Margert in the News
NYC Foreclosure
Prevention Efforts Announced
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DHCR Commissioner Joins Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker
Quinn to Announce Foreclosure Prevention Efforts
Commissioner VanAmerongen joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, City Council
Speaker Christine C. Quinn and members of the NYC Council to discuss State and
City efforts to help families at risk of foreclosure.
DHCR has become a national leader in addressing the foreclosure crisis. The
agency's Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Program has awarded more than $18
million to not-for-profit agencies around the state to provide outreach,
education, counseling and legal services. More than $10 million of those awards
have gone to agencies in the five boroughs of NYC, which have been particularly
hard hit by the foreclosure epidemic.
Officials also announced that the Center for NYC Neighborhoods (CNYCN) headed by
executive director Michael Hickey, would be establishing a dedicated call center
that will handle foreclosure-related calls and connect threatened homeowners
with not-for-profit service providers. A $645,000 grant from DHCR is a major
source of funding for the call center.
The new call center will not only direct homeowners to the appropriate service
provider, but will also track each case and follow up on what services were
provided and the status of those who need assistance. Operators of the new call
center will also proactively reach out to New Yorkers that may be particularly
at risk of foreclosure to let them know what services are available to them. The
call center will be operational by the end of January 2009.
View full story.
Margert Community Corporation is both a NYS DHCR
Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Program and CNYCN housing counseling agency.
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Will Energy Savings
Jump-Start the Economy?
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Steve Hargreaves, CNN
December 29, 2008
It looks like America may be getting a whole
lot more energy-efficient as part of any new stimulus package.
But how exactly will that happen? While new light bulbs, insulation and air
conditioners may play well with homeowners, will such a plan actually put enough
people to work to jump-start the economy?
The energy-saving plan is expected as part of a stimulus package from lawmakers
set for early January that could top $800 billion and include everything from
tax breaks to road repairs.
Conservation is thought to be the first big energy-component of U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama's long-term energy plan, for a couple of reasons.
First, it can be done relatively quickly using existing state and regional
agencies.
Conservation is also essential if the country is to switch to cleaner and more
renewable forms of electricity, since it can't currently provide the sheer
megawatts that fossil fuel or nuclear power can produce.
If a major conservation initiative is included in the stimulus package, it might
look something like a plan being pushed by the electric utility industry and a
handful of environmental groups -- a coalition called the Alliance to Save
Energy.
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New Report Shows Recession
Hits Poor and Elderly Hardest
The Full StoryJan 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. recession is shaping up to give Americans their
hardest economic times since World War Two.
A new assessment of the economy was presented on Wednesday by the Congressional
Budget Office, the non-partisan budget analyst for Congress.
Here are some of CBO's observations on the impact of the bad economy on the
poor, elderly and others, one year into the recession:
* More people need food stamps. Government spending on food stamps, designed to
help the poor buy basic commodities, will grow by 27 percent this year. CBO said
spending will hit $50 billion, from $39 billion last year, mostly because of
growing caseloads and benefits as food prices have risen. A record 31.5 million
people were signed up for food stamps last September, according to government
records.
* Unemployment rolls are growing. Washington's spending on jobless benefits will
nearly double, to $79 billion this year from $43 billion last year. CBO thinks
the jobless rate will rise to 9.2 percent next year, from around 6.7 percent
now.
The number of unemployed and action by Congress last year that extended benefits
during the hard economic times are causing the additional spending. Some
Democrats in Congress want to take further steps to expand unemployment
benefits, possibly covering part-time workers who lose their jobs.
* Medicaid is expanding. The federally backed health insurance program for the
poor was growing in cost even before the recession because of rising health care
costs generally. But rising unemployment means more people qualify for Medicaid,
CBO said.
* Retirees won't get a raise in 2010. A contracting global economy means less
demand for consumer goods, including oil, which means lower prices. That can
help consumers during hard economic times. But it also means lower annual
cost-of-living adjustments for seniors collecting Social Security retirement
checks. CBO anticipates no Social Security cost-of-living raise next year. This
would come as retirees' private savings have been hit hard by the stock market
bust and low interest rates paid by banks on savings accounts.
* Home foreclosures rise. Mortgage foreclosures stemming from risky adjustable
loans jumped to 7 percent by early 2008, from an eight year average of 2
percent. CBO said foreclosure rates are likely to remain high as house prices
continue to fall. "Many homeowners have negative equity in their homes ... and
will not be able to refinance their mortgage." (Reporting by Richard Cowan;
Editing by Eric Walsh)
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Governor Paterson Announces Energy Agenda in "State of the
State" Message: More Efficiency, More Renewables
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The Public Utility Law Project of New York (PULP)
Friday, January 09, 2009
In his first State of the State Message on January 7 Governor Paterson
announced his goal that "45 percent of New York State's electricity needs will
be met through improved energy efficiency and greater use of clean renewable
energy by 2015." The supporting factsheet summary of his "45 by 15" proposal
explains that the state’s mix of renewable electric energy resources – now about
20% -- would go up to 30% , and recites the "goal of decreasing electricity
usage by 15 percent." The Governor also called on the PSC to aid in
implementation of these goals and to adopt an “on bill” financing program for
household energy efficiency improvements.
The Governor's energy efficiency goal is not altogether new: Then-Gov.
Spitzer announced a similar “15 by 15” electric energy efficiency plan in 2007.
Electricity load had been growing about 2% a year, so Spitzer's 2007 plan would
essentially have offset new load growth, i.e., total usage would level off by
2015. Inasmuch as load still grew in the first two years of the original “15 by
15" plan, and was not offset by expanded efficiency programs, reducing total
electricity usage 15% by 2015 would seem to require far more robust efforts.
View full story
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