NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES n WASHINGTON, D.C....

QuickTakes

Standing Features

Counties withthe Lowest

Poverty Rate(Under Age 18)

Counties withthe Lowest

Poverty Rate

Source: Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program, U.S. Census Bureau 2008

Los Alamos County, N.M. 2.8%Hunterdon County, N.J. 3.1%Douglas County, Colo 3.3%Loudoun County, Va. 3.5%Morris County, N.J. 4.3%

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES n WASHINGTON, D.C. VOL. 42, NO. 1 n JANUARY 18, 2010

See MAIN STREET page 3

INSIDE >>

In tough times, Georgia county turns to citizens for planning help >> Page 6

Counties fault red tape in slowing Recovery Act spending >> Page 3

Grants to expand broadband capacity postponed >> Page 5

For the record: See how health reform proposals compare >> Page 8

See HEALTH CARE page 2

By Jim PhiliPPs

MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER

A new NACo survey shows that the nation’s counties believe that the most pressing issues around U.S. immigration reform are the elimination of the piece-meal approach to immigration and the need for clear federal laws and enforcement policies.

The survey indicated that:• 63 percent of responding

counties cited the elimination of the piecemeal approach to immi-gration as the most pressing issue

• 63percentcitedtheneedforclear federal laws and enforcement policies as the most pressing issue, and

•45percentcitedimprovingcommunity relations and percep-tions as the most pressing issue.

(Respondents could designate more than one issue as ‘most pressing.’)

ItwasreleasedJan.13incon-junction with a Capitol Hill brief-ing on immigration reform issues conducted by NACo’s Restore the Partnership Project.

Other survey results indicated that among the items that need to be considered by Congress in any immigration legislation are:

• border enforcement (66

By Deseree GarDner

ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

The House narrowly passed a $154billionjobspackagethatwouldbe paid for, in part, by unspent Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money. Funding in the measure will support infrastructure projects aimed at creating new jobs, as well as assistance to states and localities to help avoid layoffs of police, firefighters, teachers and othergovernmentworkers.

The bill also provides a six-month extension of unemployment benefits and COBRA health insur-

House passes ‘Jobs for Main Street’ bill

By Paul BeDDoe


As the Democratic leaders of the HouseandSenateseektomergethehealth reform bills passed by each chamber,NACoisworkingtoen-sure the best provisions for counties in each bill are included — and that those which might hurt counties are dropped or minimized.

Bothbillsseektoexpandhealthinsurance coverage by building on the existing employer-based

Congressional leaders on track to health reform compromise

system and public programs, likeMedicaid. Bothcreatenewregulated health insurance mar-ketplaces—orexchanges—forindividuals and small businesses to buy insurance, with assistance for those with lower incomes. And both require individuals to buy insurance and all but the smallest employers to offer it for theirworkers.

Both contain provisions to expand the healthworkforce andexpand access to health care services

Survey: Clarity, enforcement top needs for immigration reform

percent)• path to citizenship (60 per-

cent)• temporaryworkerprogram(58

percent), and

• fundingforlocalgovernmentsfor health care and education pro-grams(56percent).

The survey was sent to 400counties across the country. One-

hundred thirteen responses were received from counties representing

in underserved communities. Both billsalsomakeinvestmentsinpublichealth, disease prevention and health promotion.

The cost of both bills is partially offset by cuts to Medicare andMedicaidprograms.Howevereachchambertakesadifferentapproachto spanning the remaining funding gap. The House bill imposes a tax on the wealthy while the Senate version taxes higher-cost insurance

See IMMIGRATION page 4

Photo by Jim Philipps

Angel Estrada, freeholder, Union County, N.J., briefs Capitol Hill congressional aides on immigration issues Jan. 13 as part of NACo’s Restore the Partnership project. Estrada is a member of NACo’s Immigration Task Force. He, along with Walter Tejada, board member, Arlington County, Va.; Larry E. Naake, NACo executive director, and Paul McIntosh, executive director of the California Association of Counties, participated in the briefing, which explained the critical role counties play in the nation’s immigration system and what counties want to see in reform legislation.

● Model Programs fromthe Nation’s Counties

● News fromthe Nation’s Counties

● The H.R. Doctor is In

● Research News

● NACo on the Move

● Financial Services News

● What’s in a Seal?

Quick Links

2 January 18, 2010 CountyNews •

Kelly Murray, executive director of the Illinois As-sociation of County Board Members, was incorrectly identified in the Dec. 14 story, “Illinois county prison could land ‘Gitmo’ detainees.”

CORRECTION

By Jeff arnolD

DEPUTY LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

The short answer: not much. Al-though the list of important issues is long and weighty, the political reali-ties of an election year will certainly limit what will be accomplished. The retirement of a number of senators will affect the schedule and the issues considered.

One of the biggest retirements is Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) As chairman of the Senate BankingCommittee, he holds sway over a number of issues of interest to counties, including Sustainable

Communities and the Community DevelopmentBlockGrantprogram.AnotherSenateretirementlikelytoaffect local government is that of Sen.GeorgeVoinovich(R-Ohio).He has been a big supporter of lo-cal government (having served as a mayor) and his forthright support of federalism issues will be missed.

Overall,jockeyinghasalreadybegun in both houses, as Re-publicans see an opportunity to gain seats in both bodies, and the Democrats want to accomplish their agendawhile they have 60votes in the Senate.

As for the issues, healthcare

ANALYSIS

What to expect from the 111th Congress, second sessionreform will be the biggest early target for the new Congress. Until it is completed, there will little movement onotherissues.Thereistalkofanextension of the Medicaid provi-sions from the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act to avoid the perceived “cliff” that would face counties as funding levels drop. This may be included in the Senate’s ver-sion of a jobs bill.

TheSenate is expected to takeup its version of a jobs stimulus packageinlateJanuary.It’slikelyto be more modest than the House-passed bill with a focus on small business, transportation and public sector employees such as police and firefighters. Despite its less ambitious goals,thejobspackagecouldbecomea “Christmas tree” for amendments such as the required public safety

collective bargaining bill that NACo has been fighting for two years.

Meanwhile,oncehealthreformis completed, the Senate Finance Committee can turn its attention to the long-stalled aviation reauthori-zationbillandworkoutafundingmechanism for the program that is acceptable to aviation interests.

The surface transportation act

(highway bill) reauthorization is somewhat in limbo over how to pay for its costs. American drivers have reduced their driving, which has the net effect of reducing gas tax receipts. There is little stomach to raise taxes in an election year, so we may see additional extensions rather than an outright bill.

The president’s budget is to be presented Feb. 1, and current rumors wouldsuggestsignificantcutbacksin a number of programs of impor-tance to counties. Because much of the stimulus money has yet to be spent, the president and the Office ofManagementandBudget(OMB)are under significant pressure to hold the line on spending. Subsequently that discretionary domestic spending may well be slashed.

As for stimulus funds, agencies haveuntilSept.30 toobligate thefunding allocated to them. Manyare scrambling to get the money out the door in an accountable and transparent way by the deadline. It is expected that substantial sums will be pumped into the economy in the very near future.

Muchofthefocusforthenewyear will be on the regulatory front. For example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) an-nouncedplansJan.6tosignificantlytighten current National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) forgroundlevelozonebyAug.31.These standards will become final between2014and2031dependingon the region.

The EPA plans to change the current primary ozone standard of75partsperbilliontoarangeof 60–70partsperbillion.Additionally,there would be a secondary, seasonal standard.Approximately650ruraland urban counties would be con-sidered in violation of the NAAQS under these proposed standards. A list of counties potentially affected by new standard can be found at: www.epa.gov/air/ozonepollution/pdfs/CountyPrimaryOzoneLevels0608.pdf.

It will be a very politically volatile yearin2010withbothpartieswork-ing hard to polish their agendas for the mid-term elections. Those hoping for a banner year on the legislative front should reassess the possibilities and expect much less that was seen during the first session.

CountyNews

This Month in ...

County News celebrates NACo’s 75th Anniversary with a look back at the issues and events that affected counties

over the past several decades.

● January ●

1975•PresidentGeraldFordgavehisfirstStateof theUnionAddress

toa jointsessionof CongressonJan.15,1975.Concernsabouthealth insurance mirror the continuing battles on Capitol Hill today. Ford also discussed the national debt, taxes, the federal budget and the energy crisis.

•Congressapproved$4billionforthetemporaryEmergencyJobsand Unemployment Assistance Act and Emergency Unemployment CompensationAct.Fundswereappropriated:$3billion—SpecialUnemploymentAssistanceProgram;$875million—EmergencyJobsProgram; and $125million—JobOpportunitiesProgram.The Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act provided an additional13weeksof benefits topersonswhowerecoveredbyunemployment compensation laws.

1995

•TheGovernmentAccountingStandardsBoard(GASB)clarifieddisclosure requirements for state and county governments involved in derivatives transactions. County governments that directly or indirectly used, held or sold derivatives during the period covered by thefinancialstatements,theGASBbulletinsaid,shoulddisclosethenature of the transaction and the reason for entering into it.

• Thirty-five NACo officials attended the Federal-State-Local Telecommunications Summit inWashington,D.C. held byVicePresidentAlGoreandCommerceSecretaryRonBrown.NACoThirdVicePresidentRandyJohnson,aHennepinCounty,Minn.commissioner, expressed worry that major federal telecommunica-tions legislation would preempt local governments’ authority over the public rights of way. His concerns also included doubt over whether local governments could still be compensated for telecommunications companies’ use of public rights of way.

(This Month in County News is compiled by Charlie Ban, staff writer, and Christopher Johnson, editorial assistant.)

plans. NACo opposes taxing the so-called Cadillac insurance plans.

TheHousebillcuts$10billionfrom Medicaid disproportionateshare hospital (DSH) payments over 10years,whiletheSenatecuts$19billion. NACo is strongly urging the negotiators to cut no more than proposed in the House bill.

TheMedicaidexpansionintheHouse bill covers all individuals and familiesup to150percentof thefederal poverty level (FPL) includ-ing childless adults while the Senate coversthemupto133percent.

The House offers more generous support to states — the federal medi-calassistancepercentage,orFMAP— to cover the newly eligible and also increasesMedicaid’sreimbursementrate for primary care services to parity withMedicare’sratesinanefforttoensure that the newly eligible will have access to care.

The Senate bill includes pass-through language sought by NACo to ensure that states share the increasedFMAPwithcounties,if they require counties to contribute to thenon-federalshareofMedicaid.

The House included a six-month extension of the Recovery Act’s FMAPassistance,apositionstronglyendorsed by NACo. Without an extension, the enhanced FMAPincluded in the Recovery Act ends attheendof2010,halfwaythroughmost states’ fiscal year, and long before even the most optimistic economists would expect state and local budgets to be recovering from the recession.

While both bills invest in public health,Section3161of theHousebill provides for a reliable funding stream for local health department prevention efforts. NACo has joined with the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) to support this provi-sion. NACo and NACCHO believe that coupled with the prevention trustfundandworkforceprovisionsincluded in both bills, the House pro-visionwouldhelptosustaintheworkof local and state health departments, and population-based prevention activities that are beyond the reach of the medical care system.

In a letter to congressional leaders, local public health officials wrote that these provisions represent an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen the public health system through local health departments and help to reorient the system from a “sick care” system to onebuilt around wellness and health promotion.

Neither bill included NACo’s long-sought fix to the inmate health exception for federal health benefits, but the House bill did include a provision to require states to suspend ratherthanterminateMedicaidforyouthsunder18,andtheSenatebillpermits otherwise eligible pre-trial county jail inmates to retain their eligibility to access coverage on the exchanges.

(On page 8 is a detailed comparison of the two Health Reform bills and NACo Health Care policy.)

House, Senate ironing out differences over health careHEALTH CARE from page 1

SpeedRead »»»

» Little movement on other issues expected until health care reform done

» Major Senate retirements could threaten Democratic majority

» Senate expected to take up jobs stimulus package later this month

• CountyNews January 18, 2010 3

President | Valerie BrownPublisher | Larry Naake

Public Affairs Director | Tom GoodmanExecutive Editor | Beverly Anne Schlotterbeck

Senior Staff Writer | Charles TaylorStaff Writer | Charlie Ban

Graphic Artist | Jack HernandezEditorial Assistant | Christopher Johnson

ADvErtISINg StAffJob Market/Classifieds representative

Christopher JohnsonNational Accounts representative

Beverly Schlotterbeck(202) 393-6226 • FAX (202) 393-2630

Published biweekly except August by: National Association of Counties

Research Foundation, Inc. 25 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.,

Ste. 500, Washington, D.C. 20001

(202) 393-6226 | FAX (202) 393-2630

E-mail | [email protected]

Online address | www.countynews.org

The appearance of paid advertisements in County News in no way implies support or endorsement by the Na-tional Association of Counties for any of the products, services or messages advertised. Periodicals postage paid at Washington D.C. and other offices.

Mail subscriptions are $100 per year for non-members. $60 per year for non-members purchasing multiple cop-ies. Educational institution rate, $50 per year. Member county supplemental subscriptions are $20 each. Send payment with order and address changes to NACo, 25 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001.

POSTMASTER: send address changes to County News, 25 Massachusetts Ave. N.W.,

Ste. 500, Washington, D.C. 20001

(USPS 704-620) n (ISSN: 0744-9798)

© National Association of Counties Research Foundation, Inc.

By Jacqueline Byers

RESEARCH DIRECTOR

Sixty-five percent of recently polled counties reported that administrative requirements were affecting their ability to implement federal Recovery Act programs. The poll, conducted by NACo over a two-day period in December, was undertaken to assist the Govern-mentAccountabilityOffice(GAO)in its new reviews of barriers to Recovery Act spending and imple-mentation.

Fifty-three percent of the 100counties that responded to the poll also reported that matching require-ments hampered their ability to implement Recovery Act programs, whileonly25percentcitedDavis-Bacon Act wage rate requirements as a problem.

However, even with the difficul-ties receiving and implementing RecoveryActfunds,88percentof the responding counties said they still planned to apply for funding and wouldworktoresolvetheseissues.

Counties also reported that state priority projects did not always align with local priorities, and many reported difficulty in determining what is a “shovel-ready” project.

As one county responded, “Shovel ready’ poses a problem as many proj-ects require environmental reviews and design, which are not covered in the program solicitations.” Another said, “The local match requirements have not always been noted within the application documents but only disclosed after the fact with the award notice. This has made it difficult to meet the requirements in timely fashion.”

Counties fault red tape in ARRA implementationOne of the major issue areas

GAOwas interested in pursuingwas the impact of the application of Davis-Bacon wage rates on projects fundedwithARRAmoney.Manycounties reported they were very familiar with Davis-Bacon wage requirements from implementing previous federally funded pro-grams. One county said, “Davis-Bacon is a big reason we didn’t try to use our energy stimulus money

for private retrofits. Way too much hassle and too costly for property owners.”

Another county took a swipeat the reporting requirements, in general, saying that “costs will be driven higher due to the inability for smaller companies to compete for these projects as they cannot afford to implement and sustain reporting without some impact to their bottom line.”

The results of the opinion poll weresharedwithGAOrepresenta-tives at a joint meeting during the firstweekof January.

For additional information about the poll, please contact MichaelBelarmino at [email protected] or Jacqueline Byers at [email protected].

(Michael Belarmino contributed to this report.)

ance subsidies provided under the American Recovery and Reinvest-ment Act.

The Jobs forMain Street Actof 2009wouldredirect$75billioninTARPfundsintoso-calledMainStreet projects, which spur new jobs, as well as programs to maintain and preserve jobs.

The measure, approved Dec. 16,wouldsetaside$48.3billionforinfrastructure projects and affordable housing programs.

That amount includes $37.3billion for transportation spending for highway improvement projects ($27.5 billion) and public transitprojects($8.4billion).Othertrans-portation provisions included in the jobs bill, include an extension of the surface transportation programs throughSept.30;transferof$19.5billion from the general fund to the Highway Trust Fund and removal of the ban on the Highway Trust Fund’s

earning interest on its balance. Clean water infrastructure proj-

ects received $2 billion to address the growing problem of aging water infrastructure. The pot was split equally between the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water StateRevolving Fund (DWSRF). The funding is slated to be used for sewer, water repairs and rehabilitation. The language instructs the states to use atleast50percentofthefundsforadditional subsidies, such as loan forgiveness and grants, to struggling communities. The bill also states that 20percentofthefundscouldbeusedfor green infrastructure, water and energy efficiency improvements or other environmentally innovative activities, if applicable.

Housing related programs would receive $2 billion to address afford-able housing issues. The National Housing Trust Fund would get $1 billion to help communities build, preserve and rehabilitate affordable

On Thursday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. EST, NACo will host a free webinar that will highlight recent information and success stories about local uses of ARRAworkforcedevelopmenttraining funding.

To register, please go to www2.gotomeeting.com/regis-ter/564850219 or contact Anita Cardwell at [email protected] or 202.942.4267 formoreinformation.

The webinar is one of the activities funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to a collaborative group of national associations, including NACo, to ensure that ARRA fundingforworkforcedevelop-ment is invested efficiently and effectively.

NACo is also gathering information about how ARRA workforce development fund-ing is being invested locally. To share what’s going on with workforcedevelopmentinyourcounty, contact Cardwell with your story.

The other participating national associations are the National Governors Asso-ciation, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, theNationalLeagueof Cities, the National Con-ference of State Legislatures, the National Association of StateWorkforceAgenciesandthe National Association of WorkforceBoards.

Transportation, jobless benefits fare well in ‘Main Street’ billMAIN STREET from page 1 rental homes for very-low-income

households; and $1 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund for additional repairs and rehabilitation of public housing. This funding is tospurconstructionquickly, sinceHUD has ready-to-go applications for projects on hand.

In addition to infrastructure proj-ects,thejobsbillwouldsetaside$26.7billion to prevent the layoffs of certain public sector employees. The figure includes$23billionforaneducationJobs Fund for states to fund jobs that provide “educational services” or renovate public school facilities. Additionally, $1.18 billion wouldsupport5,500lawenforcementposi-tions,while$500millionwouldgoto retention of firefighters.

Morethanhalfofthebill’sfund-ing,or$79billion,wouldhelpfundthe extension of unemployment benefits and health insurance aid for the jobless, which were included in ARRA.

The six-month extension of unemployment benefits would cost $41billion,while$12.4billionwouldgotowardextending,fromnineto15months, the subsidy for employer-sponsored health insurance available tolaid-offworkersunderaprogramknownasCOBRA.

The bill would also extend for sixmonthstheenhancedMedicaidfederal medical assistance percentage (FMAP).Thehigherfederalmatchprovides fiscal relief to states as well as to counties that contribute to the non-federalshareofMedicaid.

Other related provisions would provide$1.25billioninnewtrain-ing funds under the Department of Laborincluding:$500millioninad-ditionalWorkforceInvestmentAct(WIA) Youth formula grant funding, which is to be used for summer youth employment programs; and $750million for competitive grants for trainingandplacementofworkersinhigh-growth and emerging sectors.

The legislation would also allow the U.S. Small Business Administra-tion to continue backing loans tosmall businesses.

NACo Webinar: ARRA Funding and Workforce Development

Apply online for NACo’s 2010 Achieve-Xment Awards

Applications forNACo’s2010AchievementAwards arenowavailable. The annual program is non-competitive and recognizes innovative county government programs.

Lastyear,morethan770applicationsweresubmittedfrom123countiesin30states.DeadlineforapplicationisFeb.12.

Forthe2010applicationinformation,pleasevisitwww.naco.org/achievementawards.

NACo-Nationwide Scholarship now ac-Xcepting entries

Thisspring,fourhighschoolseniorswillearn$2,000forcollegefrom the NACo-Nationwide Scholarship. Winning applicants will have written a short essay describing why it’s important for a public-sector employee to start saving early for retirement. This is the fifth consecutive year Nationwide and NACo have teamed up to encourage highschoolseniorstothinkaboutretirement.

The application and essay entry must be submitted online no laterthanJan.31.

For more information, go to www.naco.org/retirementscholarship or www.nrsforu.com/scholarship.

In Case You Missed It ...News to Use from Past County News

Now that it has cleared the House, thejobspackagemovestotheSenatefor consideration, which is expected to occur in late January.


» Nancy HansenNACo Board of DirectorsCommissionerBrown County, S.D.

Profiles in Service

Number of years active in NACo: 5

Years in public service: All my life — but a commissioner since January1994

Occupation: tax preparer/real estate appraiser

My favorite way to relax is: to fish.

I’m most proud of: my children and grandchildren.

Every morning I read: the newspaper.

My favorite meal is: seafood.

My pet peeve is: the expression “always done it that way.”

My motto is: help others and enjoy life.

My favorite music is: alltypesexcepthardrock.

SpeedRead »»»

» Bill’s targets include predatory lending, credit agency reform

» Titles of interest to counties deal with consumer protection and capital markets

» Senate could take action on measure early this year

Proposed financial reform most ambitious since Depression era Program (NSP) that provides grants to state and local govern-ments to purchase and renovate foreclosed properties and makethem available for rent or sale to low- and middle-income families. NSP funds are distributed based on the Housing and Economic RecoveryActof 2008allocationformula and may be expended until Sept.30,2013.

Another $3 billion will go tothe Homeowner’s Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program(HEMAP), which is based on aprogram from Pennsylvania. The program provides emergency mort-gage relief to homeowners who are at least3monthsbehindontheirmortgage payments due to severe financial hardship from the loss of stable employment; have received a foreclosure notice; and have a reasonable prospect of being able to resumemakingfullmortgagepay-ments. Eligible homeowners may receive low-interest loans — up to $50,000—forupto24monthstomaketheirmortgagepayments.

Consumer advocates were disap-pointed when efforts to include a provision that would allow judges to modify mortgage principal for homeowners inbankruptcyfailedto pass.

Title V — Capital MarketsCurrently, private pools of capi-

tal — such as hedge funds — and their advisors escape federal regula-tion. The legislation will require all advisors to private funds with more than$150millioninassetstoregisterwith the SEC. The bill also imposes newrecordkeepinganddisclosurerequirements. The goal here is to permit regulators to better under-stand how the particular entities operate and to determine whether their activities pose a threat to the overall financial system.

Several of the title’s provisions aim to reform the credit rating industry by lessening investor reli-ance on credit rating agencies and reducing conflicts of interest.

One provision of particular importance to state and local governments requires nationally recognized statistical rating orga-nizations (such as Moody’s andFitch) to apply uniform ratings in a consistent manner to corporate and municipal securities. Even though the default rate on municipal securities is a fraction of that for corporate securities, many govern-ment securities are rated lower than their corporate counterparts. It is anticipated that the provision will correct this practice, resulting in lowerborrowingcostsandmakingiteasier for investors to participate in

themunicipalsecuritiesmarket.The legislation also addresses

a number of regulatory loopholes and provides increased protections for investors, including the require-ment that investment advisers owe a fiduciary duty to investors. In addition, the SEC will now exercise regulatory authority and establish formal rules governing municipal financial advisers.

Title I — Financial Stability

The bill creates a Financial Sta-bility Oversight Council to monitor

By steve traylor


The U.S. House of Representa-tives recently approved sweeping financial reform legislation by a vote of223–202.TheWallStreetReformand Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 4173), passed by theHouseDec.11, would impose major changes to the nation’s financial rules and addresses a number of troublesome issues, including predatory lending, credit rating agency reform and unregulated derivatives.

Containedinthe1,279-pagebillare six separate titles that touch upon nearly every aspect of the country’s finance system. Of particular inter-est to county governments are Titles IV and V, sections in the bill deal-ing with consumer protection and capitalmarkets.Followingarebrief summaries of these sections and the remaining titles in the bill.

TheSenateisexpectedtotakeaction on the bill early this year.

Title IV — Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act

This title creates the Con-sumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) — a new federal agency designed to protect the American public from unfair and abusive financial products and services. The

CFPA will have the authority to ban deceptive industry practices and will play watchdog over financial industries such as payday lenders and mortgage originators.

The title also includes compre-hensivemortgagereformandseeksto crack down on anti-predatorylending measures that helped con-tribute to the economic meltdown

and near-collapse of the U.S. hous-ingmarket.The billwill prohibitlenders from steering borrowers into higher cost loans and ensure that borrowers can repay the loans they are sold.

Further, the bill redirects $4billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) for hous-ing relief and to assist homeowners and communities dealing with the effects of the foreclosure crisis. One billion dollars will flow into the Neighborhood Stabilization

thefinancialservicesmarketplaceand identify potential threats to the stability of the United States financial system.

One of the title’s more con-troversial provisions grants the GovernmentAccountabilityOffice(GAO) the authority to audit allactionstakenbytheBoardof Gov-ernors of the Federal Reserve and the federal reserve. The provision was spearheaded by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who subsequently voted against final passage of the bill.

33states,includingsouthernborderstates such as Arizona, California andNewMexico,aswellasstatesfarremoved from the southern border suchasNewYork,NorthCarolinaandVirginia.

“NACo has long been concerned about the effects of immigration on limited county resources, schools, jails, health care systems and communities at large, said NACo President Valerie Brown.“As a result, counties are forced to react in various ways, some controversial, to address local chal-lenges associated with immigration andundocumentedworkers.NACobelieves that immigration regulation is a fundamental federal responsibil-ity and strongly supports the enact-ment of comprehensive immigration reform,” said Brown, supervisor, Sonoma County, Calif.

“Counties stand ready to Restore the Partnership with the federal government to address one of the most pressing and challenging issues we face in America.”

To help foster the partnership, Brown has created a NACo Im-migrationReformTaskForceandappointed Walter Tejada, board member, Arlington County, Va.,as chair. Tejada, along with Angel Estrada, freeholder, Union County, N.J.,andPaulMcIntosh,executivedirector, California State Associa-tion of Counties, briefed congres-sionalstaffersonJan.13ontherolecounty governments play in provid-ing services such as public safety and public health to persons residing within their boundaries, regardless of their citizenship status.

According to NACo policy, reform components should include

Respondents report surge in jail populations due to illegal immigrationIMMIGRATION from page 1 border security and enforcement;

federal funding for counties to help provide health care and education services; a sensible guest workerprogram,andaclearpathto citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Other survey results showed that many counties are providing special programs targeted toward the newly emerging immigrant population. These include community health services programs (72 percent) and adult English as a second language programs(51percent).Othershaveimplemented community relations programs (34 percent), technicalassistance programs for new busi-nesses(18percent)andcitizenshippreparation programs (17 percent).

Public safety programs have been dramatically impacted in many counties. Seventy percent of respondents report a surge in jailpopulations,and53percentsaycrime has increased.

Apart from public safety, the county programs most affected by immigration include those providing health care and education:

•increaseduseofpublichealthservices and programs (77 percent)

• increasedschoolenrollment(70percent)

• increased use of emergencyhealthservices(67percent)

• additionaldemandforschoolsocialservices(64percent),and

• increasedcostofindigentcare(57percent)

Counties report that the recent economic slowdown has caused moredemandforservices(41per-cent) and caused many immigrants to leave because of job loss (34percent)

The full survey is available at www.naco.org.

Keep up with NACo online ...

www.naco.org

See FINANCE page 5


Word SearchCounties That Begin With “J”

Created by: Christopher Johnson

J O H N S O N J Z J D Y W M Z M Y J I CK M L Q N D E S J H A J N Y N T A O V SM R R F J R E E T H I S U U I Y J S Y QR S R Q S M N J E W H V P C E D G E B KJ Q F E Z N M E J O O C S E O W E P C LU E Y U I H E R J A Y E H Q R S X H Z BJ N F N S L S O C N M L L E W E J I T VX U G F Y Q T M P A U M F J D V O N T KF S N V E J R E J O J S V F L Q U E C MR D S U U R V S N G N E N O C N I A Z ND L H F X L S A D A O N L U M J J Y Y IL W N I E P N O R H E O L J B Q Z E S RU H H G M T P S N I P J B N O S K C A JA U P E C L M S W M Z L M O G G F X G AR Z A E W O E R N N M E O B L X C G Q JE K J E F F D A V I S G J U L H O C O TJ U O Q N L F X V D K R L T C H X L U CQ K T A Y U P E A D P N O W M U K H M VO A W I Q L J Y A V E E E I M C R Z H FY P P H Y C X M P U Y W J J W W G T F B

JACK (Texas)JACKSON (Ga.)JAMES CITY (Va.) JASPER (Ill.)JAY (Ind.)JEFF DAVIS (Ga.)JEFFERSON (Wash.)

JENKINS (Ga.)JENNINGS (Ind.)JERAULD (S.D.)JEROME (Idaho)JERSEY (Ill.)JESSAMINE (Ky.)JEWELL (Kan.)

JIM HOGG (Texas)JOHNSON (Neb.)JONES (S.D.)JOSEPHINE (Ore.)JUNEAU (Pa.)

By Jeff arnolD

DEPUTY LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

According to a report from the Government AccountabilityOffice, the stimulus broadband grants that were scheduled to be announced in December have been delayed for two more months because of the complexity of the process and the sheer number of applications. Delays were brought on because of a compressed time frame to set up the program and insufficient staffing to handle the flood of applications, according totheGAOreport.

Counties that applied for broad-band funding under the stimulus plan should hear an announcement near the end of February. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)received1,770applicationsfor the$4.7billion inbroadbandgrants, which is twice as many applications and three times as much funding as the agency has handled in other grant programs. The Rural Utilities Service faces similar challenges.

These challenges put NTIA at risk of inadequately assessingadherence to the Recovery Act’s maintenance-of-effort rule, accord-ing to washingtontechnology.com. Under that provision, agencies must show that stimulus grant recipients would not have pro-ceeded with the projects “but for” or

Even though the stimulus broadband grants have been delayed for two more months, the National Telecommunications and Infor-mation Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce haslaunchedBroadbandMatch,anonlinedatabase-driventoolfor facilitating collaboration and productive partnerships among applicants for Recovery Act broadband initiatives.

The tool is part of a partnership with USDA’s Rural Utili-tiesServiceandtheWhiteHouseOpenGovernmentInitiativeto bring small and economically disadvantaged businesses and other nontraditional companies into partnerships with large enterprises that have resources to develop strong, creative grant proposals to connect the unserved and underserved populations across the country.

ToaccessBroadbandMatch,gotohttp://match.broadbandusa.gov/BTOPpartners/BPMhome.aspx.

New Online Database Helps Match Broadband Partners for Grants

Stimulus broadband grants delayed for two months

without the stimulus law funding. “Due to limited staff, NTIA may have an inability to thoroughly review applications and therefore theagency risks fundingprojectsthat might not meet the objectives of the Recovery Act’s ‘but-for’ test,” theGAOreportsaid.

NACo testified last spring that there would be many more appli-cations for funding than could be accommodated under the program and new mechanisms would need to be put in place.

Title II — Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act

Among its provisions, this title requires public companies to conduct annual shareholder advisory votes on compensation and mandates that compensa-tion committees be made up of independent directors. Further, the title requires that all financial institutions with assets in excess of $1 billion disclose compensa-tion structures that include any incentive- based elements and assigns the GAO the task of studying the correlation between compensation structure and exces-siverisk-taking.

Title III — Over-the-Counter Derivatives Markets Act

In response to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, this title sets out a comprehensive regulatory system for the over-the-counter derivatives market. Over-the-counter derivatives include swaps, which are financial contracts traded directly between two par-

ties requiring cash payments based on the performance of an asset. The market’s current volume is in thehundreds of trillions of dollars.

The legislation requires clearing and trading on exchanges or elec-tronic platforms for all standardized transactions between dealers and major swap participants. Jurisdiction over swaps is split between the Se-curities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Title VI — Federal Insurance Office

The legislation establishes the Federal Insurance Office, recogniz-ing the huge role that the insurance industry plays in the financial system — employing approximately 40percentofallfinancial servicesemployees and the federal govern-ment’s lack of expertise regardingthe industry — especially in the bond insurancemarkets.

Among its responsibilities, the office will advise the secretary of the treasury on major domestic and international insurance policy issues andwill work to identifyregulatory issues that could con-tribute to a systemic crisis in the insurance industry or the nation’s financial system.

Financial reform bill would create new federal insurance officeFINANCE from page 4


By charles taylor

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

GwinnettCounty,Ga.isabouthalfway through a six-month effort to lookat thecommunity’sneedsfor current and future government services — and how to pay for them over the next five years. It’s called EngageGwinnett,andforthestate’ssecond most populous county — with800,000residents—itcouldn’tcome at a better time.

nett Chamber of Commerce, a part-ner in the effort. Others volunteered to be involved. In all, they represent awiderangeof communitystake-holders, including senior citizens, education, health care, nonprofits, minorities and faith-based organiza-tions. The effort receives financial supportfromtheGwinnettCham-ber of Commerce.

MikeLevengood,alocalattor-ney and Chamber board member, servesasoneof EngageGwinnett’sco-chairs. “If successful, we hope this will serve as a model for how a community can inform and build consensus among its citizens re-garding this important governance issue,” he said.

At meetings, committee mem-bers hear from elected officials, county staff and local residents and participate in group discussions. Smaller work groups have beenformed to study specific service areas: community services, fire and emergency services, development and infrastructure, and law enforce-ment and judiciary.

EngageGwinnettmemberDaveMcMullenownsasmalladvertisingagency. He said as an entrepreneur, resident, parent of kids in thecounty’s school and consumer of parkservices,hebrings“multipleperspectives” to the process.

He said the county’s belt-tight-ening is a mirror of the economy in the Atlanta metropolitan area, ofwhichGwinnettisapart.

“Asamarketingcompany,we’vehad customers — long-time current customers — just say that they have to reduce their budget. Their revenue is down. And as their budgets go down,wealsohavetorethinkwhatservices we provide, the makeupof ourcompanyandthatkindof thing,”McMullensaid.

Atthefirstof EngageGwinnett’stwo January meetings (archived videoonlineattheEngageGwinnettWeb site), Levengood cautioned against two possible pitfalls in the members’ deliberations.

“First, there’s a concern that we willmakeamistakeinourrecom-mendation, because we simply don’t understand enough about how governmentworks,”hesaid.“Andsecond, there’s a concern that we willmakearecommendationthatour fellow citizens simply won’t support.”

He reassured them that all recommendations would be thor-oughly vetted and reviewed by relevant county agency directors. And what might those suggestions include?

During the Jan. 6 meeting,

Norwood Davis, spokespersonfor the community servicesworkgroup, said they’ve floated ideas concerning public libraries. These include increasing volunteer hours, staggering branch operating hours and privatizing the library system.

Forparksandrecreation,Davissaid the committee is considering ideassuchasparkingfees,userfeesand outsourcing different aspects of parkoperationormaintenance.

At the Dec. 17 meeting, the police andcourtsworkgroupheardfrom

County ‘engages’ community in prioritizing servicesInitiative lets Gwinnett County, Ga. stakeholders recommend what to fund and how

Story County, Iowa Supervisor Jane Halliburton has been ap-pointed byFEMAAdministratorW. Craig Fugate to represent local elected officials on FEMA’s Na-tional Advisory Council.

The National Advisory Council counsels Fugate on all aspects of disaster preparedness and man-agement to ensure close coordina-tion with all partners across the country.

Halliburton is a former member of NACo’s Board of Directors and currently serves on NACo’s Justice and Public Safety Steering Commit-tee, Rural Action Caucus Steering CommitteeandGreenGovernmentAdvisory Board.

In 2004, she was one of fourcountyofficialsaskedtoserveonthe Task Force on State andLo-cal Homeland Security Funding formed by then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. She repre-sents NACo on the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium Advisory Board.

the district attorney, who suggested there might be ways to lower costs in the indigent defense system.

The online meeting report states that the current system leads to higher costs because court-appointed lawyers are paid by the hour; so they have an incentive to increase their billable hours. The group discussed whether moving to a public defender system might lower costs.

Tokeepthecommunityinformed,engagegwinnett.comhaslinkstovideosummaries and full videos of the meetings, as well as comprehensive written meeting reports in PDF format.Italsohasthesocialnetwork-ingbasescovered,withaFacebookaccount and Twitter feed.

McMullen says he appreci-ates the openness of the process. “Whether this produces any huge results or makes a big impact, Ireally appreciate the inclusiveness of it. The openness that our county leadershavedecidedtotake….Ithinkisreallyimportant.”

The process will open to the broader public next month with a series of meetings at which some tentative recommendations will be shared. The committee is scheduled make recommendations to theCounty Board this spring on desired services, service levels and revenues.

Photo courtesy of Gwinnett County, Ga.

Julie Post, an Engage Gwinnett advisory committee member, captures points being made during one of the group’s meetings. The Gwinnett Technical College official brings a higher education background to the initiative.

FEMA appoints Story County, Iowa supervisor to advisory committee

“Through NACo, Jane has been a leading and effective voice on national issues affecting local government for many years and is an outstanding choice to represent the interests of local government and communities on critical emer-gency management issues,” said

NACo Executive Director Larry E.Naake.

The National Advisory Coun-cil is composed of emergency management and law enforcement leaders from state, local and tribal governments and the private sector. Membersservethree-yeartermsandare selected based on their expertise in emergency management and re-sponse, public health, infrastructure protection, cyber-security, com-munications and other areas related toFEMA’smission.Chartered in2007, the council holds quarterlymeetings open to the public.

“I am honored to be appointed to FEMA’sNationalAdvisoryCoun-cil,” Halliburton said. “It’s critical that the voice of local governments and communities is heard at the federal level on these issues and this appoint-ment helps us achieve that goal.”

Halliburton is a past president of the Iowa State Association of County Supervisors and served on the board of directors of the Iowa State Association of Counties.

2009 was a rollercoaster of ayearforGwinnettCounty’sBoardof Commissioners. Experiencing falling revenues from the economic downturn, the fiscally conservative County Board last spring found itself in the unpopular position of proposing a tax hike tomaintaincounty services — after decades of rapid growth. It would have raised property taxes 25 percent to 30percent. After a citizen revolt, the board instead approved more than $225millioninbudgetcutsoverthenextfiveyearstokeepthebudgetbalanced. Later in the year, the boardokayeda21percentpropertytax increase, to help restore some services and programs.

“To emerge from this challenge successfully, which I’m confident we will, we need informed recom-mendations from people throughout our community,” said Charles E. Bannister,chairmanof Gwinnett’sBoard of Commissioners. “As elected officials, we need to hear from informed citizens about what services and service levels they want the county to provide and howtheythinkweshouldpayforthose services.”

EngageGwinnett(www.engageg-winnett.com)kickedoff withapublicmeeting last Sept. 9 and recentlyconducted its seventh full committee sessionJan.6.A42-membercitizenscommittee, including an alternate for each member, convenes every twoweeksinmeetingsthatareopento the public.

Some members were appointed bytheCountyBoardortheGwin-

SpeedRead »»»

» Engage Gwinnett lets community stakeholders help set county priorities

» 42-member advisory group will recommend services, service levels and how to fund them

» Initiative is a partnership between county government and local Chamber of Commerce

Jane HalliburtonStory County, Iowa Supervisor


By shannon clarke

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL INTERN

Countiesnationwidehavetrackedand assessed energy performance for morethan500buildingsasaresultofNACo’sENERGYSTARBench-markingAssistanceProgram.Janu-arymarkssixyearsthatNACo,inpartnership with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGYSTAR Program, has helped counties improve energy efficiency and reduce operational costs.

NACo’s partnership with the ENERGYSTARProgrambeganin2004with the inceptionof theENERGY STAR CourthouseCampaign. For the first time coun-ties were able to use a simple online tooltologandtrackenergyuseincounty courthouses and administra-tive buildings.

Robert Downing, Calhoun Coun-ty, Ala. commissioner and NACo GreenGovernmentInitiativeboardmember, was integral in initiating the campaign. Downing notes, “There is somewhere around 500 millionsquare-feet of county courthouse space in the country, and if we could get those buildings to be more energy-efficient, it would save a lot of money. With the support of NACo staff the campaign became a reality.”

The campaign has since ex-panded and is now called the ENERGY STAR Challenge. Itencourages counties to conserve energyandbenchmarkenergyusefor all building types.

Portfolio ManagerAkeyfeatureof theENERGY

STAR Program is the Portfolio Manager tool, a free, interactiveonline tool that enables counties to track and assess energy andwater consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and energy costs for individual buildings or “portfolios” of buildings. By measuring con-sumption, counties can evaluate cost savings, set up investment

priorities, detect under-performing buildings, and verify the efficacy of energy-efficient improvements. To date, NACo has assisted more than100countiesinusingPortfolioManagertobenchmarktheirbuild-ings’ energy use.

Washington County, Ore. began using PortfolioManager in 2008and currently monitors 23 build-ings, seven of which qualify for the ENERGYSTARlabel.

“OurgoalistogetanENERGYSTAR label for all of our buildings that qualify while continuing to im-prove savings on energy consump-tion for the rest of our facilities,” said Philip Bransford, Washington County’s communications officer.

“Any time we use less energy we are improving the environment along with saving taxpayers’ dollars.”

ENERGY STAR CountiesA number of counties have

received ENERGY STAR labelsfortheirbuildings.MohaveCounty,Ariz. leads with eight labeled buildings. Arapaho County, Colo., VenturaCounty,Calif.,andCuya-hoga County, Ohio each have five qualified buildings.

Mohave County started itsbenchmarkingeffortsin2005whenit joined the Green GovernmentInitiativeandbecameanENERGYSTAR Partner. For the past three years Mohave County buildingshave been collecting ENERGYSTAR labels. By the end of this year,thecountyhopestoreach10qualified buildings.

“Our goal is to be proactive in preserving and protecting natural resources and the environment,” saidGeneHelper,manager,MohaveCountyOfficeof ManagementandBudget.“Weuse[benchmarking]asameanstoletpeopleknowwearedoing our part to be more energy-efficient.Outthere,peopleknowtheENERGYSTARlabel.”

CertificationENERGYSTARcertificationis

not easy to earn. The label must be renewed every year and each build-

NACo’s ENERGY STAR program reaches 500+ county buildings

How Portfolio Manager Works

InPortfolioManagertheenergyperformanceof abuildingisratedonascalefrom1to100.Theratingevaluatesenergyconsump-tion, building type, square footage and weather normalization. It is developed based on similar buildings included in the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey, a national survey conducted by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. Aratingof 50indicatesthatabuilding’senergyperformanceis50percentbetterthanallsimilarbuildingsnationwide.Buildingsearningaratingof 75orgreatermayqualifyfortheENERGYSTAR label, which signifies exceptional energy performance.

ENERGYSTARdoesnotofferratingsforallbuildingtypes,suchas jails, cafeterias and libraries, but counties can still use Portfolio Managertotrackenergyconsumptionandcosts.

ing has to be certified by a profes-sionalengineer,butthehardworkpaysoff.ENERGYSTARbuildingsare proven to optimize operational costs, benefit the environment and il-lustrate environmental leadership.

ENERGY STAR certificationalso paves the way for additional cer-

For more information, visit www.naco.org/NCGM.

tifications and awards. Ada County, Idaho was one of the first counties toearnanENERGYSTARlabelin2004,andlaterreceivedaLEEDSilver certification for its courthouse fromtheU.S.GreenBuildingCoun-cil.ByearningtheENERGYSTARlabel, the courthouse became one of the nation’s most efficient buildings to operate.

PortfolioManagerhasalsobeenvery useful to counties competing for Energy Efficiency and Conserva-tionBlockGrant(EECBG)programfunds.“BenchmarkinghelpedwiththeEECBGgrant,whichrequiredthat energy consumption be mea-sured,” Helper noted.

Portfolio Manager serves asa catalyst for energy-efficiency improvements and other “green” initiatives, which create cost savings, improve public health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Goingforward, NACo plans to expand itsenergybenchmarkingassistanceand significantly increase the num-ber of participating counties.

“I am proud of the fact that [counties] are collectively able tojoin throughNACo tomake im-provements and show environmen-tal leadership,” said Downing. “But we’ve only scratched the surface of our opportunities in terms of what we can be doing as counties. Our opportunity to expand and improve is limitless.”

If youwouldliketogetinvolvedwiththeNACoENERGYSTARBenchmarking Assistance Pro-gram, please visit www.naco.org/greencounties.

NATIONAL COUNTYGOVERNMENT MONTH

“Healthy Counties”Showcase Your

County’s Successes — April 2010

Photo courtesy of Mohave County, Ariz.

Mohave County, Ariz. officials pose with ENERGY STAR certificates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy recognizing eight county buildings for exceptional energy savings Dec. 7, during a Board of Supervisors meeting. Pictured (l-r) are Sheriff Tom Sheahan, Supervisor Gary Watson, Lisa Samstag from the County Attorney’s Office, Supervisor Buster Johnson, Public Works Director Steven Latoski, Gracemarie LaBarge (retired employee who had helped quantify energy-saving stats), Judge John Taylor, Eileen Jacobsen from UniSource Electric and Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Tom Sockwell.


● Local Delivery Systems – Access for All

NACo Policy

NACo believes that reform must focus on access and delivery of quality health services. Coverage is not enough. County officials, particularly in remote rural or large urban areas know that even those with in-surance may have difficulty gaining access to the services of a health care provider, which can be exacerbated by the severity of their illness. Insurance carriers participating in public programs should be required to extend coverage into rural areas and to con-tract with local providers.

Local delivery systems should coordinate services to ensure efficient and cost-effective access to care, particularly primary and pre-ventive care, for underserved populations. County governments are uniquely qualified to convene the appropriate public and pri-vate partners to build these local delivery systems in a way that will respect the unique needs of individuals and their communities. A restored federal commitment to such part-nerships is necessary for equity’s sake.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)Sec. 1152. Require the Secretary to develop a plan to reform Medicare payments for post-acute services, including bundled payments, to improve the coordination, quality and efficiency of such services and improve outcomes. (Effective January 1, 2011)

Sec. 1301. Conduct Medicare and Medicaid pilot program to test pay-ment incentive models for accountable care organizations and to as-sess the feasibility of reimbursing qualified patient-centered medical homes. Adopt these models on a large scale if pilot programs prove successful at reducing costs. (Implementation of medical home pilots upon enactment; implementation of accountable care organization pilots by January 1, 2012)

Sec. 1907. Establish the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test payment and service delivery models to improve quality and efficiency. Evaluate all models and expand those models that improve quality without increasing spending or reduce spending without re-ducing quality, or both. (Effective January 1, 2011)

Sec. 1157. Require the Institute of Medicine to conduct a study on geographic adjustment factors in Medicare and require the Secretary to issue regulations to revise the geographic adjustment factors based on the recommendations. (Report due one year following enactment; proposed regulations issued following submission of report)

Sec. 1905. Require the Secretary to improve coordination of care for dual eligibles through a new office or program within CMS. (Report of activities due within one year of enactment)

Sec. 1907. Establish the Center for Quality Improvement to identify, develop, evaluate, disseminate, and implement best practices in the delivery of health care services. Develop national priorities for perfor-mance improvement and quality measures for the delivery of health care services. (Effective dates vary) Sec. 2534. Establish the Community-based Collaborative Care Network Program to support consortiums of health care providers to coordinate and integrate health care services, manage chronic conditions, and reduce emergency department use for low-income uninsured and un-derinsured populations. (Funds appropriated for five years beginning FY 2011)

Division B, Title II, Subtitle B. Reduce racial and ethnic disparities by conducting a study on the feasibility of developing Medicare payment systems for language services, providing Medicare demonstration grants to reimburse culturally and linguistically appropriate services and developing standards for the collection of data on race, ethnicity, and primary language. (Report due to Congress one year following enactment)

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)Sec. 3023. Establish a national Medicare pilot program to develop and evaluate paying a bundled payment for acute, inpatient hospital ser-vices, physician services, outpatient hospital services, and post-acute care services for an episode of care that begins three days prior to a hospitalization and spans 30 days following discharge. If the pilot pro-gram achieves stated goals of improving or not reducing quality and reducing spending, develop a plan for expanding the pilot program. (Establish pilot program by January 1, 2013; develop expansion imple-mentation plan, if called for, by January 1, 2016)

Sec. 3021. Establish the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to test payment and service delivery models to improve quality and efficiency. Evaluate all models and expand those models that improve quality without increasing spending or reduce spending without re-ducing quality, or both. (Effective January 1, 2011)

Sec. 2602. Improve care coordination for dual eligibles by creating a new office within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, the Federal Coordinated Health Care Office, to more effectively integrate Medicare and Medicaid benefits and improve coordination between the federal government and states in order to improve access to and quality of care and services for dual eligibles. (Effective March 1, 2010)

Sec. 2703. Create a new Medicaid state plan option to permit Medicaid enrollees with at least two chronic conditions, one condition and risk of developing another, or at least one serious and persistent mental health condition to designate a provider as a health home. Provide states taking up the option with 90% FMAP for two years. (Effective January 1, 2011)

Sec. 2704. Create new demonstration projects in Medicaid to pay bundled payments for episodes of care that include hospitalizations (effective January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2016); Sec. 2705. Make global capitated payments to safety net hospital systems (effec-tive fiscal years 2010 through 2012); Sec. 2706. Allow pediatric medical providers organized as accountable care organizations to share in cost-savings (effective January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2016); Sec. 2707. Provide Medicaid payments to institutions of mental disease for adult enrollees who require stabilization of an emergency condition

(effective October 1, 2011 through December 31, 2015).

Sec. 10333. Establish the Community-based Collaborative Care Net-work Program to support consortiums of health care providers to co-ordinate and integrate health care services, for low-income uninsured and underinsured populations. (Funds appropriated for five years be-ginning in FY 2011)

Title III, Subtitle A, Part II. Develop a national quality improvement strategy that includes priorities to improve the delivery of health care services, patient health outcomes, and population health. Create pro-cesses for the development of quality measures involving input from multiple stakeholders and for selecting quality measures to be used in reporting to and payment under federal health programs. (National strategy due to Congress by January 1, 2011)

Sec. 4302. Require enhanced collection and reporting of data on race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, disability status, and for underserved rural and frontier populations. Also require collection of access and treatment data for people with disabilities. Require the Secretary to analyze the data to monitor trends in disparities. (Effective two years following enactment)

Sec. 4101. Improve access to care by establishing new programs to sup-port school-based health centers (effective fiscal year 2010); Sec. 5208. Nurse-managed health clinics (effective fiscal year 2010); Sec. 5601. Enhance funding for federally qualified health centers (initial appropria-tion in fiscal year 2010).

Sec. 10502. Provides funding to HHS for construction or debt service on hospital construction costs for a new health facility meeting certain criteria.

Sec. 10503. Establishes a Community Health Centers and National Health Service Corps Fund. The fund will create an expanded and sus-tained national investment in community health centers under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act and the National Health Service Corps.

Health Reform and NACo Policy

Reform policy table continues on next page

How do the two competing health care reform bills address important county health care concerns? Paul Beddoe, associate legislative director for health policy, details the provisions in the House and Senate measures that relate to NACo policy. If you have questions, you may contact Beddoe at [email protected].



● Public Health and Wellness

NACo Policy

NACo believes that a greater focus on disease and injury prevention and health promotion is a way to improve the health of our communities and to reduce health care costs. Disease and injury prevention and health promotion services can be de-livered by a health care professional one patient at a time. Local health departments, in partnership with community based orga-nizations and traditional health care provid-ers, deliver community-based prevention services targeted at an entire population. Population-based prevention services can save money by keeping people healthy and reducing the costs of treating unchecked chronic disease.

These critical services include assessment of the health status of communities to identify the unique and most pressing health prob-lems of each community and health educa-tion to provide individuals with the knowl-edge and skills to maintain and improve their own health. The public health response to emergencies should be fully integrated into each county’s emergency management plan. Local public health considerations likewise should be systematically integrated into land use planning and community de-sign processes to help prevent injuries and chronic disease.

Policies are also needed to address health inequity, the systemic, avoidable, unfair and unjust differences in health status and mortality rates, as well as the distribution of disease and illness across population groups. Investing in wellness and prevention across all communities will result in better health outcomes, increased productivity and re-duce costs associated with chronic diseases.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)Division C, Title III. Develop a national strategy to improve the nation’s health through evidenced-based clinical and community-based pre-vention and wellness activities. Create task forces on Clinical Preventive Services and Community Preventive Services to develop, update, and disseminate evidenced-based recommendations on the use of clinical and community prevention services.

Sec. 3161. Establish a grant program to support state, local and tribal core public health infrastructure.

Sec. 3151. Establish a grant program to support the delivery of evi-dence-based and community-based prevention and wellness services aimed at reducing health disparities. Train community health workers to promote positive health behaviors in medically underserved com-munities.

Sec. 2535. Provide grants to plan and implement programs to prevent obesity among children and their families. (Funds appropriated for five years beginning FY 2011)

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)Sec. 4001. Establish the National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council to coordinate federal prevention, wellness, and public health activities. Develop a national strategy to improve the na-tion’s health. (Strategy due one year following enactment)

Sec. 4002. Create a Prevention and Public Health Fund to expand and sustain funding for prevention and public health programs. (Initial ap-propriation in fiscal year 2010)

Sec. 4003. Create task forces on Preventive Services and Community Preventive Services to develop, update, and disseminate evidenced-based recommendations on the use of clinical and community preven-tion services. (Effective upon enactment)

Sec. 4105-Sec. 4106. Improve prevention by covering only proven pre-ventive services and eliminating cost-sharing for preventive services in Medicare and Medicaid. (Effective January 1, 2011) For states that provide Medicaid coverage for and remove cost-sharing for preven-tive services recommended by the US Preventive Services Task Force and recommended immunizations, provide a one percentage point increase in the FMAP for these services. Increase Medicare payments for certain preventive services to 100% of actual charges or fee schedule rates. (Effective January 1, 2011)

Sec. 4103. Provide Medicare beneficiaries access to a comprehensive health risk assessment and creation of a personalized prevention plan. (Health risk assessment model developed within 18 months following enactment) Provide incentives to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to complete behavior modification programs. (Effective January 1, 2011 or when program criteria is developed, whichever is first) Require Medicaid coverage for tobacco cessation services for pregnant women. (Effective October 1, 2010)

Sec. 1302. Require qualified health plans to provide coverage without cost-sharing for preventive services rated A or B by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, recommended immunizations, and preventive care

for infants, children, and adolescents and additional preventive care and screenings for women. (Effective six months following enactment)

Sec. 10408. Provide grants for up to five years to small employers that establish wellness programs. (Funds appropriated for five years begin-ning in fiscal year 2011)

Sec. 4303. Provide technical assistance and other resources to evalu-ate employer-based wellness programs. Conduct a national worksite health policies and programs survey to assess employer-based health policies and programs. (Conduct study within two years following en-actment)

Sec. 1201. Permit employers to offer employees rewards—in the form of premium discounts, waivers of cost-sharing requirements, or benefits that would otherwise not be provided—of up to 30% of the cost of coverage for participating in a wellness program and meeting certain health-related standards. Employers must offer an alternative standard for individuals for whom it is unreasonably difficult or inadvis-able to meet the standard. The reward limit may be increased to 50% of the cost of coverage if deemed appropriate. (Effective January 1, 2014) Establish 10-state pilot programs by July 2014 to permit participating states to apply similar rewards for participating in wellness programs in the individual market and expand demonstrations in 2017 if effective. Require a report on the effectiveness and impact of wellness programs. (Report due three years following enactment)

Sec. 4205. Require chain restaurants and food sold from vending ma-chines to disclose the nutritional content of each item. (Proposed regu-lations issued within one year of enactment)

Sec. 10501 (g). Establishes a national diabetes prevention program at the CDC. State, local, and tribal public health departments and non-profit entities can use funds for community-based prevention activities, training and outreach, and evaluation.

Health reform policy table continued

● Expanding Coverage

NACo Policy

NACo supports universal health insurance coverage. Existing public health insur-ance systems should be strengthened and expanded, including Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). As states and counties attempt to shoulder their legislatively man-dated responsibilities to provide care for the indigent and uninsured, federal regulatory barriers should be removed to allow flexibil-ity and innovation at the local level.

Restrictions on the expansion of County Organized Health Systems should be lifted and they should be authorized to serve as a public plan option in their service areas. Furthermore, in the effort to expand cover-age, reformers should not forget that the coverage must be meaningful, without imposing additional mandates on county governments.

The benefit package must be defined so as to provide the full range of services people need, including prevention services, phar-maceuticals, dental, full parity for behavioral health, substance abuse and developmental disability services. Barriers to cost-effective treatments, like living organ donation, should be removed.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)

Division A, Titles III, IV and V. Require individuals to have health insur-ance. Create a Health Insurance Exchange through which individuals and smaller employers can purchase health coverage, with premium and cost-sharing credits available to individuals/families with incomes up to 400% of the federal poverty level (or $73,240 for a family of three in 2009). Require employers to provide coverage to employees or pay into a Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund, with exceptions for certain small employers, and provide certain small employers a credit to offset the costs of providing coverage. Impose new regulations on plans par-ticipating in the Exchange and in the small group insurance market.

Division B, Title VII. Expand Medicaid to all individuals under age 65 (children, pregnant women, parents, and adults without dependent children) with incomes up to 150% FPL. Provide Medicaid coverage for all newborns who lack acceptable coverage and provide optional Medicaid coverage to low-income HIV-infected individuals (with en-hanced matching funds) until 2013 and for family planning services to certain low-income women. In addition, increase Medicaid pay-ment rates for primary care providers to 100% of Medicare rates by 2012. Require states to submit a state plan amendment specifying the payment rates to be paid under the state’s Medicaid program. The coverage expansions (except the optional expansions) and the enhanced provider payments will be financed with 100% federal financing through 2014 and 91% federal financing beginning in year 2015. (Effective January 1, 2013)

Sec. 1703. Repeal the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and require CHIP enrollees with incomes above 150% FPL to obtain cover-age through the Health Insurance Exchange beginning in 2014. CHIP enrollees with incomes between 100% and 150% FPL would be transi-tioned to Medicaid and states would receive the CHIP enhanced match rate for children above current levels and up to 150% FPL. Require a report to Congress with recommendations to ensure that coverage in the Health Insurance Exchange is comparable to coverage under an average CHIP plan and that there are procedures to transfer CHIP en-rollees into the exchange without interrupting coverage or with a writ-ten plan of treatment. (Report due by December 31, 2011)

Division A, Title II, Subtitle C. Create an essential benefits package that provides a comprehensive set of services, covers 70% of the actuarial value of the covered benefits, limits annual cost-sharing to $5,000/individual and $10,000/family, does not require cost-sharing for pre-ventive services, and does not impose annual or lifetime limits on cov-erage. The Health Benefits Advisory Council, chaired by the Surgeon General, will make recommendations on specific services to be covered by the essential benefits package as well as cost-sharing levels. Prohibit abortion coverage from being required as part of the essential benefits package. (Health Benefits Advisory Council report due one year follow-ing enactment; essential benefits package becomes effective January 1, 2013)


● Maintaining a Safety Net

NACo Policy

NACo believes that the intergovern-mental partnership envisioned in the Medicaid statute should be restored and strengthened. Medicaid reimbursement rates should be enhanced and increases to the Medicaid federal medical assistance per-centage (FMAP) should be passed through to counties contributing to the non-federal share. Local safety nets, supported by Med-icaid and disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, should not be dismantled to “pay for” universal coverage.

We must not allow the safety net infrastruc-ture to be undermined. County hospitals and health systems provide surge capacity, emergency and trauma services and other critical high cost services like neo-natal, HIV/AIDS and burn care. Safety net hospitals will continue to need extra support to carry out their missions, including addressing health disparities. Health care is not just coverage it is also access and it is the safety net hospitals where translation services for hundreds of languages can be found. DSH payments address two otherwise un-reimbursed costs: (1) services provided to the uninsured and underinsured; and (2) Medicaid reimbursement rates that pay less than the cost of providing health services. It is too early to predict the net effect of Med-icaid expansion and reimbursement reform. In addition, unfortunately, there will always be some individuals who will remain unin-sured. These and other at-risk populations financed by DSH are unlikely to be among the groups to be covered in the initial stages of reform.

All individuals, including the uninsured, should receive treatment and DSH supports that care. Therefore DSH payments should not be phased out or down until health care reform is fully implemented and its effects on DSH payments can be accurately as-sessed. Assumptions should not be made that DSH can be cut by any arbitrary amount on some arbitrary timeline during the imple-mentation of heath care reform.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)Sec. 1701. The Medicaid coverage expansions (except the optional ex-pansions) and the enhanced provider payments will be 100% federally financed through 2014 and 90% federally financed beginning in year 2015.Sec. 1704. Reduces federal DSH payments by $1.5 billion in FY 2017; $2.5 billion in FY 2018 and $6 billion in FY 2019 using a formula that imposes the largest percentage reductions on states that have the low-est percentages of uninsured.

Requires a report on the continued role of DSH by January 1, 2016. The report would also include recommendations about targeting DSH within states and distributing DSH across states.

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)Sec. 2001 and Sec. 10201. To finance the coverage for the newly eligible (those who were not previously eligible for a full benchmark benefit package or who were eligible for a capped program but were not enrolled), states will receive 100% federal funding for 2014 through 2016. Beginning in 2017, financing for the newly eligible will be shared between the states and the federal government through an increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP). For states that already cover adults with incomes above 100% FPL, the percentage point increase in the FMAP will be 30.3 in 2017 and 31.3 in 2018. For all other states, the percentage point increase in the FMAP will be 34.3 in 2017 and 33.3 in 2018, except Nebraska, which will continue receiving 100% federal funding for newly eligibles after 2017. Beginning in 2019, all states will receive an FMAP increase of 32.3 percentage points for the newly eligible. Certain states not eligible for the enhanced federal funding because they had already expanded Medicaid to adults with incomes above 133% FPL will receive a 2.2 percentage point increase in their FMAP for parents and childless adults who are not newly eligible for 2014 through 2019 or a 0.5 percentage point increase in the FMAP for 2014 through 2016. (Effective January 1, 2014)

Sec. 10201 (c). Requires states to share the benefit of increased federal match with counties that contribute to the non-federal share of Medic-aid costs.

Sec. 2551 and Sec. 10201 (e). Reduce a state’s Medicaid DSH allotment by 50%, or 25% for low DSH states, (and by lesser percentages for states meeting certain criteria) once the state’s uninsured rate decreases by at least 45%. DSH allotments will be further reduced, not to fall below 50% of the total allotment in 2012 if states’ uninsured rates continue to decrease. Exempt any portion of the DSH allotment used to expand Medicaid eligibility through a section 1115 waiver. (Effective October 1, 2011)

Sec. 9007 and Sec. 10903. Impose additional requirements on non-profit hospitals to conduct a community needs assessment every three years and adopt an implementation strategy to meet the identified needs, adopt and widely publicize a financial assistance policy that indicates whether free or discounted care is available and how to ap-ply for the assistance, limit charges to patients who qualify for financial assistance to the amount generally billed to insured patients, and make reasonable attempts to determine eligibility for financial assistance before undertaking extraordinary collection actions. Impose a tax of $50,000 per year for failure to meet these requirements. (Effective for taxable years following enactment)




NACo Policy

NACo supports universal health insurance coverage. Existing public health insur-ance systems should be strengthened and expanded, including Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). As states and counties attempt to shoulder their legislatively man-dated responsibilities to provide care for the indigent and uninsured, federal regulatory barriers should be removed to allow flexibil-ity and innovation at the local level.

Restrictions on the expansion of County Organized Health Systems should be lifted and they should be authorized to serve as a public plan option in their service areas. Furthermore, in the effort to expand cover-age, reformers should not forget that the coverage must be meaningful, without imposing additional mandates on county governments.


Continued from page 9

The benefit package must be defined so as to provide the full range of services people need, including prevention services, phar-maceuticals, dental, full parity for behavioral health, substance abuse and developmental disability services. Barriers to cost-effective treatments, like living organ donation, should be removed.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)Title I. Require most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have health insurance. Create state-based American Health Benefit Exchanges through which individuals can purchase coverage, with premium and cost-sharing credits available to individuals/families with income between 100-400% of the federal poverty level (the poverty level is $18,310 for a family of three in 2009) and create separate Exchanges through which small businesses can purchase coverage. Require employers to pay penalties for employees who receive tax credits for health insurance through an Exchange, with exceptions for small em-ployers. Impose new regulations on health plans in the Exchanges and in the individual and small group markets.

Title II, Subtitle A and Sec. 10201. Expand Medicaid to all individuals under age 65 (children, pregnant women, parents, and adults without

dependent children) with incomes up to 133% FPL based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). All newly eligible adults will be guaran-teed a benchmark benefit package that at least provides the essential health benefits. Require states to provide premium assistance to any Medicaid beneficiary with access to employer-sponsored insurance if it is cost-effective for the state. Sec. 2101. Require states to maintain cur-rent income eligibility levels for children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) until 2019 and extend funding for CHIP through 2015. CHIP benefit package and cost-sharing rules will continue as under current law. Beginning in 2015, states will receive a 23 percentage point increase in the CHIP match rate up to a cap of 100%. CHIP-eligible children who are unable to enroll in the program due to enrollment caps will be eligible for tax credits in the state Ex-changes.

All qualified health benefits plans, including those offered through the Exchange and those offered outside of the Exchange (except certain grandfathered individual and employer-sponsored plans) must provide at least the essential benefits package. (Effective January 1, 2013)

Require a report on including oral health benefits in the essential ben-efits package. (Report due one year following enactment)


● Health Workforce

NACo Policy

NACo believes that the health profes-sional and paraprofessional workforce must be supported and enhanced. It is important that we sustain training programs and sites of service that enable us to develop a complement of health professionals that can address the needs of a changing, grow-ing and aging population.

Public hospitals have often been teaching hospitals. The sites of service include hos-pitals, outpatient clinics, and community health centers. These settings provide access for patients seeking care, and a diverse set of patient conditions and cultures that make for a comprehensive learning experience. Reasonable medical education funding is an integral part of the business model of these institutions.

Every effort should be made to recruit, train, license and retain health professionals, and allied professionals and paraprofessionals, on an expedited basis. A large body of evi-dence supports the contribution of direct care staff, nurses and nursing assistants, to quality outcomes. Funding for existing edu-cation and training programs – in secondary, post-secondary and vocational educational settings – should be increased and targeted towards initiatives to expand and diversify the health workforce.

Partnerships between local economic developers and workforce development professionals should be encouraged to meet growing health care sector demand. Tar-geted incentives including scholarships, loan forgiveness and low-interest loan repayment programs should be developed to encour-age more providers to enter and remain in primary care and public health careers. Pri-mary care providers should be empowered to – and compensated for – case manage-ment services.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)Sec. 2261. Establish a multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment to develop and implement a national health workforce strategy. (Funds appropriated beginning FY 2011)

Division B, Title V. Reform Graduate Medical Education to increase train-ing of primary care providers by redistributing residency positions and promote training in outpatient settings, including through a Teaching Health Center demonstration project. (Effective July 1, 2011)

Division C, Title II, Subtitle A. Support training of health professionals through scholarships and loans; establish a primary care training and capacity building program; establish a loan repayment program for professionals who work in health professions needs areas; establish a public health workforce corps; promote training of a diverse workforce;

and provide cultural competence training for health care professionals. Support the development of interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training programs and establish a training program for oral health professionals. (Funds appropriated beginning FY 2011)

Division C, Title II, Subtitle B. Address the projected shortage of nurses and retention of nurses by increasing the capacity for education, sup-porting training programs, providing loan repayment and retention grants, and creating a career ladder to nursing.

Division C, Title II, Subtitle D. Support the development of interdisci-plinary health training programs that focus on team-based models, including medical home models and models that integrate physical, mental, and oral health services. (Funds appropriated beginning FY 2011)

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)Sec. 5101. Establish a multi-stakeholder National Health Care Workforce Commission to develop a national workforce strategy. (Appointments made by September 30, 2010)

Sec. 5506. Increase the number of Graduate Medical Education (GME) training positions by redistributing currently unused slots, with priori-ties given to primary care and general surgery and to states with the lowest resident physician-to-population ratios (effective July 1, 2011); Sec. 5504. Increase flexibility in laws and regulations that govern GME funding to promote training in outpatient settings (effective July 1, 2010); and ensure the availability of residency programs in rural and underserved areas. Sec. 5508. Establish Teaching Health Centers, de-fined as community-based, ambulatory patient care centers, including federally qualified health centers and other federally-funded health centers that are eligible for Medicare payments for the expenses associ-ated with operating primary care residency programs. (Initial appro-priation in fiscal year 2010)

Title V, Subtitles C through E. Increase workforce supply and support training of health professionals through scholarships and loans; sup-port primary care training and capacity building; establish a public health workforce loan repayment program; promote training of a di-verse workforce; and promote cultural competence training of health care professionals. (Effective dates vary) Support the development of

interdisciplinary mental and behavioral health training programs (ef-fective fiscal year 2010) and establish a training program for oral health professionals. (Funds appropriated for six years beginning in fiscal year 2010) Address the projected shortage of nurses and retention of nurses by increasing the capacity for education, supporting training programs, providing loan repayment and retention grants, and creating a career ladder to nursing. (Initial appropriation in fiscal year 2010)

Sec. 5403. Support the development of training programs that focus on primary care models such as medical homes, team management of chronic disease, and those that integrate physical and mental health ser-vices. (Funds appropriated for five years beginning in fiscal year 2010)

Sec. 10501 (k) Creates a state grant program to support health care providers who treat a high percentage of medically underserved popu-lations.

Sec. 10501 (l) Authorizes grants for medical schools to establish pro-grams that recruit students from underserved rural areas who have a desire to practice in their hometowns. Programs would provide stu-dents with specialized training in rural health issues, and assist them in finding residencies that specialize in training doctors for practice in underserved rural communities.

● Long Term Care

NACo Policy

Federal policies should encourage the elderly and disabled to receive the ser-vices they need in the least restrictive environment. Since counties provide and otherwise support long term care and other community based services for the elderly and disabled, state and federal regulations and funding programs should give them the flexibility to support the full continuum of home, community-based or institutional care for persons needing assistance with activities of daily living. Nursing home regu-latory oversight should be reformed in order to foster more person-centered care environ-ments.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)Sec. 3201 ff. Establish a national, voluntary insurance program for purchasing community living assistance services and supports (CLASS program). Following a five-year vesting period, the program will pro-vide individuals with functional limitations a cash benefit of not less than an average of $50 per day to purchase non-medical services and

supports necessary to maintain community residence. The program is financed through voluntary payroll deductions: all working adults will be automatically enrolled in the program, unless they choose to opt-out. (Effective 2010)

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)Title VIII. Establish a national, voluntary insurance program for purchas-ing community living assistance services and supports (CLASS pro-gram). Following a five-year vesting period, the program will provide individuals with functional limitations a cash benefit of not less than an average of $50 per day to purchase non-medical services and supports necessary to maintain community residence. The program is financed through voluntary payroll deductions: all working adults will be auto-matically enrolled in the program, unless they choose to opt-out. (Ef-fective January 1, 2011)

Sec. 2403. Extend the Medicaid Money Follows the Person Rebalancing Demonstration program through September 2016. (effective 30 days following enactment)

Sec. 2405 Allocate $10 million per year for five years to continue the Aging and Disability Resource Center initiatives (funds appropriated for

fiscal years 2010 through 2014).

Sec. 2402. Provide states with new options for offering home and community-based services through a Medicaid state plan rather than through a waiver for individuals with incomes up to 300% of the maximum SSI payment and who have a higher level of need and permit states to extend full Medicaid benefits to individual receiving home and community-based services under a state plan. (Effective October 1, 2010)

Sec. 2401. Establish the Community First Choice Option in Medicaid to provide community-based attendant supports and services to individ-uals with disabilities who require an institutional level of care. Provide states with an enhanced federal matching rate of an additional six per-centage points for reimbursable expenses in the program. Sunset the option after five years. (Effective October 1, 2010)




● Jail Health

NACo Policy

Reforming America’s health care system must include reforms to its jail system. Counties are responsible for providing health care for incarcerated individuals as required by the U.S. Supreme Court in Estelle v. Gam-ble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976). This unfunded man-date constitutes a major portion of local jail operating costs and a huge burden on local property tax payers. The federal government should lift the unfunded mandate by restor-ing its obligation for health care coverage for eligible inmates, pre-conviction. Further-more, a true national partnership is needed to divert the non-violent mentally ill from jail and into appropriate evidence-based treat-ment in community settings, if possible.

Finally, resources should be made available to counties to implement timely, compre-hensive reentry programs so that former inmates have access to all the health and social services, including behavioral health and substance abuse treatment, to avoid recidivism and become fully integrated into the community.

House • Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962)Sec. 1729. Requires states to suspend, rather than terminate Medicaid coverage for youths under 18 and ensure that they are enrolled on or before release if they are still eligible.

Senate • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)Sec. 1312 (f)(1)(B). Disqualifies individuals who are incarcerated from enrolling in coverage on the exchange, unless they are in custody pending disposition of charges.


● Health IT

NACo Policy

The federal government should support the integration of health information technologies into the local health care delivery system.

Neither the Senate nor House bill contains provisions addressing health information technologies. However, funding was made available for Health IT efforts in the Recovery Act.

By cinDy Wasser COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION

Wildfire risk, insurance avail-ability and approaches to property protection were the focus of a re-cent NACo webinar for county officials and fire professionals from across the nation.

Wildfiresannuallyclear4mil-lionto5millionacresof landinthe U.S., according to the Wildland Fire Leadership Council. One-hundred million people in the continental United States now live in areas known as theWildlandUrban Interface (WUI) — places where residential development is mixed with forests and wildlands, according to researchers at Oregon State University.

Recent trends show wildfires are increasing in intensity, duration, and property and financial loss. The webinar, intended primarily for fire directors, county planners andemergencymanagers,lookedattheriskswildfiresposeforresidentsand business owners, the role of

insurance in wildfire mitigation and the role that county officials play in certifying that appropriate property protection practices are being implemented.

Brenda O’Connor, senior vice president of public affairs, Institute for Business and Home Safety, kickedoff thewebinar—“Wildfire360: Planning, Inspecting andInsurance Costs” — by provid-ing an overview of wildfire risknationwide and the importance of wildfire mitigation measures.

O’Connor presented a series of property protection efforts that can reduce the potential for and severity of future property and financial losses caused by wildfire. County or city building codes can be adopted to encourage the replacement of roofing materials with fire-resistant alternatives and the use of dual-pane window glass. “Homeowners,” O’Connor noted, “should keep flammable objectsand yard structures away from their home, including play struc-tures, firewood piles and woody

plants. These items act as virtual wickswhenwildfireapproachesahome and brings the fire right to the house.”

The next presenter, Carole Walker,executivedirectorof theRocky Mountain Insurance In-formation Association, discussed the role that insurance companies have in reducing current wildfire propertyrisk.

Financial losses from wildfire are currently not as substantial as some other insured disasters, such as hurricanes or tornadoes, but since there is huge potential for devastating wildfire losses across the U.S., insurance companies are putting more emphasis on mitiga-tion requirements. Residents living in high-risk wildfire areas whodon’t implement any mitigation approaches are increasingly hav-ing a more difficult time finding andkeepingaffordablehomeown-ers’ insurance. She noted that insuranceproviderslookforwardto strengthening their relation-ships with local government and

Webinar explores wildfire protection, insurance availabilitystakeholderpartnerships to edu-cate residents about the value of insurance and the need for wildfire mitigation.

Walker also reminded webi-nar participants that insurance premiums are based on weather patterns and claim trends over long periods of time. A single wildfire or natural disaster will not directly affect one’s premium.

Closing out the formal pre-sentations were Kurt Latipow and Adrian Freund from Washoe County, Nev., who discussed how their county’s elected officials, plannersandfireofficialsworkedtogether to certify that appropriate property protection practices were being implemented.

Freund, community develop-ment director, and Latipow, fire servicescoordinator,talkedaboutthe2009InternationalWUICode,which local governments can in-clude in their codes to help reduce wildfireriskinkeyhigh-riskareas.Freund noted that community-wide discussions about wildfire

protection allow all residents and stakeholder groups to becomeinformed and provide input.

Webinar participants were engagedandaskedmanythought-provoking and challenging ques-tionsof thespeakerpanel,includ-ing questions about the marketfor insurance companies to use incentives and fee reductions to encourage fire mitigation, what happens when a neighbor neglects to clear their property and damages another’s home, and what would happen to insurance rates if emer-gency personnel refused to fight wildland fires due to the increased threat to their lives.

The“Wildfire360”webinarwassponsored by the U.S. Forest Ser-viceandtheBureauof LandMan-agement and organized by NACo’s WildfireAdvisoryGroup.

To access a recording of this Web event, visit www.naco.org/webinars.

For more information about wildfire mitigation, visit www.naco.org/wildfire.


Illinois County Plan Seeks to Protect Water Sources

Model Programs

By charlie Ban

STAFF WRITER

While real estate developers are searching for land on which to buildhouses,McHenryCounty,Ill. is trying to secure drinkingwater for the people who will someday live there.

Asthequicklysuburbanizingcounty growsbynearly 65,700households a year, water use is increasingfromtheaverage34.6million gallons per day measured in 2000. County projectionsexpectwater usage to top 67.5milliongallonsperdayin2030.

Working from an engineer-ing study that predicted a water shortagein2030,WaterResourceManagerCassandraMcKinneybegan recruiting participants for theWaterProtectionTaskForcefromeachof McHenryCounty’s32municipalities,plusbusinessrepresentatives and residents.

The task forcemetmonthlyfor26months,startingin2007,to draft a coordinated plan to protect the county’s water supply. Illinois state law forbids counties from enforcing ordinances in incorporated areas, so McKin-ney will present the suggestions individually to each municipality to adopt entirely or in part.

Identifying target areas and developing action items helped produce a 12-section action plan McKinney aims to haveworkacrosspoliticalboundaries.Engineers mapped the locations of sensitive aquifers, charted heavy runoff areas and listed the potential sources of contaminants evident in routine county busi-ness.

The action plan includes sug-gestions to conserve water used for irrigation, landscaping, golf courses and agriculture, in indus-trial and commercial facilities, and in homes. Brochures are ready to be printed to advise residents and property owners on lawn care techniques that can reduce water usage and minimize the number of chemicals that enter the water table.

“For this plan to be successful, each individual local government has to buy into it,” McKinneysaid.

McHenryCountyBoardChair-man Ken Koehler noted that the county had solicited input from municipalities before, when synthe-sizing land use plans, but never had to get them to individually approve changes.

“It’snotaneasytask,”hesaid.“Everyone has their own thoughts and agendas when it comes to how they manage growth.”

Hestressed the task forcecan’tforce municipalities to do anything, but the suggestions it offered could have long-reaching consequences.

“There probably is no more pre-cious a natural resource than water,” he said. “If we abuse it or overuse it, the survival of the county or the opportunity for the county to grow will be completely eliminated.”

Throughout the drafting process, elected officials have offered resis-tance to being directed by the county to change their policies. That’s where McKinney said the task force ap-proach has paid off.

“They write it, they have owner-ship or the ideas, and they aren’t proposing any ideas they couldn’t see themselves accepting,” she said of the municipal officials who served onthetaskforce.“Becauseit’snotthe county forcing them to change how they do things, they are a lot more open to new ideas.”

Ofthevarioustopics,twostick

McKinneysaidmanyof thesuggestions in the action plan are cost effective over time, though some involve an initial invest-ment.

“If you decrease the amount of pollutants entering the water, you don’t have to treat it before it’s drinkable,”shesaid.“Removingrocksaltfromwaterisoneofthemost expensive treatment options available, so it’s much cheaper for municipalities to change what they are doing now, rather than have to fix the problem years down the road.”

McKinneyrecentlypresentedtheactionplantotheVillageof Algonquin Board of Trustees, which Algonquin Senior Planner Katie Parkhurst said received itwell and resolved to study the recommendations over the next year.

Parkhurst said the villagestarted a water conservation pro-gramin2003,buttheactionplan’sfocus — protecting groundwater — would complement it well. She is meeting with different depart-ment heads to see what steps are already in place and what could workinthevillage’sframework.

“Idon’tknowthatwe’dadopt100 percent of the suggestions,but we will review our policies and see which could benefit from these ideas,” she said. “By next fall we’ll have an idea where we need to adopt these action items as policies or more formally as ordinances. Our board is receptive to us going another step further in protecting the water supply.”

One idea Parkhurst likes ishaving the police department col-lect unused medicine for disposal, rather than residents throwing old pills in the toilet.

Algonquin is willing to share its education and conservation outreach materials.

McKinneywillcontinuehertour of the county, hoping to visit each municipal board by the end ofMarch.

(Model Programs from the Nation’s Counties highlights Achievement Award-winning programs. For more information on this and other NACo Achievement Award winners, visit NACo’s Web site, www.naco.org.)

outtoMcKinneyasvital—waterrecharge and water quality protec-tion, both of which are instrumental tomakingwatersupplysustainable,and both represent her greatest chal-lenge presenting the action plan.

“Water is a renewable resource, as long as you live within its con-straints,” she said. “If you use too much or damage the supply, then it won’t renew in time and you have a shortage.”

ThecityofMarengo’sassistantadministrator, Josh Blakemore,servedonthetaskforceandsaidhiscitywouldlikelyadoptsuggestionsthat would help save money.

“It’s difficult to say what would fly inMarengo,butwe’dbeeagerto apply any policies that could mean cost-savings if they’re done correctly,” he said.

Blakemore liked suggestionsabout pavement deicing procedures in cold weather. The report suggests improvingrocksaltstoragefacilitiesand handling procedures to prevent accidental groundwater contamina-tion and aggressive mechanical snow removal strategies to reduce the amount of salt needed to remove the ice.

The task force adapted fieldguides for snowplow operators and ahandbookfocusedonmaintainingparking lots and sidewalks in thewinter.

fRom tHe NAtioN’S CouNtieS

By cinDy Wasser COMMUNITY SERVICES ASSISTANT

NACo announces the fourth year of funding for the Coastal Counties Restoration Initiative (CCRI). The initiative provides fi-nancial assistance on a competitive basis to innovative, high quality county-led or -supported ecosys-temrestorationprojects.In2010,CCRI will provide approximately $500,000innewgrantsto improve stream, river, estuarine and other important marine habitats, and remove barriers such as dams and culverts for fish migration and passage.

Community-based applica-tions thatarewilling towork inpartnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-istration (NOAA) will be given special consideration, as NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Program is providing major finan-cial support for this partnership. This year’s grants will range from $50,000to$100,000,baseduponaproject’s demonstrated need.

“NACo is very pleased that our partnership with NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Program will expand to bring additional resources to coastal counties,” said NACo President Valerie Brown. “Our nation’scoastal environment provides tremendous benefits. Counties across the country are leading many critical efforts to restore these resources, and NACo is proud that this program will bolster county-led efforts.”

Over the past three years, NACohasprovided$800,000to12 county restoration projects. The fundinghelpedrestore215acresof coastal wetlands and opened up more than 12 miles of fish passage. Morethan100countiessubmittedapplications in the past three years of funding.

CCRI is currently accepting applications through the NACo Web site. The deadline for ap-plicationsisMarch29.Formoreinformation and to access the full RFP and application instructions, visit www.naco.org/ccri or call Car-rie Clingan at 202.942.4246 ore-mail at [email protected].

NACo grants available for coastal counties


News From the Nation’s Counties

See NEWS FROM page 15

» In the NewsJacqueline Byers, director of research, was quoted in the Las

Vegas Sunarticle“CountyCaughtPlayingFavorites”Jan.9.

» NACo Staff• Jared Lang has joined the Community

Services Department as project manager. Pre-viously,Langworked forNACoas assistantfor the Center for Sustainable Communities from2005–2006.HeholdsaMastersof Ur-ban Planning and a Certificate in Real Estate Design and Development from the University of Pennsylvania.

•Paul Beddoe, associate legislative director, wasonapanelonhealthreformattheMarylandAssociationof Counties Winter Conference in Dorcester County (Cambridge) Jan. 7.

(On the Move is compiled by Christopher Johnson, editorial assistant.)

NACoontheMove

Jared Lang

CALifoRNiAXLOS ANGELES COUNTY

collected 5,337 weapons in 2009 through the county’s gun exchange program. Sheriff ’s deputies ran gun drop-offs insupermarketparkinglots around the county and handed outatotalof $428,100ingiftcardsthroughout the year in exchange for the guns. The weapons are destroyed and the steel is used for building materials, the Los Angeles Times reported.

DeLAWAReXSUSSEX COUNTY officials

hope an amnesty program will spurapproximately5,100accountholderstopaynearly$1.8millioninbackwaterandsewerfees.

Delinquent accountholders will need to pay the full amount due to qualifyfora50percentreductionin interest penalties. January and February water and sewer bills will include information about the amnesty program. Outstanding accounts will then be referred to a full-time collection agency, the Sussex Countian reported.

Delinquent accounts compose nearly 8 percent of the county’s66,000water and sewer custom-ers.

iLLiNoiSXThe COOK COUNTY Sher-

iff ’s Office will hire up to 500 new correctional officers in 2010,Sheriff TomDartsaid.Thepositions will pay approximately $45,000ayear, includinghealth,dental and vision insurance and a county pension. The jobs, approved byCookCountycommissionersaspartof thecounty’soverall$3billionbudgetfor2010,arepartof afederalmandate to add correctional officer

postsattheCookCountyJail.When four clerical jobs in

the sheriff ’s department were advertised this fall, the county was swampedwith some 14,000applications, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

INDIANAXVANDERBURGH COUNTY

commissioners approved a consoli-dation study with the city of Evans-ville. If the Evansville City Council approves a similar resolution within a month, the two bodies would form a reorganization committee, ac-cording to the Chicago Sun-Times. Voterswouldhavetoapproveanyconsolidation.

mARYLANDXMunicipalitiesinFREDERICK

COUNTY plan to challenge a new county ordinance in court.

The ordinance places develop-ment restrictions related to school capacity on newly annexed prop-erties. The municipalities argue that interferes with their rights to determine their own growth poli-cies. Commissioners defend the law because county schools feel the ef-fect of municipal growth, according to wtop.com.

MICHIGANXALLEGAN COUNTY paid

nearly$1.8million to buy 22 acres and a former factory that will soon become the new jail and sheriff ’s office.

County officials hope to start workonthenewjailin2011—thecurrentjailoftenholds186inmates,more than its rated capacity of 173inmates.The Holland Sentinal reported that the county was able to negotiate the selling price down from$2.45million.

NEVADAXStarting this month, CLARK

COUNTY can seek reimburse-ment for firefighters’ transporting up to 1,000 patients a year, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The county will charge patients theMedicarerateof $628to$728when firefighters take them to ahospital. It’s a change lobbied for by the county firefighters union and approved by the state legislature.

The cities of Las Vegas andHenderson are reimbursed for trans-porting patients. “We’re already transporting. We’re the only ones who don’t get to collect,” said Chris Giunchigliani,ClarkCountycom-missioner, when the commission voted to implement the change.

On average, county rescue teams transport 350 patients annuallywhen private ambulances are not available.

NeW JeRSeYXWhat’s in a name? Confusion

and obsolescence if that name hap-pens to be “freeholder,” according to one MONMOUTH COUNTY elected official. The county’s Board of Freeholders recently passed a nonbinding resolution saying they wish to be called county commis-sioners.

Freeholder John D’Amico says the term freeholder is confusing and

athrowbacktocenturiesagowhenit applied only to white males who owned land “free and clear,” the Asbury Park Press reported.

“The title of freeholder is incompatible with our advanced democratic form of government that welcomes the participation of citizens who do not own real prop-erty, as well as women and people of diverse racial and ancestral origin,” D’Amico said.

The resolution now goes to Governor-electChrisChristie(R)and the State Legislature, who would have to authorize such a change.

NeW YoRKX• SUFFOLK COUNTY Execu-

tive Steve Levy says he’s considering a run for governor this year. If he runs, he would challenge fellow Democrat Gov. David Paterson—andpossiblyAttorneyGeneralAndrew Cuomo — in a primary.

Levy was a county legislator and servedintheNewYorkStateAs-sembly before being elected to lead the state’s most populous county outsideNewYorkCity.

•Good-bye Sheriff ’s Depart-

ment; hello Sheriff ’s Office. Fol-lowing a recommendation of the New York State Sheriff ’s Asso-ciation, many county sheriffs are

changing their operations’ names from departments to offices.

“A department, like a policedepartment, will answer to the chief executive of the community, such as a mayor, whereas an of-fice, is an independent office, that answers to those in the community” who elected them, ALBANY COUNTY Sheriff Jim Campbell said.

The change would bring con-sistency to local government nomenclature, where for example, other elected officials like thedistrict attorney and the county clerkpresideoveroffices,theTimes Union reported.

“We’ve been identifying our-selves as a department, which isn’t correct,” Campbell said. “This year theNewYorkStateSheriff ’sAsso-ciation began encouraging sheriff ’s offices to identify themselves as an office.”

oReGoNX• CLACKAMAS COUNTY

Commissioner Jim Bernard has proposed an ordinance that would require climbers of Mount Hood to carry locator beacons if they plan to ascend beyond 10,000feet.

“People are dying for no reason,” said Bender, himself a longtime climber. “We need to find a way to protect them, and we need to find a way to protect the people’s resources,” the Associated Press reported.

Last month, two climbers vanished and are presumed dead, and their climbing partner’s body was found on the 11,239-footmountain.

A bill was defeated in the Oregon Legislature in 2007 thatwouldhaverequiredMountHoodclimbers to carry beacons on winter expeditions.

• Thirty homeless families in 30 homes in 30 days. That’s the challenge MULTNOMAH COUNTYhastakenon.

Recently, the County Board unanimously passed a pilot program that will use $210,000 in countycontingency funds to help homeless families find houses or apartments, the Oregonian reported.

The money will be used to provide rental assistance for six months, and counseling and inter-vention with landlords. One of the program’s goals is to get families currently in shelters into homes to free up shelter beds for other needy families.

PeNNSYLVANiAXEvenhardtimesandthelossof akeyemployeearen’tgoingtostop

BEAVER COUNTY from holding the World Championship Snow Shovel Riding Contest.Ittookcountyofficialsalittletimetocometogrips with the fact that budget cuts had forced the layoff of the event’s primary organizer last year, but the county administration is hoping to hold the contest before the end of February.

Recreation and Tourism Director Tom King said the contest requires parkinglotstobecleared,twopublicworksemployeespaidovertimebecausetheywouldbeworkingonSaturday,atleastonecountydeputy,por-table toilets, trophies and hay bales, The Beaver County Times reports.

Photo by The Beaver County Times


Salt Lake County, Utah considers tether time limits for dogsNEWS FROM from page 14

The H.R. Doctor Is In

Union County is a global transportation hub and one of the most densely populated counties in the United States, with more than half amillionpeoplepackedintojustalittlemorethan103squaremilesthat includes 21 separate municipalities along with major corporate andindustrialparks.Locatedinthecentralpointof NewJersey,the county is home to one of the nation’s first county-based public parkssystems.

The county seal reflects the important role played by Union County in Colonial history. It depicts the tragic death of Hannah Caldwell, aneventthatmarkedaturningpointintheRevolutionaryWar.

Caldwell was the wife of James Caldwell, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in present-day Elizabeth. Known as the “Soldier Parson,” Rev. Caldwell was an ardent patriot who raised the ire of localloyalistswithhisfierysermons.Whenthewarbrokeout,heserved as a chaplain, eventually becoming the deputy quartermaster general of the Continental Army.

For safety, Hannah Caldwell moved with her nine children to a quiet village in present-day Union Township. But the war followed them.InJuneof 1870,Britishtroopspassedthroughthearea.Theywere retreating from nearby Short Hills after suffering a defeat at the handsof GeneralWashington.Caldwellrefusedtofleethecottage,fearing that the British would burn it down if she left it vacant, and onJune7shewaskilled.

Regardless of the precise circumstances, the death of Hannah Caldwellsparkedoutrageacrossthecoloniesandhelpedtorenewthe Americans’ resolve to fight. Her death became emblematic of thebraveryandsacrificebornebysomanyfamiliesforthesakeof freedom from oppression.

Union County formally adopted the traditional image of Hannah Caldwell’sdeathasitssolecountysealin1933.The“1857”underthe cottage refers to the year that Union County was separated from Essex County.

(If you would like your county’s seal featured, please contact Christopher Johnson at 202.942.4256 or [email protected].)

»Union County, N.J.www.unioncountynj.org

What’s in a Seal?

The first part of any new year is traditionally a time to dredge up the old Robert Burns poem, Auld Lang Syne, and to sing or stumble through that first line of the poem, turned song, “Should old acquaintance be forgot…?”InHumanResourcesthe answer to that question each year is a resounding and definitive yes and no. Classically, a new year is a time to do a personal and office retrospective on what occurred in the year before and also to lookahead at new opportunities and new plans.

Theyear2009wascertainlyanold acquaintance to be forgotten for many people who struggled with economic distress and bristled at the stories of those who “made off ” (sorry Bernie) with investors’ money or received millions of dollars in bonuses. It was a time of happily saying goodbye to a year when savings, including government employees’ deferred compensation, was savaged, and a time when local government budgets in most parts of the country werelikewiseunderassault.

However, 2009 was a timewhen many familiar acquaintances

should not only be remembered but extended into the future. These in-clude the fact that times of distress can also be times of innovation and actions which might not oth-erwisebetaken.Theycanbetimes

much time as we could with those we love be forgotten? Clearly yes! Should habits we might have of being arrogant or thoughtless to the pressures and difficulties faced by others be forgotten? Absolutely! The new year can be a time of “same old” inertia or a time of renewal and creation of a better year ahead. Clearly the latter is the desired outcome of singing the Robert Burns-inspired song.

Takeafewmomentstoidentifysome of the acquaintances you should forget and not carry over into the new year. Decide to put new acquaintances to work onyourteamtomakeyouabetterandmore respected leader. Create an event of appreciation early in the year to recognize all the positive resultscolleaguesyouworkwithhave produced in the past year. Let them know of your recognitionand how you value their partner-ship. Join with them in lookingahead and acting now to identify opportunities and problems ahead. Formulatebusinessplanstoattackthoseissuesbeforetheyattackyou.Identify personal goals and follow-up action plans to make those

Old Acquaintance

utAHXThe SALT LAKE COUNTY

Council has given preliminary ap-proval to a measure that limits the amount of time a dog can be tied up.Theproposedruleswouldmakeit a Class B misdemeanor — with up toa$1,500fine—forpeoplewhokeeptheirdogstetheredlongerthan10hours.

The rules would apply in unincorporated areas of the county, wheresome170,000peoplereside,according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

“What we are after here are peoplewhotethertheirdogs24/7,”

saidGeneBaierschmidt,executivedirector of the Humane Society of Utah. “Why even own a dog if you are going to tether it all the time?”

WASHiNGtoNXAfter 25 years of lobbying to

move the BENTON COUNTY seat, Fred Staples, a retired Superior Court judge, is continuing his fight. County officials are verifying more than20,000signaturesStaplesgath-ered of people who favor moving the county seat from Prosser to Kennewick.

Staples says that Kennewick,the county’s population center, has been serving as the de facto county

seat for some time. Of the county’s 500 government employees, 400work out of Kennewick offices.And elected department heads, including county commissioners, maintain offices in both cities. To Staples, that’s a waste of money — and possibly illegal, according to a Yakima Herald report.

He succeeded in getting a similar measureon theballot in1984. Itfell 5.6 percentage points shy of the60percentof thevoteneededfor passage.

CONGRATULATIONS... to LINCOLN COUNTY,

TENN., CAMPBELL COUNTY, VA. and WASHOE COUNTY, NEV. , who were winners in NACo’s Change the World, Start with ENERGYSTARCampaign.Theyreceivea$5,000grant,courtesyof Wal-Mart.

(News From the Nation’s Counties is compiled by Charles Taylor and Charlie Ban, staff writers. If you have an item for News From, please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].)

goals real and to create measurable accountability.

The goals and plans may be as simple as the dream vacation or a return to school for a long-delayed certificate program or graduate degree. It may be as simple as whiskingawayyourspousetoanunexpected getaway, quiet dinner or ice cream treat. Above all, don’t get into a position where next year you’re singing the Robert Burns song again and nothing has changed at all.

In reality, a no-change life or job is not possible. Everything changes,

howeversubtly.Thinkingthatnochange has occurred, that no old acquaintances have been forgotten or remembered denies you the op-portunitytotakecontrolof yourown destiny and the destiny of your office and your coworkers.Use Robert Burns to open people’s eyes and hearts to the opportunities all around us for fun, improvement and better service to others.

Phil RosenbergTheHRDoctor•www.hrdr.net

Take a few moments to identify some of the

acquaintances you should forget and not carry over

into the new year.

wheninefficienciescanbetackledunder the additional impetus of a cost-reduction imperative. The acquaintance that we should each have with our own approaches to how we conduct ourselves at workandathomealsooffersanopportunity to say good-bye to habits and approaches which are not productive and, in fact, may representstumblingblockstoourown success.

Should the old acquaintances of smoking or lack of exercisebe forgotten? Yes! Should the old acquaintances of not spending as

County News invitesLetters to the Editor

Do you have a compliment, complaint or different point of view? ... LET US KNOW.

Please include a phone number with your letter. Mail, fax or e-mail to: County News, NACo, 25 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20001; 202.393.2630; [email protected].


Research News

New Year, New LawsIn addition to starting New

Year’s resolutions, the stroke of midnight Jan.1 alsomarked theimplementation of a variety of new laws.

Four states — Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire and Oregon — have new state laws aimed at reducing distracted driving. Illinois and New Hampshire join 18otherstatesinbanningthesend-ing or reading of text messages or e-mails while driving. The Kansas law bans the use of cell phones, including texting, by young drivers aged16–21.

With one of the strictest laws in the country, Oregon now bans theuseof acellphonefortalking,texting or e-mailing without the use of a hands-free device for all drivers. Offenders in Oregon face a$142ticket.

To crack down on fraud bymortgage modification compa-nies, a new law in Florida requires individuals or businesses that provide loan modifications to be licensed by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation. South Floridaranksfourthinthenationfor home loan modifications, and Miami-DadeCounty’sMortgageFraud Task Force has handledmore than 200 cases of loanmodification fraud. This new law

intendstomakeitmoredifficultfor companies to target vulnerable residents.

Washington state enacted a law to curtail payday loan abuse by both borrowers and lenders. Start-ingJan.1,borrowerscannottakeout a payday loan for more than $700 or one-third of their grossmonthly income, whichever is less. In addition, only a maximum of eight payday loans can be issued in a one year period. Instead of cap-ping interest rates as other states havedone,Washingtonlawmakersarerequiringlenderstoworkwithborrowerswhocannotmaketheirpayments by creating installment plans and providing specific rules for when and how often borrowers can be contacted.

A new law in North Carolina requires landlords to provide car-bon monoxide detectors in rental properties. Often called the silent killer, carbon monoxide is aninvisible, odorless gas that goes unnoticed without a detector. Following a similar statute for smokedetectors,thelawrequiresaminimum of one operating carbon monoxide detector per rental unit and per floor with fuel-burning heaters, appliances, fireplaces or an attached garage.

UnderanewlawinMichigan,

cigarette manufacturers must provide only fire-safe cigarettes to Michiganretail storesbeginningJan.1.The altered cigarettes have been shown to reduce the number of house fires. All other states, except Wyoming, have a similar law in effect. This law precedes a smoking ban in all Michiganbars and restaurants that goes into effectMay1.

In Illinois, significant changes in the state’s Freedom of Informa-tion Act (FOIA) into effect Jan. 1. Under the new law, FOIA requests must be processed within five

Financial Services News

NACo has launched a new memberbenefit—theGovernmentEmployeeMarketplace.TheWebsite, available to public employees and retirees, offers various govern-ment employee discount programs, and other discounts and limited of-fers. Employees select the products and services they wish to use, and may also sign-up to be notified about deals on specific products. NACo partners with Govmarket.org to pro-vide this service as a member benefit. Key features of the program include:

Free — no cost to join, no membership fee, no activation fee, no access fee

Significant savings — exclusive volumediscounts,collectivemark-downs and promotions, seasonal sales, free shipping

Convenience — one online

County News

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portal, thousands of brand-name merchants, Internet-based and also retail-based

Simple — user friendly, easy to navigate, search and categorization functionality, minimal registration and login requirements, and

Local Access — get information on local gas prices, travel search, sitter finder, dining and grocery deals.

The local access feature also allows users to refer local providers and manufacturers to the site for fea-tured discounts they offer locally to government employees or the public at large. To sign up for the program go to www.govmarket.org and follow the instructions to join.

For more information on the Marketplace, contact NancyParrish at [email protected] or 202.661.8824.

working days, and jurisdictionscannot charge copying fees for thefirst50pagesof informationprovided.Forrequestsbeyond50pages,nomorethan15centscanbecharged for each additional page. In addition, texts and e-mails are officially included under Illinois’ FOIA.

InTexas,severalnewlawstookeffect on Jan. 1 that changed the appraisal process. One new law requires appraisers to consider all comparable properties when appraising a home, including those recently sold at foreclosure or that

have decreased in value. The new laws also create an

expedited arbitration process and require substantial evidence to increase an appraisal after a successful appeal. In addition, propositions passed by Texas voters in November gave the legis-lature the authority to set uniform appraisal standards in the future. Thesenewlawsseektoimprovefairness in the appraisal process across the state.

(Research News was written by Kath-ryn Murphy, research associate.)

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