Aug. 2-3.

Its great to visit Redstone Arsenal and see firsthand the strategic impact this installation has globally, she said. It is very remarkable, the federal family here on Redstone, the partnerships with the communities and local universities, and the overall growth of the installation and community together.

While meeting with Gen. Ed Daly, Army Materiel Command commander, Wormuth remarked on the commands reach and impact across the Army.

In my short time as secretary, Ive been shocked by the incredible scale of the Armys global enterprise and a lot of that happens right here with you, she said. This visit allowed me to better understand the herculean work that happens within this organization and across this installation.

Daly emphasized AMCs global reach.

As you visit different installations and facilities, you will continue to see the AMC patch and gain the firsthand look at how we are supporting our Soldiers and their families, he said.

During her visit, Wormuth saw multiple efforts to advance the Armys modernization priorities, including Army Futures Commands Future Vertical Life Cross Functional Team Director Maj. Gen. Walter Rugen, who teamed with Program Executive Office for Aviation Brig. Gen. Robert Barrie, and Aviation & Missile Center Director Jeffrey Langhout, to update her on the status of FVLs signature efforts: Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, and Modular Open Systems Approach.

The FVL ecosystem is integral to the Joint Kill Chain and Joint All Domain Command and Control, Rugen said. Our modernization efforts are critical to the Armys future operations, providing an asymmetric advantage in peer and near-peer competition. Dominating the lower tier of the air domain remains crucial to the freedom of maneuver for our ground force commander.

Current projections have first units equipped with FARA and FLRAA aircraft in fiscal year 2030, with initial prototypes in units in the next few years. FTUAS, having wrapped up a yearlong Soldier touch point earlier this year, expects for first units to be equipped in fiscal year 2023 and its Air Launched Effects two years later.

She also met with Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler, Space and Missile Defense Command commander, who spoke about how SMDC develops and provides current and future global space, missile defense and high altitude capabilities to the Army, joint force, and allies and partners in the commands mission to protect the nation.

We are glad Secretary Wormuth had the opportunity to come to SMDC and see firsthand how the command is leading the Army and joint force into the future, Karbler said. Our Center of Excellence and Technical Center are at the forefront of the nations space, missile defense and high altitude technologies and enable battlefield dominance today as well as enabling the next generation to prevail in future conflicts.

Karbler said it was great to highlight the commands civilian teammates, especially the interns participating in the SMDC Underserved Community Cybersecurity and Engineering Education Development (SUCCEED) and Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) programs.

Secretary Wormuth made it a point to thank us for leading the effort to develop our next generation of Army science, technology, engineering and mathematics leaders, he said. She saw that we are a People First team of professionals providing space, missile defense and high altitude forces and capabilities to support joint warfighting readiness in all domains.

Wormuth finished her Redstone visit at the Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, where she discussed the development of rapid prototyping efforts in Hypersonics, Mid-Range Capability, and Directed Energy.

It has been my pleasure to have this opportunity, Wormuth said. Im very impressed with the efforts to integrate Soldier touchpoints into these systems, RCCTO has accomplished so much in a short period of time. Today, I was able to experience those accomplishments from the operational perspective.

Following Wormouths visit at Redstone, she toured two industry partners facilities, Kord and Lockheed Martin. The RCCTO is responsible for prototyping a land-based Long Range Hypersonic Weapon to Soldiers by fiscal year 2023. It is also developing a ground-launched, prototype MRC for delivery to an operational battery by fiscal year 2023. In fiscal year 2022, the Directed Energy Maneuver-Short Range Air Defense, a 50 kilowatt-class High Energy Laser weapon system, will be fielded to a Stryker platoon.

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Wormuth makes first visit to Redstone Arsenal | Military Scene | theredstonerocket.com - Theredstonerocket

By far the single most important legislation with which North Carolina elected leaders grapple each year is the state budget bill.

The budget details how the state will spend tens of billions of tax dollars on hundreds of core public services and structures and includes scores of other large and important changes to state law. Virtually all other priorities at the General Assembly pale in comparison. Done right or even close to it, the budget can and should serve as a blueprint for how a state of 10 million people will attack its most pressing challenges.

Amazingly and distressingly, however, despite its obvious and paramount importance, Republican legislative leaders have recoiled in recent years from crafting a coherent and comprehensive budget.

Faced with the distasteful prospect of negotiating and compromising with a popular Democratic governor (that is to say, engaging in the process of governing), GOP leaders have opted instead to allow the state to list along on a cobbled together and woefully inadequate mashup of old appropriations and newer mini-budgets.

Today, six weeks into 2021-22 fiscal year and with the state House only just unveiling its version of a budget, a repeat of this scenario appears to be in the offing.

So what gives? Whats driving a group of experienced legislative leaders with significant majorities and plenty of time and resources at their disposal to embrace and perpetuate such dysfunction?

A couple of explanations stand out.

Anti-government ideology is one. For decades, the forces informing and driving the states GOP politicians have embraced and espoused a hard right, libertarian ideology in which government is portrayed as the enemy of freedom and prosperity.

Not only has this belief system helped spur a massive disinvestment in core public services and structures (down well over 20% as a share of total state income), its also helped create an environment in which conservative politicians are often willing to let those structures and services go to seed.

Better not to pass a budget at all (and thereby allow the public institutions that depend on certainty to weaken and wither) than compromise, goes this toxic brand of thinking.

As public systems, like K-12 schools, grow more tattered and threadbare, they become less capable of delivering services for which they are designed. This, in turn, provides still more fuel for those who would privatize them to criticize and berate them as ineffective and hopelessly flawed.

Its a pernicious and, ultimately, self-fulfilling phenomenon.

A second and perhaps even more important explanation, however, is this: fear-based denial.

Think about it for a moment: The new state budget is being crafted by the same people for whom fear of change, and denial of obvious truths that herald that change, have become something akin to a faith.

The most obvious example in this realm is climate change and the global environmental emergency to which it so mightily contributes. For decades, the think tanks and politicians driving the conservative policy agenda have denied that climate change is real and/or that human development and carbon emissions are at all responsible. Indeed, many are still denying it today at a moment in which science has just delivered another terrifying assessment of where things stand.

While perhaps somewhat understandable three or four decades ago, in recent years, such head-in-the-sand denialism has become nothing less than a crime against humanity.

And the list goes on.

Theres the COVID-19 pandemic, where fear and denial of the obvious science-based actions society must take to adapt and weather the current crisis continue to drive the political right to oppose steps as modest and simple as vaccinations and masks.

Theres the debate over our nations troubled racial history, where fear of honest and difficult conversations and their possible implications drives state lawmakers to try and ban fields of academic inquiry and micromanage K-12 curricula.

Theres the nations metastasizing wealth and income gaps, where trumped up fears of socialism help convince conservative politicians and voters almost all of whom will happily accept Social Security and Medicare benefits when they retire to support regressive tax cuts and oppose constructing a truly adequate safety net.

Theres the fight for human rights and LGBTQ equality where manufactured and utterly preposterous fears of bathroom predators and other imaginary threats, continue to prop up discriminatory laws here and abroad.

For a group of mostly older, white, straight and affluent people like the GOP majority at the General Assembly, these fears, are not terribly surprising. At a time of profound stress and upheaval, its understandable that people who mostly liked the way things once were would look longingly to the past and embrace willful blindness toward the future in crafting a state budget.

Unfortunately, as is becoming increasingly evident on a variety of fronts, for North Carolina, the nation and the planet, nostalgia, and the fear and denial to which it gives rise, are not going to get the job done at a moment that cries out for strong and ambitious even heroic public solutions.

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Ideology, fear, and denial: the GOP and the state budget - ncpolicywatch.com

The 2021 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly concluded on June 9, 2021, but the primary source of action on education law issues was a special session of the General Assembly and ensuing budget implementer Act. The following is a brief description of acts that were passed by the General Assembly that may be of interest to Connecticut K-12 schools. In addition to the legislation that directly relates to schools and school districts, this summary provides an overview of labor and employment legislation affecting public-sector employers as well as a discussion of some temporary, yet significant, changes to the Connecticut Freedom of Information Act related to remote and hybrid meetings.

EDUCATION LAW

IMMUNIZATIONS AND HEALTH ISSUES

Public Act 21-6: An Act Concerning Immunizations. This Act largely eliminates the religious exemption to the requirement that public and private schools condition a students entry into school upon providing proof of certain immunizations (including but not limited to immunizations against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, and polio), but only for those students whose initial enrollment in school is subsequent to the bills April 28, 2021 effective date. The Act provides that the immunization requirement still does not apply to students enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade who, on or before the Acts April 28, 2021 effective date, had already submitted the statement required under the prior law for the religious exemption. Such students remain exempt from the immunization requirement even if they transfer to another school in the state.

Students enrolled in pre-school or pre-kindergarten on or before April 28, 2021 who had already submitted the statement necessary for the religious exemption have until September 1, 2022 to comply with the immunization requirement, or within 14 days after transferring to a different public or private school program, whichever is later. The deadline for such pre-school/pre-K students complying with the immunization requirement can be altered if the school is presented with a written declaration from the childs physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse recommending a different immunization schedule for the child.

The Act retains the medical exemption to the immunization requirement, albeit with the medical professional now using a form prescribed by the Department of Public Health [DPH]. The Act also retains the prior requirement that where a parent or guardian is unable to pay for such immunizations, the expense (upon the recommendation of the childs schools board of education, or similar body governing a nonpublic school) shall be paid by the town. The Act requires the DPH to release annual immunization rates for each public and private K-12 school in the state.

IMPACT: School districts should update their immunization policies to conform with the Act as soon as possible to comply with the provisions of the new law which is now in effect.

ASTHMA CASE REPORTING

Public Act 21-121: An Act Concerning The Department Of Public Health's Recommendations Regarding Various Revisions To The Public Health Statutes. Among other things, this Act requires that (effective July 1, 2021) each regional or local regional board of education report on a triennial basis the total number of students in their schools having a diagnosis of asthma 1) at the time in enrollment, 2) in grades six or seven, or 3) and grades nine or ten. The only change is that grade nine has replaced grade eleven.

EXERTIONAL HEAT ILLNESS TRAINING AND PREVENTION

Public Act 21-87: An Act Concerning Education And Training In Exertional Heat Illness For Coaches, Parents, Guardians And Students. This Act requires persons with a State Board of Education [SBE] issued coaching permit who coach either intramural or interscholastic athletics to complete an exertional heat illness awareness education program before beginning their coaching assignment for the season and subsequently must annually review the program before the start of each coaching season. This requirement commences in the 2022-23 school year. The education program must be developed or approved by January 1, 2022, by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference [CIAC], in consultation with certain specified organizations. The program content must include: 1) recognizing the symptoms of an exertional heat illness; 2) how to obtain proper medical treatment for a person suspected of having the illness; 3) the nature and risk of exertional heat illness, including the danger of continuing to engage in athletic activity after sustaining such an illness; and 4) the proper method of allowing a student athlete who has sustained the illness to return to athletic activity. An exertional heat illness is defined as an illness resulting from engaging in physical activity in the heat, including heat cramps, heat syncope, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.

In addition, CIAC must also develop for use by school districts: 1) annual review materials on current and relevant exertional heat illness information, and 2) a model exertional heat illness awareness plan, including best practices in preventing and treating exertional heat illness. The Act requires school districts to implement the model plan using written materials, videos, or online or in-person training. Commencing with the 2022-23 school year, the Act requires school districts to prohibit a student from participating in intramural or interscholastic athletics unless the student and his or her parent or guardian reads or views the training materials or attends an in-person training. The parent or guardian must sign an athletic participation informed consent form issued by the school district that acknowledges compliance with the requirement.

IMPACT: As evident from the wording of the Act, school districts are now required to implement an exertional heat illness awareness plan, by January 1, 2022.

EMERGENCY ACTION PLANS FOR INTERSCHOLASTIC AND INTRAMURAL ATHLETIC EVENTS

Public Act 21-92: An Act Concerning Emergency Action Plans For Interscholastic and Intramural Athletic Events. This Act, which was signed by the Governor on June 30, 2021, will require each local and regional school district and private school to create (commencing in the 2022-2023 school year) an emergency action plan for responding to serious and life-threatening sports-related injuries that occur during interscholastic or intramural athletic events. Each plan must include, among other things, a listing of the staff responsible for implementing the plan and the procedures to follow when a student sustains a serious sports-related injury (or suffers a cardiac or respiratory emergency). The plan would have to be distributed, posted, reviewed annually, updated as necessary, and rehearsed annually by the staff responsible for its implementation.

IMPACT: Commencing in the 2022-23 school year, public and private schools must develop, implement and circulate written plans to address serious sports related injuries.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Public Act 21-168: An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Task Force To Analyze The Implementation Of Laws Governing Dyslexia Instruction And Training. This Act largely addresses those laws governing teacher preparation programs, teacher certification, and elementary student reading proficiency assessments via the following revisions:

IMPACT: While mainly addressing teacher training regarding dyslexia and literacy matters, the Act will require action by school districts with respect to reading assessments and utilization of the voluntary family history questionnaire.

Public Act 21-46: An Act Concerning Social Equity And The Health, Safety And Education Of Children. This Act, which takes effect on July 1, 2021, requires that local and regional boards of education allow students enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve to take up to two mental health wellness days during the school year, on which a student is not required to attend school. These days cannot be taken consecutively.

Additionally, the Act requires the SBE to change its definition of the terms excused absence and unexcused absence to exclude a students engagement in 1) virtual classes or meetings, 2) activities on time-logged electronic systems, and 3) completion and submission of assignments, if the engagement accounts for at least one-half of the school day in which virtual learning is authorized.

The Act requires the SDE via its Commissioner to develop, and update as necessary, standards for virtual or remote learning. The Act also allows local and regional boards of education (commencing with the 2022-2023 school year) to authorize virtual learning to students in grades nine to twelve, inclusive, if the applicable board of education:

The Act provides that such virtual or remote learning shall be considered an actual school session (for purposes of statutory 180-day and 900-hour requirements), provided virtual learning is conducted in compliance with the SDE standards.

Similar to Public Act 21-95, the Act requires that each local and regional board of education: 1) integrate the principles and practices of social-emotional learning throughout the components of its professional development programs; and 2) include goals for integrating principles and practices of social-emotional learning in its professional development programs in its statement of goals. In addition, the Act requires each boards professional development and evaluation committee to consider student priorities and needs related to student social-emotional learning and student academic outcomes when developing, evaluating, and annually updating a school districts professional development program.

Also, the Act requires each school district in their policies and procedures encouraging parent teacher cooperation, to:

If after three attempts, a teacher is unable to contact a students parent in order to schedule a parent-teacher conference, he or she must report this inability to the school principal, school counselor, or other school administrator designated by the local or regional board of education. The principal, counselor, or administrator must contact the students emergency contact to determine the student and familys health and safety.

Finally, the Act requires local or regional boards of education to include the following in policies or procedures for collecting unpaid school meal charges applicable to employees and third-party vendors who provide school meals:

If a childs unpaid meal charges are equal to or exceed the cost of thirty meals, the Act requires the local or regional board of education to refer the childs parent or guardian to the boards local homeless education liaison. The Act also allows local or regional boards of education to accept gifts, donations, or grants from any public or private source to pay off unpaid meal charges.

IMPACT: School districts will have to amend their excused absence policies and be ready to address the remote learning provisions in 2022-2023. Commencing with the 2021-22 school year, references to parent-teacher conference procedures should be updated in board policies and any communications to parents and districts should also amend any existing unpaid school lunch balance policies and/or procedures to comply with the Act. Districts should also educate staff on the changes set forth in this new law.

DRIVERS EDUCATION

Public Act 21-106: An Act Concerning Recommendations By The Department Of Motor Vehicles, Revisions To The Motor Vehicle Statutes And Peer-To-Peer Car Sharing. Among other things, this Act affects drivers education programs by defining "classroom instruction" as inclusive of training or instruction offered in person in a congregate setting, through distance learning or through a combination of both in-person and distance learning, provided such distance learning has interactive components such as mandatory interactions, participation or testing.

STUDENT RESIDENCY AND MILITARY FAMILIES

Public Act 21-86: An Act Concerning The Enrollment Of Children Of Members Of The Armed Forces In Public Schools And The Establishment Of A Purple Star School Program. This Act (which took effect on July 1, 2021) amended the student residency statutes by providing that when a child of a member of the armed forces seeks enrollment in a public school in a town in which such child is not yet a resident, the local or regional board of education shall accept the military orders directing such member to the state or any other documents from the armed forces indicating the transfer of such member to the state as proof of residency. The Act also requires the SBE (within available appropriations) to establish a Purple Star School Program to designate schools that provide specific support services, assistance, and initiatives for military-connected students and their families. A military-connected student is defined as a public-school student who 1) is a dependent of a current or former armed forces member or 2) was a dependent of a member killed in the line of duty.

IMPACT: Board residency and non-resident enrollment policies should be reviewed and amended as necessary to comply with the laws provisions regarding the children of military family members.

MISCELLANEOUS/OMNIBUS BILLS

Public Act 21-144:An Act Implementing The Recommendations Of The Department Of Education. This Act is an omnibus bill that would, among other things:

IMPACT: School districts should ensure that their special education practices are up to date in order to address transition services at an earlier date and should be aware of the limitations on CTECS ability to decline enrollment to certain special education students.

Public Act 21-95:An Act Concerning Assorted Revisions And Additions To The Education Statutes. This Act, which was signed by the Governor on June 28, 2021, covers a wide range of issues. First, the Act would provide that the ability of citizens to petition for a public hearing of a local board of education be limited to any question related to the provision of education by that board. This Act would also revise the vision screening conducted in the public schools to permit the use of an automated vision screening device that is not equivalent to a Snellen chart. The Act also requires the addition of the following new members to each schools safe school climate committee beginning with the 2021-2022 school year: 1) at least one teacher, appointed by the teachers union; 2) medical and mental health staff assigned to the school; and 3) in the case of a committee at a high school, at least one student from the high school who is selected by the students from the school in a manner the school principal determines.

The Act changes the name of the School Paraprofessional Advisory Council to the School Paraeducator Advisory Council. It also requires the Council to conduct a study addressing issues related to this field and to develop paraeducator career development pathway proposals. The Council must submit the study and proposals, along with any recommendations for legislation, to the General Assemblys Education Committee by January 1, 2022.

The Act additionally requires the SDE to develop a plan to create and implement a statewide virtual school to provide virtual learning instruction for grades kindergarten to twelve through one or more internet-based software platforms. The SDE must submit the plan, along with any recommendations for related legislation, to the General Assemblys Education Committee by February 1, 2022. The Act also establishes a new task force to study the provision of special education services (including the role of regional educational service centers [RESCs], private providers of special education and inter-district cooperative arrangements) and special education funding. The task force must submit a report with findings and recommendations to the General Assemblys Education Committee by January 1, 2022.

Also, the Act permits the Commissioner of Education to grant a one-time extension to any acting superintendents probationary period if, during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, he or she was unable to 1) become properly certified or 2) successfully complete a State Board of Education-approved school leadership program.

In addition, the Act has significant provisions addressing issues of social and emotional learning that were originally contained within House Bill No. 6557 (An Act Concerning Social And Emotional Learning). The Act would require each local and regional board of education to administer a universal mental health and resiliency screening to all students for the purpose of identifying students in need of interventions and support, with such screening provided over the next two school years to include a stress and trauma assessment related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Act requires the SDE to establish a state-wide social-emotional support program that provides support and assistance to school districts for mental health, social-emotional, behavioral support, trauma support and special education programs and services. The Act also requires the SDE to develop student social-emotional learning standards for grades four through twelve. Additionally, the Act requires the Social Emotional Learning and School Climate Advisory Collaborative to convene a working group to review and make recommendations regarding the state bullying/school climates statutes and the inclusion of restorative practices in safe school climate plans, along with providing technical assistance and support to school districts in adopting and implementing the Connecticut Model School Climate Policy.

The Act requires that mandatory memoranda of understanding for school districts with school resource officer [SRO] programs include a provision that requires SROs to complete the same social-emotional learning and restorative practices training provided to the teachers and administrators of the school. Finally, the Act additionally requires that the principles and practices of social-emotional learning and restorative practices be integrated throughout the components of teacher professional development plans and programs, and the statement of educational goals of school districts would need to include goals for such integration of principles and practices of social-emotional learning and restorative practices.

IMPACT: Board policies regarding citizen complaints should be reviewed for consistency with the new law. Safe school climate committee membership should be expanded starting in the 2021-22 school year. The universal mental health and resiliency screening and SRO memoranda requirements should be studied by superintendents to ensure proper implementation.

Public Act 21-199:An Act Concerning Various Revisions To The Statutes Related To Education and Workforce Development. This Act makes the following revisions to various education statutes that relate to gifted and talented curricula, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] and other issues related to affordability and school attendance/withdrawal:

IMPACT: School districts will have to adopt and/or update policies governing challenging curriculum, placement in advanced academic courses, identification of gifted and talented students, improvement of completion rates for FAFSA students, weighted grading and school attendance/withdrawal.

Public Act 21-111: An Act Authorizing And Adjusting Bonds Of The State For Capital Improvements, Transportation And Other Purposes, Establishing The Community Investment Fund 2030 Board, Authorizing State Grant Commitments For School Building Projects And Making Revisions To The School Building Project Statutes. This Act authorizes a variety of new bond issuances for state and municipal projects and cancels, reduces and/or amends certain existing bond authorizations. Of particular relevance to educational institutions, the Act also authorizes fifteen school construction grant commitments and imposes a new requirement that water filling stations be included in all new school building projects seeking state reimbursement. Additionally, the Act also requires that starting on January 1, 2023 the State Department of Administrative Services [DAS] provide biannual status reports on all current and pending school building projects of CTECS. Such status reports must include the: (1) costs associated with each CTECS school building project, (2) anticipated date of the next project application for each CTECS school, (3) projected start date of pending projects, and (4) date of completion of current school building projects.

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION

Public Act 21-1 (June Special Session): An Act Concerning Responsible And Equitable Regulation Of Adult-Use Cannabis. Buried in the much-vaunted recreational marijuana legalization bill is a provision that provides that on or after January 1, 2022, local and regional board of education policies governing student discipline and the use, sale or possession of alcohol or controlled drugs cannot result in a student facing greater discipline, punishment or sanction for use, sale or possession of cannabis than a student would face for the use, sale or possession of alcohol.

IMPACT: School districts should review and amend their student discipline and suspension/expulsion policies to comply with the above provision.

THE BUDGET IMPLEMENTER

Public Act 21-2 (June Special Session): An Act Concerning Provisions Related To Revenue And Other Items To Implement The State Budget For The Biennium Ending June 30, 2023. The 790-page budget implementer bill that was passed during the special session contained numerous education related provisions and other changes effecting Connecticut Schools (some of which are not actually related to the budget), including the following:

NATIVE AMERICAN TEAM NAMES AND MASCOTS: Commencing in fiscal year 2022-23, the Act will render certain municipalities with schools that use Native American team names, mascots or imagery ineligible for grants from the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund. In particular, the Acts grant exclusion is targeted at municipalities that have a school or associated intramural or interscholastic athletic team under its board of educations jurisdiction that use a name, symbol or image that depicts, refers to or is associated with a Native American individual, custom, tradition, or state or federally recognized tribe. However, an exception to the grant exclusion applies if the Native American tribe depicted, or referred to, in a name, symbol or image provides its written consent for such usage. Additionally, this section of the Act also provides a one-year grace period from grant exclusion through fiscal year 2023-24 for municipalities that provide written notice to OPM of the intent of the school or team under its board of educations jurisdiction to change any Native American team name, symbol or image or obtain written consent from the applicable Native American tribe for its continued use.

DISTRIBUTING VOTER ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION AT HIGH SCHOOLS: The Implementer requires municipal registrars of voters to annually distribute information regarding voting eligibility on the fourth Tuesday of September at each public high school within a municipality. The Act requires that the local registrar of voters and high school principal jointly determine the best means of distributing such information at the high school.

IMPACT: High school principals should be made aware of this new provision.

WARNINGS OF MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS: Portions of the Implementer Act addressing this issue, which became effective upon the Acts June 17, 2001 passage, require town clerks to publish the warning (i.e. the notice) of municipal elections on the on the towns web-site in addition to publishing the warning in a newspaper of general circulation within the town. Additionally, the Act also specifies that the warning of municipal elections must include notice of the time and the location of sites designated for election day voter registration within the town along with the location of each polling place within the town.

MUNICIPAL ELECTION DATES: On or after January 1, 2022, municipal elections shall be held biennially on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in odd-numbered years, unless the legislative body of the municipality votes by a three-fourths vote to hold municipal elections on the first Monday of May in odd-numbered years. If a municipality elects to hold municipal elections in May pursuant to a three-fourths vote of its legislative body, it may subsequently elect to change the date for its municipal elections from May to the first Tuesday after the first Monday.

MBR MODIFICATIONS: Effective July 1, 2021, the Act makes several amendments to existing law with respect to the minimum budget requirement [MBR] for town appropriations for education. First, the Act effectively makes the MBRs provisions permanent by removing individual fiscal year references within the MBR statute Conn. Gen. Stat. 10-262j -- in favor of general language mandating that in each year a towns budgeted appropriation for education cannot be less than the prior year, subject to limited exceptions such as declining enrollment. Second, the Act provides that fiscal year 2020-21 cannot be used for purposes of reduction to a towns MBR due to declining enrollment. Similarly, the Act also provides that in 2021-22 school districts that do not maintain a high school must use student enrollment counts from October 1, 2019 for purposes of determining reductions to MBR due to declining enrollment. Presumably, these provisions were included in the law to prevent reductions to a towns MBR stemming from reduced 2020-21 enrollment that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Third, the Act clarifies and expands upon existing MBR exclusions. The Act extends until fiscal year 2023-24 a recently added MBR exemption for local supplemental COVID-19 school expenditures along with federal COVID-19 relief funds and clarifies that funds from the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 are included within the federal COVID-19 relief funds MBR exclusion. In addition, the Act provides that school infrastructure improvement grant funds shall not be included for purposes of MBR calculations. Lastly, the Act also provides that notwithstanding any charter, ordinance, or special act to the contrary for fiscal year 2021-22 a town may appropriate additional funds to its education budget to satisfy its MBR obligation if the towns educational cost sharing [ECS] grant is greater than what the town anticipated it would be when it originally adopted its fiscal year 2021-22 education budget.

ECS GRANT FUNDING AND FORMULA CHANGES: The Implementer Act also suspends previously scheduled decreases to Educational Cost Sharing [ECS] grants for fiscal years 2021-22 and 2022-23 for towns that are overfunded under the current grant formula, maintain scheduled increases in ECS aid for underfunded towns and extend the scheduled phase-in of increases and decreases by two years until fiscal year 2028-29. Additionally, the Act also modifies the formula for determining a towns base ECS grant by increasing the weighting percentage for the number of resident students in a town eligible for free or reduced-price meals or milk and for the number of resident students in a town who are English language learners.

EXPANDED ECS REGIONAL BONUS FOR TOWNS SENDING STUDENTS TO HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIES: This section of the Act, which became effective July 1, 2021, modifies the existing definition of the regional bonus portion of the ECS grant formula by expanding applicability of the bonus to towns that pay tuition for students to attend incorporated or endowed high school academies, as well as by eliminating the existing ratio component of the regional bonus that reduces the per-pupil bonus payment in proportion to the number of grade levels serviced by applicable the regional school district. As a result of these changes, regional and incorporated or endowed high school sending districts will see increased base ECS grant levels in future years.

Presently, there are three State Board of Education-approved incorporated or endowed academies that serve as public high schools: The Norwich Free Academy; The Woodstock Academy, and; The Gilbert School in Winchester. Under this section of the Act, towns that send students to these schools will receive a regional bonus to their base ECS grant based on the number of students sent to these schools.

Before passage of this Act, the regional bonus portion of a towns ECS grant was equal to $100 per student enrolled in a regional school district on October 1 of each year multiplied by the ratio of grades, kindergarten to grade twelve, in the regional district up to thirteen. So, for example, a town that sent one hundred students to a regional high school would receive a regional bonus of approximately $3,077 per year to its base ECS grant which reflects a $30.76 per student multiplier based upon a 4/13 ratio reflecting the fact that the regional high school only services four out of thirteen possible grades (inclusive of kindergarten). This section of the Act eliminates the ratio component of the bonus formula entirely. As a result, the same town that sends one hundred students to a regional high school will receive a $4,000 regional bonus since the regional high school services four grades. This change to the regional bonus formula will apply to incorporated and endowed academies.

ESSER FUNDS FOR OTHERWISE INELIGIBLE SCHOOLS: The Act requires the SDE to distribute federal COVID-19 school relief funds to schools which may otherwise be ineligible to receive the funds. The fund, known as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund [ESSER Fund], will be available to: any school ineligible for federal Title I funding or to any approved incorporated or endowed high school or academy (i.e., The Gilbert School, Norwich Free Academy, and Woodstock Academy). The SDE is prohibited from distributing state or federal funding to any school if it would conflict with federal law, United States Department of Education guidance, rules, or regulations on the ESSER Fund.

IMPACT: Connecticut has received more than $1.5 billion in ESSER Funds. This Act ensures that the funding will be spread to as many schools as legally allowed under federal standards.

STATE CHARTER SCHOOL FUNDING FORMULA CHANGES: Under current law, a state charter school receives a uniform per-pupil operating grant of $11,250 per fiscal year. Under the Act, a state charter school will receive a per-pupil grant determined by a formula based on the ECS grant foundation (a fixed grant of $11,525), plus a percentage of the schools charter-grant adjustment, which is based on student needs.

IMPACT: Charter schools may now receive their state grants with an adjustment based on school needs, which may increase grants for some schools.

MATERIAL CHANGES TO CHARTER SCHOOL OPERATIONS AND INCREASING CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENT CAPACITY: Under current law, a charter school must submit a written request to the SBE to amend its charter if it plans to make a material change to its operations. The new Act would require the SDE, rather than the SBE, to review the request and solicit comments from the local board of education in the town in which the school is located. Under the Act, any charter school wishing to increase its student enrollment capacity by 20% or more must submit a request to the SDE by April 1 of the fiscal year that is two years before the fiscal year when the change would take effect. The Act lays out the various review standards for approving the request.

MAGNET SCHOOL GRANT CONDITIONS BASED ON RESIDENCY: The Act extends through the 2023-24 school year the requirement that (1) magnet schools comply with specific enrollment standards in existing law and that the education commissioner only award an operating grant to compliant schools. The commissioner may only award a grant to schools that have (1) no more than 75% of the school enrollment from one school district and (2) total school enrollment that meets the reduced-isolation setting standards developed by the commissioner.

MAGNET SCHOOL OPERATING GRANTS: The Act requires the state to fully fund per-pupil magnet school operating grants. Current law allows the states per-pupil magnet grants to be prorated to reflect available appropriations. The new Act removes this provision and requires the state to fully fund the grants.

LIMIT ON MAGNET SCHOOL GRANTS: By law and unchanged by the Act, the total per-pupil operating grant paid by the state to a magnet school operator cannot exceed the aggregate total of the schools reasonable operating budget, minus revenue from other sources.

SUPPLEMENTAL TRANSPORTATION GRANTS FOR MAGNET SCHOOLS: The Act changes the payment schedule and number of payments for a supplemental transportation grant for magnet schools that help the state meet its obligations under the Sheff v. ONeill desegregation court decision.

GRANTS FOR PRIORITY SCHOOL DISTRICTS: The Act allocates $5 million in the 2021-22 and 2022-2023 fiscal years to the SDE to provide grants to towns with school districts that are identified as priority school districts [PSDs]. PSDs have students with low standardized test scores and high levels of poverty; there are 15 of these districts. PSDs must spend the grants for certain purposes specified in statute, such as dropout prevention, alternative and transitional programs, and elementary and middle school accreditation.

WAIVER OF WORLD LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT FOR CTECS 2023 AND 2024 GRADUATES: The Board for CTECS, or its Superintendent, must allow any student in the class of 2023 or 2024 to graduate without fulfilling the one-credit world language high school graduation requirement under state law.

TUITION FEE WAIVER FOR ANSONIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKING MANUFACTURING COURSES: The Act requires the Board of Regents for Higher Education [BOR] to continue waiving tuition and fees for Ansonia High School students to attend College Connections at Derby High School. The College Connections program allows high school students to take advanced manufacturing courses and receive both high school and college credit. The Act also requires the BOR to waive tuition and fees for Ansonia High School students who participate in a manufacturing program offered in Ansonia or Derby which is offered outside the College Connections program.

REGIONAL BOARD OF EDUCATION RESERVE FUND: The Act increases the amount a regional board of education may deposit in a capital and nonrecurring expenditures reserve fund from 1% to up to 2% of the districts budget for the fiscal year.

IMPACT: Regional board of education administrators and board members should consider this change for future budgeting purposes. Regional board business/budgeting policies may have to be updated if regional boards wish to avail themselves of this new provision.

GROWN FOR CT KIDS GRANT PROGRAM: The Act requires the Department of Agriculture to administer a new CT Grown for CT Kids Grant Program to assist school districts in developing farm-to-school programs. The grant must be used to develop or implement a farm-to-school program, including: purchasing equipment, resources, or materials, such as local food products, gardening supplies, field trips to farms, gleaning on farms; providing professional development and skills training for educators, school nutrition professionals, parents, caregivers, and piloting new purchasing systems and programs. The Act requires the Department to prioritize grants to applicants (1) located in alliance districts or who are providers of school readiness programs and (2) who demonstrate broad commitment from school administrators, school nutrition professionals, educators, and community stakeholders.

IMPACT: School districts will need to decide whether to participate in the CT Grown for CT Kids program. If so, districts must apply to the Department of Agriculture to receive a grant. The Agriculture Commissioner will prescribe the grant application form and process. The Department of Agriculture will provide technical assistance to grant recipients to develop and implement farm-to-school programs.

EXPANSION OF OPEN CHOICE PROGRAM: The Act expands the Open Choice Program for up to 50 students from Danbury and 50 from Norwalk in the 2022-23 school year. Open Choice is a voluntary inter-district public school attendance program that allows students from urban districts to attend suburban schools and vice versa, on a space-available basis. Its purpose is to reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation; improve academic achievement; and provide public school choice. The SDE provides a per-student grant for school districts that receive Open Choice students.

STUDY OF EDUCATIONAL FUNDING: The Act requires the states Office of Fiscal Analysis to conduct an independent modeling of the education funding proposal described in Senate Bill 948, which proposes the following education funding changes: a funding mechanism under which the per-student grants for magnet schools, charter schools, agricultural science and technology education centers [Vo-Ag Centers], and the Open Choice program are merged into one grant program. The modeling must also look at funding for CTECS, including the funding at a system-wide, school, and per-pupil level, and the effects of racial equity within the system based on the funding.

MODEL CURRICULUM FOR K-8: The Act requires the SDE (in collaboration with the State Education Resource Center) to develop by January 1, 2023 a model curriculum for Grades kindergarten through eight that may be used by local and regional boards of education.

NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES AND CURRICULUM: The Act requires the teaching of Native American studies as part of the social studies curriculum starting July 1, 2023. It is required that the curriculum include, but not be limited to, a focus on the Northeastern Woodland Native American Tribes of Connecticut.

MINORITY TEACHER RECRUITMENT: The Act requires the SDE to establish a minority candidate certification, retention or residency year program. It also requires alliance school districts to partner with the operator of such residency program for purposes of enrolling minority candidates and placing them in such districts as part of the program; after the successful completion of the program by the candidate, the district may hire such a candidate. Ten percent of any increases in alliance school district funding would be allotted to such minority recruitment and residency programs.

IMPACT: Alliance districts will need to partner with at least one operator of a residency-year program to place minority candidates in their districts as part of the program.

PROMOTING THE TEACHING PROFESSION: The Act requires the SDE to develop a plan to assist school districts in promoting the teaching profession as a career option to students in high school and to provide school districts with information that promotes the teaching profession.

IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING: The Act requires the SDE to develop and require school district personnel responsible for hiring educators to complete a video training module relating to implicit bias and anti-bias in the hiring process and requires teachers, administrators and pupil personnel holding teaching certificates to complete the same video training modules.

IMPACT: Districts will need to ensure and document that the proper employees complete the video training.

STUDY OF CONTENT AREA MASTERY: The Act requires the SDE to conduct a study of a multiple measures approach to demonstrating content-area mastery and to issue a report by January 1, 2023.

LATINO AND BLACK STUDIES: Commencing July 1, 2022, the Act requires local and regional board of educations to offer a black and Latino studies course to be developed by the State Education and Resource Center [SERC], once the course is approved by the SBE. It also requires SERC to provide technical assistance to school districts for professional development and in-service training related to the teaching of black and Latino studies courses.

REMOTE LEARNING COMMISSION: The Act creates the Remote Learning Commission to analyze and provide recommendations concerning the provision of remote learning to public school students enrolled in grades kindergarten through 12. The Commission is tasked with issuing a report of its findings by July 1, 2022. One of the main things the Commission is tasked with investigating is the feasibility of creating a state-wide remote learning school for students in grades kindergarten through twelve that would be maintained by and under the control of the SBE.

STATE-WIDE REMOTE LEARNING SCHOOL: The Act provides further direction regarding the requirements for any state-wide remote learning school that may be established. It requires the SDE to develop a plan for the creation and implementation of a state-wide remote learning school for grades kindergarten through twelve. The deadline for the SDE to submit the plan and any draft requests for proposal to carry out the plan is July 1, 2023.

AUDIT OF PANDEMIC-ERA REMOTE LEARNING: The Act requires the State Department of Education to conduct a comprehensive audit of the virtual learning programs provided by school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic and to develop guidelines for training educators in the provision of virtual learning through in-service training and professional development programs.

LITERACY AND READING INTERVENTION: The Act requires (commencing July 1, 2023) local and regional school districts to implement a reading curriculum model or program for grades pre-kindergarten through three that has been approved by the Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success. The Center for Literacy Research and Reading Success, which is to be established by the SDE, shall approve at least five reading curriculum models or programs to be implemented by districts; such models or programs shall be: (1) evidence-based and scientifically-based, and (2) focused on competency in the following areas of reading: oral reading, phonetic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, rapid automatic name or letter name fluency and reading comprehension. Districts are required to notify the State of the model or program that they have selected and allows for waivers from the State. The section also allows the Commissioner to grant a board of education an extension of time to implement this section if the Commissioner determines that the board has insufficient resources or funding to implement any of the approved reading programs.

The Act further requires the Center for Literacy and Research and Reading Success to compile, for the start of the 2023-2024 school year, a list of reading assessments for school boards to use to identify students in kindergarten through grade three who are below proficiency in reading and that provided an opportunity for formative assessment at least three times per year, in the fall, winter and spring. It also requires the Center, on or before July 1, 2022, to develop an intensive reading intervention strategy that will be available to alliance districts that includes the availability of external literacy coaches with experience and expertise in the science of reading instruction.

DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION IN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: The Act adds disability to the list of protected classes under Connecticut General Statutes 10-15c; this statute generally prohibits discrimination against students in the public schools.

IMPACT: This provision may require an update to board non-discrimination policies. In addition, this provision may also lead to an uptick of cases being filed with the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

PER PUPIL VO-AG GRANT: The Act increases the state per-pupil grant for Vocational Agriculture schools by $1,000.

TRS EXEMPTION FOR REEMPLOYED TEACHERS: The Act extends, until June 30, 2024, an exemption that allows retired teachers receiving a Teacher Retirement System [TRS] pension to return to teaching without salary limits if they 1) are receiving retirement benefits from the system based on thirty-four or more years of credited service, 2) are reemployed as a teacher in a district designated as an alliance district, and 3) were serving as a teacher in that district on July 1, 2015.

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Developments from the 2021 Session of the Connecticut General Assembly Affecting Schools - JD Supra