Updates from Organizations - Government agencies - Advertise Various Artists

Sen. Lee Comments on Public Lands Bill

WASHINGTON - Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) issued the following statement Friday regarding a public lands package that failed to pass the Senate Wednesday night:

“I understand people’s frustration, and I share it. Governor Herbert, like 49 other governors, has been completely cut out of this broken, unfair process. He has no choice but to accept the process and simply hope to get what he can out of it.

“Chairman Bishop hates the process too, but he is up against the clock, with Democrats about to take over the House. If I were in their shoes, I might be saying exactly what they are saying.

“But I’m not. I’m not just in the Senate; I’m on the committee, which is driving this process. I understand people want me to let the bad process slide this once so we get it done. But that is exactly how the broken process – the process that excludes Utah, that cuts Utah out, and leaves Utah behind – perpetuates itself.

“I’m the one person in a position to stand up for my state and shine a light on this broken process. That’s the only way it’s ever going to get better. I understand this bill will probably pass now in a few weeks, but it will do so without my vote.

“Governor Herbert and Chairman Bishop are good friends, good men, and excellent public servants. I respect their position and empathize with it. But my job is different from their jobs. And as long as the Senate tries to foist these lands bills on western states at the last minute, hiding the bill as long as possible to avoid transparency and accountability, I will fight it in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and on the Senate floor. Utah and the country deserve better.”

An online version of this statement can be found here.

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In a world where creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration have become critical to flourish, there has never been a more important time for innovative art education. Visual artist Alessandro Lumare and choreographer Simona Lobefaro provide youth and adults with workshops and training courses that blend movement with graphic art. Lumare describes the approach as art without rules or boundaries in which the body and mind are free to explore and innovate “minus stereotypical constraints.” This cutting edge technique nurtures artistic expression without anxiety and has become a critical outlet for people of all ages to develop essential skills such as creativity and curiosity. “We work with the curiosity, the resistance, the frustration, the desire and the physical limit of that particular day. Every quality is introduced into the mechanism, which makes each and every experience unique,” says Alessandro Lumare. Today the program is offered to kids and adults in primary schools throughout Italy.

Read the full article here

Alessandro Lumare is a visual artist and Simona Lobefaro is a choreographer. Their research project – Segni Mossi – was born in 2014 in Rome to study the relationship and common ground between the languages of drawing and dance with children and adults. The focus of their program is on nurturing creativity and social emotional learning inspired by these art forms within a safe, free environment. Today the program is offered to kids and adults in primary schools throughout Italy.

CMRubinWorld’s award-winning series, The Global Search for Education, brings together distinguished thought leaders in education and innovation from around the world to explore the key learning issues faced by most nations. The series has become a highly visible platform for global discourse on 21st century learning, offering a diverse range of innovative ideas which are presented by the series founder, C. M. Rubin, together with the world’s leading thinkers.

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CORRECTED Secretary Perdue Details USDA Functions in the Event of a Lapse in Federal Funding

(Washington, D.C., December 21, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today detailed which functions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will remain available in the event of a lapse in government funding.

“There may be a lapse in funding for the federal government, but that will not relieve USDA of its responsibilities for safeguarding life and property through the critical services we provide,” said Secretary Perdue.  “Our employees work hard every day to benefit our customers and the farmers, ranchers, foresters, and producers who depend on our programs. During a shutdown, we will leverage our existing resources as best we can to continue to provide the top-notch service people expect.”

Some USDA activities will be shut down or significantly reduced and some USDA employees will be furloughed.  However, certain USDA activities would continue because they are related to law enforcement, the protection of life and property, or are financed through available funding (such as through mandatory appropriations, multi-year discretionary funding, or user fees).  For the first week of a potential shutdown, 61% of employees would either be exempted or excepted from shutdown activities.  If the shutdown continues, this percentage would decrease, and activities would be reduced as available funding decreases. 

USDA activities that would continue in the short-term include:

• Meat, poultry, and processed egg inspection services.
• Grain and other commodity inspection, weighing, grading, and IT support services funded by user fees.
• Inspections for import and export activities to prevent the introduction and dissemination of pests into and out of the U.S, including inspections from Hawaii and Puerto Rico to the mainland.
• Forest Service law enforcement, emergency and natural disaster response, and national defense preparedness efforts. 
• Forest Service employees will continue to work on managing and maintaining the current forest system lands and sustaining the health and safety of the lands for their continued use.
• Continuity and maintenance of some research measurements and research-related infrastructure, such as germplasm, seed storage, and greenhouses.
• Care for animals, plants and associated infrastructure to preserve agricultural research and to comply with the Wild Horses and Burros statute.
• Eligible households will still receive monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for January.
• Most other domestic nutrition assistance programs, such as the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, WIC, and the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, can continue to operate at the State and local level with any funding and commodity resources that remain available.  Additional Federal funds and commodities will not be provided during the period of the lapse.
• The Child Nutrition (CN) Programs, including School Lunch, School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care Feeding, Summer Food Service and Special Milk will continue operations into February. Meal providers are paid on a reimbursement basis 30 days after the end of the service month. Carryover funding will be available during a lapse to support FY 2019 meal service.
• Minimal administrative and management support, including to excepted IT systems and contracts, will be maintained to support the above activities.
• Provision of conservation technical and financial assistance (such as Conservation

Reserve Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and easement programs).

• Some farm payments (including direct payments, market assistance loans, market facilitation payments, and disaster assistance programs) will be continued for the first week of a shutdown.
• Market Facilitation Program payments.
• Trade mitigation purchases made by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.
• Agricultural export credit and other agricultural trade development and monitoring activities.
• USDA’s Market News Service, which provides critically important market information to the agricultural industry.

The following USDA activities would not be continued and would be shut down in an orderly fashion during a government funding lapse.  These activities include:

• Provision of new rural development loans and grants for housing, community facilities, utilities and businesses.
• All recreation sites across the U.S National Forest System, unless they are operated by external parties under a recreational special use permit. 
• New timber sales.
• Most forest fuels reduction activities in and around communities.
• NASS statistics, World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, and other agricultural economic and statistical reports and projections.
• Investigation of packers and stockyards related to fraudulent and anti-competitive activities.
• Assistance for the control of most plant and animal pests and diseases unless funded by cooperators or other non-appropriated sources.
• Research facilities except for the care for animals, plants and associated infrastructure to preserve agricultural research.
• Provision of new grants or processing of payments for existing grants to support research, education, and extension.
• ERS Commodity Outlook Reports, Data Products, research reports, staff analysis, and projections.  The ERS public website would be taken offline.
• Most departmental management, administrative and oversight functions, including civil rights, human resources, financial management, audit, investigative, legal and information technology activities.
• Mandatory Audits (Financial Statements, FISMA, and potentially Improper Payments) will be suspended and may not be completed and released on the date mandated by law.
• After the first week, farm loans and some farm payments (including direct payments, market assistance loans, market facilitation payments for those producers who have not certified production, and disaster assistance programs).

A summary of USDA’s shutdown plans can be found here.

A list of shutdown plans by USDA agency and office can be found here.  Note that the National Finance Center information can be found on pages 7 to 9 of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) document on that page.

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